There's really nothing strategy-wise Andy Morgan would've changed at Lake Eufaula. Execution? Sure, he'd like to have a few moments to do over again.
"I had the bites (on Saturday) to make the (Top-10) cut," he said. "Looking back, I land one of those, I make the cut."
Instead, he settled for 11th, his third Top-15 result of the season and a good bounce-back effort after a 68th at Beaver Lake last month.
"I was throwing a swimjig around and had really counted on the morning bite to catch a couple good ones," he said, referring to day 3. "They'd come up and blow it out of the water and snap the claws off my trailer. I just didn't hook one."
He never got onto a wad of fish during the tournament – he maxed out at nine bites on day 1, four on day 2 and five on day 3 – and also couldn't connect with any kicker-quality specimens.
"That water came up a bit Saturday," he said. "It looked perfect and it was rainy and stormy, but it just never materialized for me. I thought I was fixing to mop up. It was strange. I did catch two on a spinnerbait on day 3 so I guess the only thing I might've changed would've been to throw that a little longer."
He'll head to Grand Lake next month in 2nd place in the Angler of the Year points, a position he never expected to be in.
"Other than Beaver, I'm just surprised," he said. "As good as Brent (Ehrler) is, I'm surprised he stumbled (at Eufaula). It's nice to be in contention because I thought I had no chance."
The Big Bite Lookback, which focuses on the angler who's first out of the final cut at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great folks at Big Bite Baits.
