The just-concluded offseason was a stressful period for a lot of FLW Tour pros due to the uncertainty created by the Genmar bankruptcy proceedings. Anthony Gagliardi wasn't among the worriers, and that was by design.
"I didn't pay attention to anything," said the South Carolinian who was the Tour's Angler of the Year (AOY) in 2006. "I was more separated from bass fishing than I ever had been. I didn't fish much and I didn't read much, and I think it was for the best.
"A lot of people got worked up, but I figured whatever was going to happen, it was going to happen. It was a type of pressure that I didn't need."
The 2010 Tour campaign, now shortened to five events due to the cancellation at the Red River earlier this month, is set for its belated opening at Missouri's Table Rock Lake next week. Gagliardi's ready to get back to business – he was the winner there a year ago – and he's vowed to fish aggressively throughout the circuit.
"With only the five tournaments and reduced payouts on the (Eastern FLW) Series, there's less opportunities to make money this year. It's not like you can just sit back and cash Top-50 checks and come out ahead.
"It'll be a little bit harder to have a good year financially. Some guys are going to take a few more risks and I could be in that same boat. I enjoy fishing the tournaments because it's all about going out and trying to catch them."
More Family Time
Gagliardi focused primarily on his family during his self-imposed exile from the fishing world this past fall and winter. Wife Kristin has taken this school year off from teaching and they and daughter Laken (who turned 2 last week) traveled to numerous places around their home state.
"We did a lot of stuff around Columbia and did a lot of visiting with relatives," he said. "Laken isn't quite old enough to handle traveling too far yet."
And before long, Laken won't be the youngest member of the family – Kristin is set to deliver a boy next month. He doesn't think that his son's pending arrival will affect his on-the-water performance this season.
"I had a good year after Laken was born, so I don't feel it'll be a distraction or a hindrance. If he comes early, I could miss a little practice at Norman, but it's just a short drive from there to Columbia – about an hour and a half or so."
Quest for the Cup
With an AOY trophy already adorning his mantel, Gagliardi said his current top goal is to win the Forrest Wood Cup. He'll have to fish his way into the event through the Tour this year – he stood a good chance of making it via last year's Series, but missed the final stop at Clarks Hill when a mysterious illness put Laken in the hospital for more than a week.
"She had an extremely high fever and it was some sort of infection – either viral or bacterial," he said. "It eventually went away and the official diagnosis was 'fever of unknown origin.'
"As close (to Columbia) as Clarks Hill is, I could've probably tried to squeeze that one in, but I wouldn't have been able to focus on fishing. I spent a lot of time down there in pre-practice and I felt pretty good about that (tournament)."
His Tour win at Table Rock took away much of the financial pressure brought on by the country's economic downturn that hit the fishing industry hard. It's something he'd love to repeat next week.
He won last year by fishing deep-running jerkbaits over channel-swing points and thinks that pattern might play well again.
"It's definitely possible because the conditions should be real similar, or at least relatively close. The lake might not be as far along (toward the pre-spawn) this year, but I should be able to catch some fishing like I did.
"I feel good about it, but I'm still going to go there with an open mind. I'll try some of the things I did last time that didn't work and I'll also try some new things. I have a pretty good idea of what to do based on last year, and that affords me the opportunity to look for something else."
Notable
> Gagliardi, who also had a runner-up finish at Champlain last year, ended up 16th in the Tour AOY chase. He would've contended for the title again if not for a 147th-place bomb at Kentucky Lake. "I have no idea what I did wrong there," he said. "I fished all up and down that whole lake and I caught a lot of fish, but I never got on any quality."
> He started last year at No. 48 in the BassFan World Rankings and ended it at 21st.
