By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Despite being limited to just a single day of practice for last week's TBF National Championship at Bull Shoals Lake, Gilbert Gagner had no trouble finding quality fish. He could see them swimming all around in the several coves he visited as they either prepared to move onto spawning beds or were already actively involved in the annual reproduction ritual.

Getting them to bite was another matter, though. That took some trial and error, but he eventually figured it out.

The 43-year-old convenience-store owner and Lake Champlain guide from Highgate Springs, Vt. caught 35-05 over 3 days to win the event. His weight total was equaled by Arizona's Jeff Erickson, but Gagner (pronounced GON-yay), won the tiebreaker on the basis of most fish weighed as Erickson's 3-day total was a fish shy of the tournament limit.



Gagner now must decide whether to accept the "Living the Dream" portion of his prize package, which consists of the use of a boat and tow vehicle for an entry-fees-paid season on the 2013 FLW Tour. He won't make that decision until after the Tour schedule is released later this year.

If he accepts, he must commit to all six Majors, and trips to places such as Texas from his home in the northeastern corner of the country would still be a financial hardship due to fuel and lodging expenses. If he determines that he must decline the offer, it won't be the end of his world.

"At no given time have I ever thought about being a pro or thought that I wanted to be a pro, just because of simple logistics," he said. "You've got to have the time and you've got to have the money, and I had neither, so I did what I could do around here, fishing club stuff and other tournaments.

"This opportunity was just dropped into my lap, and (FLW) has told me to take my time and not decide until the very last minute."

Following are some of the details from his win at Bull Shoals.

Practice

The visit to Bull Shoals was the second for Gagner, who competed in the same event on the big impoundment on the Arkansas/Missouri border in 2009. That tournament fell a little earlier on the calendar and was entirely a pre-spawn affair.

He was unable to make a pre-practice trip this year and spent the lone official practice day touring the lake with eventual non-boater champion Tyler Webb of West Virginia, who he fished with on day 1 of the event.

"We found lots of fish cruising around," he said. "We could see fish, but we weren't fishing properly to catch them. We were fishing too fast.

"I just told Tyler that the next day we were going to change what we were doing and slow down."

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 11-02
> Day 2: 5, 10-09
> Day 3: 5, 13-10
> Total = 15, 35-05

Slowing down definitely paid dividends for Gagner as he caught six keepers and had nearly all of his weight within the first hour and a half of day 1. He culled one time and that was it – the rest of the day was devoid of bent-rod action.

"I only had seven or eight bites the first day and I really struggled in the afternoon portion," he said. "We saw a hundred fish just cruising – they weren't sitting on beds and they wouldn't bite.

"I spent most of the rest of that day practicing for the next day and trying to expand my area. Just seeing those fish told me I was in the right place."

He began day 2 in 15th place in the 47-angler field – about 9 pounds off the pace set by Michigan's Marc Snyder. He moved up to 6th that day, but failed to make up ground on Snyder.

He'd spent day 1 flipping shoreline bushes that were submerged due to the lake level being 8 feet over full pool. Part way through the second day, he realized that most of the fish were positioned at the normal high-water mark, and that piece of knowledge was crucial for the final day.



TBF
Photo: TBF

Gagner won't decide whether to fish the FLW Tour next year until he sees the schedule.

On day 3 he went to 300-yard stretch of bank that he hadn't visited in practice and caught a strong bag of smallmouths to give himself a shot at victory. His chances were greatly enhanced when Snyder, who'd been averaging 15 pounds a day, brought in a single 2-pounder and Erickson, who'd begun the day in 2nd, weighed a four-fish, 7 1/2-pound bag.

All of his weigh-in fish were enticed by either a spider grub attached to a football jighead or a Senko. He briefly threw a tube, but lost a fish on it and immediately put it down.

Winning Gear Notes

> Flipping gear: 6'6" medium-heavy Shimano rod, Shimano Curado casting reel, 17-pound Berkley Trilene XT line, unnamed 1/2-ounce football jighead, Yamamoto Twin Tail spider grub (black/blue).

> He fished the spider grub on an exposed hook. "That's just my preference," he said. "I lose a lot of baits but when I hook a fish, I generally get it."

> Senko gear: 7' medium-heavy Bass Pro Shops spinning rod, Shimano spinning reel, 8-pound Trilene XT, 5/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook, 5" weightless, Texas-rigged Yamamoto Senko (green-pumpkin).

The Bottom Line

> Main factor in his success – "Working well with my co-anglers. All three of them were as calm as I was. We all wanted to fish and have a good time – none of us were nervous or anything. We just did what we could do and that was that. We didn't put any pressure on ourselves."

> Peformance edge – "My Solar Bat sunglasses – being able to see those fish was critical."

Notable

> BassFan columnist Miles Burghoff finished 3rd in the tournament, just 3 ounces shy of the totals compiled by Gagner and Erickson, and was one of seven anglers to qualify for the BFL All-American at the Potomac River in May. He'll recount his experiences at Bull Shoals in an upcoming Sonar Sound-Off piece.

> To see the standings for the Top 7 who fished the final day (and thus qualified for the All-American), click here. Final totals for the other 42 competitors can be found here.

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