Gagliardi Was Strong, Consistent All Season

As Anthony Gagliardi said, his goal this year was to place in the Top 50. He did that in all but one tournament, and here's how

his FLW Tour season broke down.

Lake Okeechobee, Fla. (Jan. 19–22): 24th

This year's Okeechobee event was a bumper-boat affair. Most of the field sat rail-to-rail in the Monkey Box, so Gagliardi was happy to escape with a 24th.

"Oh man, I was pleased after that one," he said. "I'd had a mediocre practice and the first day of that event, I struggled a lot. I didn't weigh much at all. The second day, I was fortunate and got two pretty good fish. So I was very happy."

But he did regret his decision to avoid the Monkey Box. "I think that was one of my mistakes. I stayed away from it. I fished the EverStart there and got so disgusted, I told myself I would not even practice for the FLW there. I stayed away from it."

Lake Toho, Fla. (Feb. 9–12): 59th

Toho was the only time Gagliardi finished outside the Top 50 all season. The sting hurt. "That's where I lost Angler of the Year (AOY) – at that tournament," he said. "I had so many opportunities on that second day to put AOY away. I cost myself at least 30 places by losing fish.

"I was catching them on a spinnerbait. I had trailer hooks – everything you could do. I was hooking 3- and 4-pounders and it was automatic. They'd jump and come off every time."

He weighed a small limit on day 2. "I had the opportunity to have a decent limit," he added. "I don't think I could have made the cut, but I would have helped myself out a lot (in the Tour points). AOY wasn't on my radar that early, but I could have helped myself a lot."

Ouachita River, La. (March 9–12): 27th

The Ouachita FLW was a locking tournament, and most of the field ran at least an hour to their fishing spots. Gagliardi locked, but like Toho, he lost key fish that hurt him. "I lost one close to 7 pounds on the second day, which cost me making the cut," he said.

"I fished a good tournament and that was the only fish I lost. With a short day (due to a long run), it makes it hard. You can't lose very many fish with a short day, because you don't get that many opportunities."

He noted that river fishing is one of his weaknesses. "I never seem to get on a solid pattern when I fish a river. Part of that is I've never fished any rivers here at home (South Carolina) before the Tour.

"I have very little river experience. But I found a good group of fish in practice – I was practicing with a buddy of mine in the tournament. We both fished the same fish, and I knew I had a good shot at making the cut. Toshinari (Namiki) won the tournament not too far from where I was fishing."

Beaver Lake, Ark. (April 13–16): 34th

Beaver's a funny lake and it seems anglers fall into one of two camps – those who are good on Beaver and those who aren't. Gagliardi had struggled there previously – he finished 70th in 2004, and before that 143rd and 54th. This time, he kept checking a smallmouth spot and it paid off the final day.

"Actually, I was happy coming away from this one too," he said. "I didn't find a whole lot in practice. Beaver's always hard to figure out. You never know if you have it pegged.

"The first day didn't go too well. But I had a couple places from a couple years ago where I knew smallmouths would spawn. I kept checking them every day of practice, and checked them the first day of the tournament and never saw anything."

He didn't let go of the spot though, and paid another visit on day 2. "Around lunch on the second day I checked it again, and they were there. I limited out with four good smallmouths – I had to weigh one small Kentucky. I was fortunate those fish pulled in."

After Beaver he was 5th in the AOY race. "By then, I was thinking about it," he said.

Lake Wheeler, Ala. (May 11–14): 17th

Gagliardi finished 17th at Wheeler. Must mean he locked through to Guntersville, right? Wrong. He stuck it out at Wheeler both days.

"This was another one – I should have made the cut there," he said. "I stayed in Wheeler, and man I found an awesome congregation of fish cranking."

He caught enough to make the cut, but got whacked with three dead-fish penalties that sent him packing tackle on day 2. "Where I was catching them, they were eating cranks so good, it was getting in their gills, and I had one I gut-hooked with a deep-diver," he said. "I caught another, a 5-pounder, out of 26 feet. I had no needle and couldn't decompress her.

"I would have loved to make the cut," he added. "I could catch them so fast – there were so many fish stacked up – and 15 pounds wasn't a problem. And with those guys having a short day (locking to Guntersville), I hated that I didn't make the cut."

He was 2nd in the Tour points after Wheeler – and only 2 points behind eventual AOY Greg Hackney – with one event left in the season. "It was real close," he said of the points. "It did weigh on my mind. But I made it a point not to let it change my approach to the last tournament."

Potomac River, Md. (June 22–25): 37th

At the Potomac River, Hackney pulled through with a Top 10 finish and clinched AOY, while Gagliardi finished 37th and slid to end the year 5th in the points.

"I didn't look at it like I had to make the cut at the Potomac," he said. "I wanted to catch as many fish as I could – I'd hate not to give myself a shot. So it was not a hero or zero deal for me. I went out and practiced like I always do. I found some fish, but never did get on a whole lot of big fish.

"At the end, after it was all said and done, I was still pleased. I followed through with my gameplan. There's not much more you could do. I wasn't really disappointed. I would have loved to win AOY. I think it would have opened a lot of doors for me and increased my exposure.

"I've gotten very, very little exposure the last 2 years," he added. "But at the same time, (AOY) wasn't a goal for me at the beginning of the year. One day, whenever I'm financially stable enough to make it my goal and not be concerned with putting money in the bank to make a living, I might make it a goal and change my style a little."

Forrest L. Wood Championship, Lake Hamilton, Ark. (July 13–16): 5th

Gagliardi finished 3rd at least year's Championship at Logan Martin, and came close again this year. He said Hamilton set up well for him, because he's good on schooling fish.

"I'd never been there (Hamilton)," he said. "But I really do love that kind fishing – schooling fish, open water. I feel really comfortable doing that. I fished a lot of stuff like that back home. You just have to sit and wait on them. I'm real comfortable waiting for them 15 minutes without a cast. If I feel like they can come up, and I can make an accurate cast and catch a 2-pounder, I'll sit as long as it takes."

He also fished some deep brush with a dropshot and Spot Remover jighead.

A Look Ahead

Gagliardi will fish both the FLW Tour and FLW Series next year, and since he lacks a paying sponsor, his goals (for now) will remain the same. "I'm not going to change anything," he said. "I still want to make the Top 50 in every tournament. If I do that, with 11 events, that's $110,000."

Another plus is he'll revisit Kentucky Lake this year – site of his 2004 win. "And I'm fishing my home lake, Murray. So there's a lot of familiarities next year, as opposed to some years before. My confidence level is probably a little higher knowing I've been to some of these places a lot."

But back to his goals. There's one more that could change the others. "Another one of my goals is to land a paying sponsor – somebody that's going to help me with entry fees or whatever," he said. "I don't have any paying sponsors right now. If I got some, that would then enable me to change some of my goals – set them higher and take more risks along the way."

Notable

> Since 2002, his average regular-season finish is 42nd.

> He finished 23rd at the Cabela's Top Gun Championship, which was 2nd-last place. He said the practice restrictions were a challenge for him. "I think part of it was I'm not used to a shorter practice period."