Richardson 40th, Chris Johnston 71st, Cory Johnston 105th, Gussy 154th
by Curtis Niedermier
FLW PRESS RELEASE
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All largemouths for Andy.
(Photo: FLW) |
Today, Andy Morgan did what he’s previously
failed to do all season long: He stuck with what he knows, fished ways that
he’s comfortable fishing and hammered a tournament-leading stringer of bass
that weighed 18 pounds, 15 ounces.
Morgan, who came into the tournament 109th in
the standings, was the only pro to break the 18-pound mark on day one of the
FLW Tour event presented by General Tire on Lake Cumberland, and he has a
1-pound, 6-ounce lead over Jason Meninger in second place.
Morgan admits that he’s tried a little too
hard this season to fish the patterns that are “supposed to be” good, instead
of sticking with the shallow-water, power-fishing approach that has
historically landed him in check range at tournaments, and Forrest Wood Cup
range at the end of the season. He wasn’t making that mistake here this week.
“I knew coming in here I was gonna fish my
way,” he says. “I don’t give a darn if the smallmouths are biting, or if
they’re biting off the hook. I’m gonna fish my way.
“I made a run, and the lake’s flooded,” he
adds. “There’s a lot of stuff to throw at. The fishing’s good. It’s not like I
smoked ’em, but I got quality bites.”
The smallmouth bite certainly was good today,
too, with most of the top five pros keying on brown bass, which are starting to
spawn on Cumberland’s lower end. Morgan and the rest of the largemouth crew
mostly worked moving baits in flooded trees and bushes.
The Dayton, Tenn., pro says he needed a couple
hours this morning to relocate the largemouths he’d found during practice.
There are real giants in his areas, but he thinks the fish are in a bit of a
funk due to the fluctuating water levels and air temperatures that have ranged
from the mid-20s to mid-70s over the last few days. He anticipates big bags of
fish at tomorrow’s weigh-in.
“I think they’re right on the cusp [of spawning],”
Morgan adds. “The five fish I caught today were all females, and were all full
of eggs.
“It’s really, really random,” he adds. “I
don’t know what the next one is going to be beside or when the next bite is
going to come. But it’s my kind of fishing. It ain’t no dragging around.”
Top 10 pros
1. Andy Morgan – Dayton, Tenn. – 18-15 (5)
2. Jason Meninger – St. Augustine, Fla. – 17-9
(5)
3. Grae Buck – Harleysville, Penn. – 16-13 (5)
4. Jared McMillan – Belle Glade, Fla. – 16-12
(5)
5. Allen Boyd – Salem, Ind. – 16-5 (5)
