What a turnaround for Tom Monsoor at the recent Pickwick FLW Tour Major. The Wisconsin pro bombed on day 1 with an 8-pound limit, but rallied on day 2 with an 18-plus-pound bag, which moved him up 65 spots to 42nd, where he finished in the money and cashed out for $7,892.
When asked what made the difference on day 2, Monsoor said: "I caught the fish instead of my co-angler. The first day my co-angler had 22 pounds and was leading the thing."
Monsoor added that a little misfortune was involved. For one, his day-1 co-angler, Dan Thill, was also his practice partner. Thill needed to make the Forrest Wood Cup, so Monsoor gave him a full shot at the spot. Thill's first cast produced an 8-08 on Monsoor's own homemade jig. Then Thill popped a few 5s, a 4 and a 3.
"And everything just went wrong for me that day," Monsoor added. "I set the hook and my line broke in the middle. I threw out again and hooked another big one and it pulled off – my drag was too tight from the boat ride. On another fish, my drag was too loose and I didn't land it quick enough and it jumped off. Then I went flipping and broke off twice. It was one of those nightmare days.
"The second day was a whole different story. I got to my ledge and the first fish of the day was an 8-11. So with the 8-pounder (Thill) caught, the two biggest fish of the whole tournament were caught on that spot. I would have loved to fish the third day, believe me."
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