Fantasy Fishing finalists chime in before the big weekend

FantasyFishing.com sits down with the five players who have a chance at winning $1 million

It’s been a long and arduous 2009 season on the Walmart FLW Tour. The anglers are physically and mentally exhausted and those who qualified for the Forrest Wood Cup are scratching and clawing at the brutally tough Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, Pa. For FLW Fantasy Fishing players, the season hasn’t been laborious. But that doesn’t mean this final week won’t be nerve-wracking.

The good news is that the worst any of the five finalists can do is take home a $25,000 gift card. The million-dollar moment will happen Saturday, Aug. 1 at approximately 5:30 p.m. Eastern time.

Q&A with the five FLW Fantasy Fishing finalists

Terry Moberly of Berea, Ky.

FantasyFishing.com: If you won the $1 million grand prize, what would you do with the money?

Moberly: If I won the million, the first thing I would buy would be a new Ranger boat and then take a vacation and get away for a little while. With the rest of the money I would try to invest it the best way possible.

FantasyFishing.com: What was your strategy as far as selecting anglers during the season?

Moberly: Player’s Advantage was the major factor in choosing my fantasy team. I used it to learn about each angler and it greatly improved my chances. It was also important to stay up to date with how the anglers were doing this year. When someone is on a roll, they’re on a roll. I can’t give away all my secrets because I want to have as much success next year as I’ve had this year.

FantasyFishing.com: If you don’t win the grand prize, how disappointed will you be?

Moberly: I would be a little disappointed because I’ve been in first or second place all year; I’m hoping the triple points (at the last tournament) didn’t allow someone to come from behind and beat me. But I’ve made the top five which is a huge accomplishment and will be very happy with any of the prizes.

FantasyFishing.com: What does it feel like to make the top five in a nationwide contest?

Moberly: Making the top five is about as unreal as winning the $100,000 prize at the beginning of the year. Knowing that FLW Fantasy Fishing is played by people from all over the world, and I’ve made the top five out of all of them, means I’ve done something that most can’t say they have.

FantasyFishing.com: Were you a fan of professional angling before playing fantasy fishing? If not, how did you learn about fantasy fishing?

Moberly: Yes, both my sons fish tournaments at different levels and we’ve always been fans. Last year we traveled to the Forrest Wood Cup in South Carolina and were planning on going back this year even if I didn’t make the top five. Now I have a lot more to look forward to besides watching the next Forrest Wood Cup winner. Maybe I’ll be a winner myself!

Jeff Short of Tompkinsville, Ky.

FantasyFishing.com: If you won the $1 million grand prize, what would you do with the money?

Short: The first thing I would do would probably be scream like a little girl and watch my two sons die of shame. My oldest son just turned 16 so he will certainly expect a vehicle and in a short time my other son will turn 16 so I will be doing the same for him. Hopefully they will both go to college. Of course, my wife who is so supportive of my fishing will require something pretty for herself. I would really like to get a new fishing boat for myself because I would be able to afford to enter more tournaments and probably without any complaints from my wife. I would also seek the advice of a very good accountant so we will have a nice little nest egg for retirement.

FantasyFishing.com: What was your strategy as far as selecting anglers during the season?

Short: I read a lot and studied the pros and how they did on certain lakes. Every name that came up in an article I would write down, check to see how many times an angler had fished a lake and where he placed. I weighed all the information against the most recent tournaments. I also looked at the time of year they were there and took the water conditions and temperature into consideration.

When the name of a pro came up three or more times they would automatically be placed in my top 10. Lastly, I would look for dark horses like Stetson Blaylock, who I missed on Lake Norman, but wow where did he come from? I fish local tournaments around my home lakes, which are Dale Hollow and the Barren River and someone will always show up unexpectedly at the weigh in and beat us home boys.

FantasyFishing.com: If you don’t win the grand prize, how disappointed will you be?

Short: Disappointed? How could I be disappointed? This is a win-win situation. The trip to Pittsburgh, the excitement of my family, and knowing the worst I can do is a $25,000 gift certificate. How could I even be disappointed? Winning the million would be incredible, but if not I am still a happy guy.

FantasyFishing.com: What does it feel like to make the top five in a nationwide contest?

Short: I am from a very small town in Kentucky where I teach woodworking, so to find myself in the top five of a nationwide contest is just amazing for me and my family. I am so excited to share this experience with my students because they all know how much I love fishing and I will have a great story to tell when we return to school next week. They won’t believe what I caught this time.

FantasyFishing.com: Were you a fan of professional angling before playing fantasy fishing? If not, how did you learn about fantasy fishing?

Short: Yes, I watch the professionals as much as possible when I’m not on the water. I learned about fantasy fishing the first year I was a co-angler fishing the BFL Mountain Division.

Daniel Richardson of Knoxville, Tenn.

FantasyFishing.com: If you won the $1 million grand prize, what would you do with the money?

Richardson: I think with the recent economic hit we all took in our retirement accounts, I would save and reinvest the money with the hopes of securing a comfortable retirement. The one thing I would consider purchasing is a small farm back in middle Tennessee for our retirement home.

FantasyFishing.com: What was your strategy as far as selecting anglers during the season?

Richardson: I mostly went with my instincts and knowledge of the anglers and the type of lakes they were fishing that month. I utilized Player’s advantage to review their previous history at the lake. I also reviewed the Pundits’ Picks to see what their selections and comments were for each tournament.

FantasyFishing.com: If you don’t win the grand prize, how disappointed will you be?

Richardson: I would be somewhat disappointed, but not devastated. I never had any idea all year that I would end up in this position. I feel that the good Lord has truly blessed me to be in the top five. Anything I win, I will view as a blessing.

FantasyFishing.com: What does it feel like to make the top five in a nationwide contest?

Richardson: This is unbelievable. I guess that all the time I have spent keeping up with FLW tournament results online, and watching the TV show may pay off after all.

FantasyFishing.com: Were you a fan of professional angling before playing fantasy fishing? If not, how did you learn about fantasy fishing?

Richardson: Yes, I have been a fisherman and a fan of professional fishing for quite some time. It would be a real fantasy of mine to have the skills and the ability these guys have and compete on the professional level myself. I became aware of fantasy fishing from being on the FLW Web site. I decided this year that I would compete for the entire season and see how well I could do.

Chris Chappell of Oologah, Okla.

FantasyFishing.com: If you won the $1 million grand prize, what would you do with the money?

Chappell: If I won the million I would pay my bills off to get out of debt. Then I would purchase a big piece of land to hunt on and then in the future build a nice house on that property. But first and foremost I would buy a bass boat to take up bass fishing. I recently fished my first tournament with a friend and we used his bass boat. It was a company tournament and we came in dead last with one keeper and I’m almost certain we had to stretch that fish to get 12 inches. After it was all said and done I was hooked; I couldn’t hardly wait to start prefishing for the next tournament.

FantasyFishing.com: What was your strategy as far as selecting anglers during the season?

Chappell: My strategy for the first tournament was basically picking anglers out of a hat. I had never followed professional fishing so I had no idea who to pick. I just ended up picking guys who had won a lot of money, some hometown Alabama boys and some Okies. I got lucky and placed 52nd that tournament. After that it went from being fun to being serious. I joined Player’s Advantage and started doing my research. I would ask guys at work for advice on anglers and bass fishing in general. I would probably spend on an average at least 24 hours overall getting ready for a tournament.

FantasyFishing.com: If you don’t win the grand prize, how disappointed will you be?

Chappell: Honestly I would be a little disappointed if I didn’t win the million, but only because I have been in first place the last couple of tournaments and also all the build up to this point. I do consider myself very lucky just to have made it this far and will be extremely happy with any one of those five awesome prizes.

FantasyFishing.com: What does it feel like to make the top five in a nationwide contest?

Chappell: It’s truly unbelievable I made it this far, especially considering I didn’t know anything about bass fishing when I started this. To this day my wife and I can’t believe I actually made it this far.

FantasyFishing.com: Were you a fan of professional angling before playing fantasy fishing? If not, how did you learn about fantasy fishing?

Chappell: As I said before when this all started I never watched bass fishing nor did I do any bass fishing. Now I’m not only fan, but also a bass angler for life. I found out about fantasy fishing while I was on eBay. I saw a banner and clicked on it. After reading all the prizes you could win for free, I thought you would have to be a fool not to play. So I joined and was addicted after the first tournament.

Andre Daniel of Oak Creek, Wis.

FantasyFishing.com: If you won the $1 million grand prize, what would you do with the money?

Daniel: I would put more money in the college fund for our two sons, take a family trip, buy a new house and buy a new bass boat.

FantasyFishing.com: What was your strategy as far as selecting anglers during the season?

Daniel: I picked the guys that I knew the most about from following their careers over the years. The guys I picked were doing well so I decided to stick with them and it paid off.

FantasyFishing.com: If you don’t win the grand prize, how disappointed will you be?

Daniel: All of the top prizes are great, but I would love the $1 million because that is what we play for. I would be happy with any of the other four prizes.

FantasyFishing.com: What does it feel like to make the top five in a nationwide contest?

Daniel: It is very exciting! I hoped that I would do well, but I didn’t expect to get this far.

FantasyFishing.com: Were you a fan of professional angling before playing fantasy fishing? If not, how did you learn about fantasy fishing?

Daniel: Yes, I was definitely a fan of professional angling. I have been bass fishing since I was about 13 or 14 years old. I got into bass fishing watching Bill Dance on television. I watched a lot of the pros growing up and I still follow them today. I am also a member of FLW Outdoors. I read a lot of the bass fishing articles online and that is how I got into fantasy fishing. This is my first year playing and I am definitely hooked. I have wanted to be a professional bass fisherman since I first started fishing!