Tim Carroll came close to winning the recent Chevy Open (Murray FLW). He staged one of the most remarkable comebacks in memory when he weighed a 30-15 limit on day 4. That was the heaviest 1-day sack in FLW Tour history, but wasn't enough to win the tournament. He finished 2 ounces behind 2nd-place Brennan Bosley and 1-10 behind winner Anthony Gagliardi.
Arguably, Carroll lost the tournament on day 3. After he led the first 2 days, he dumped two fish on day 3 and came in with a trio for 14-11. One more 2-pound fish that day would have sealed the win. In other words, either of those two fish he dumped was a $150,000 fish, since 1st place paid $200,000 and 3rd paid $50,000.
He told BassFan he's okay with it. "I stumbled on day 3. I just didn't fish good at all that day. I let two big fish pull off, so I had a big hole to dig out of. As far as the way it ended up, 3rd place is great, and $50,000 is a lot of money.
"Granted, I would like to have the $200,000 or $100,000, but I think it worked out just right. Both those guys (Gagliardi and Bosley) are young and starting their families. At my point in life, money is more important to them than it is to me."
Asked about one of his day 3 dumps being worth $150,000, he said: "I thought about that for 15 hours on the way home." But not before he experienced a little more frustration. First, his camper "looked like a carnival" and it took an hour to load. Then, when he was all ready to pull out and hit the road, he looked back and his truck tire was blown.
"It was flatter than a fritter," he said. "It was frustrating. But that's just part of the way things go sometimes."
Details of his Murray pattern will be posted tomorrow.
