Wire to wire
Haraguchi fails to relinquish lead for three straight days en route to winning Co-angler Division at National Guard Western Division event on Columbia River
UMATILLA, Ore. – Every great once in a while, an angler turns in a tournament performance that is almost impeccable. This week was one of those occasions. After fishing a nearly flawless tournament, Gary Haraguchi of Brentwood, Calif., got what he truly deserved, walking away with the Walmart FLW Series co-angler crown on the Columbia River.
And he did so in dominating fashion.
Leading from start to finish, Haraguchi used a three-day catch of 29 pounds to net over $14,000 in winnings as well as a National Guard Western Division tournament title on the difficult and unpredictable Columbia River.
“I’m a wreck right now,” said Haraguchi, whose co-angler performance was so good that he would have logged a top-15 performance in the Pro Division alone. “I don’t know what to say.”
Luckily for Haraguchi, his angling did all the talking for him. Although he gave ample credit to his three pro partners, it was up to Haraguchi to close the deal on the strength of his fishing skills alone. And that’s exactly what he did – outfishing his next closest rival by nearly 3 1/2 pounds.
“It feels great,” said Haraguchi. “This is one of the biggest wins of my career.”
Haraguchi said that he targeted bass all three days with a combination of finesse and reaction baits. But it wasn’t until about 10 minutes left in today’s competition that he realized that the title was firmly in his grasp.
“About three casts before we had to come back to weigh-in, I caught a 3-pounder on a tube bait,” said Haraguchi. “After that, I knew that would probably do it. But I was pretty stressed out all day. It was tough fishing out there today.”
Haraguchi finished in fourth place the last time the FLW Series came to the Columbia River. However, this tournament Haraguchi was determined to turn in an even better performance. And there is little doubt that he succeeded.
“I’ve had a blessed week,” he said. “I knew if I could catch about 8 or 9 pounds today, it was going to be pretty tough to beat me. And that’s what happened. I couldn’t have asked for a better week.”
Or a better performance.
Touey nets runner-up finish
Patrick Touey of Nipomo, Calif., used a three-day catch of 25 pounds, 7 ounces to grab second place overall. For his efforts, Touey walked away with more than $7,000 in winnings.
“This is the best finish I’ve ever had,” said Touey. “My prefishing was pretty tough, so I didn’t have a lot of expectations. But I got into the boat on Wednesday and caught five fish. Then I caught another five fish on Thursday. And I really sacked them up today. It was great.”
Touey said that he was targeting most of his catch by drop-shotting a 4-inch worm. The key, he said, was to fish slowly.
In the end, Touey said he couldn’t have asked for a better tournament.
“It’s just been an awesome week,” he said.
Best of the rest
Toby Farkas of Woodland, Calif., finished the Columbia River event in third place with a three-day catch weighing in at 24 pounds, 13 ounces. Farkas won over $5,250 for his efforts.
Fourth place belonged to Sunny Hawk of Salt Lake City. Hawk used a three-day catch of 24 pounds to win $3,500 in prize money.
Chad Leblanc of Sutter, Calif., finished in fifth place with a total catch of 23 pounds, 13 ounces.
Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finalists at the FLW Series Columbia River event:
6th: Scott Burke of Oakdale, Calif., 23-12
7th: Marvin Hawkes of Mesa, Ariz., 22-9
8th: Taylor Parsons of Sutter Creek, Calif., 22-6
9th: James Cadell of Escalon, Calif., 22-0
10th: Ken Delong of Kuna, Idaho, 21-10
Meanwhile, James Leachman of Kennewick, Wash., won the day’s Folgers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division after netting a 4-pound, 10-ounce largemouth.
Day four of FLW Series Columbia River pro competition continues at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time at Umatilla Marina, located at 1710 Quincy in Umatilla, Ore.
FLW Series Western co-angler action resumes Sept. 23-26 at the California Delta in Oakley, Calif.