By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
The first two events of Andy Morgan's 2016 FLW Tour season represented his worst start to a campaign since 2007. Not since then had he failed to make the Top-20 cut in either of the first two tournaments.
The 44-year-old Tennessean's consistency is so great, however, that what's termed a lackluster outing for him is a pretty solid showing for everybody else. Those 40th- and 42nd-place finishes at Okeechobee and Hartwell, respectively, still garnered him a couple of five-figure paychecks. And as he would go on to prove, in no way did they squash his chances of winning his third Angler of the Year title in the past 4 years.
He fared no worse than 13th in any of the season's final four derbies and wrapped up his latest points crown on Friday at Lake Champlain with relative ease. It marked the 10th consecutive year that he's finished among the Top 10 on the points list and he joined Clark Wendlandt and David Dudley as a three-time Tour AOY.
As is his custom, Morgan was low-key about his latest accomplishment, which was worth $100,000.
"These last four tournaments I put it together and it worked out well," he said. "I put a lot of effort into it and I know it's a cliché to say never give up, but it works.
"I'm 44 years old and you can see the gray in my beard, but I've still got the work ethic. Maybe I've gotten a little smarter as time's gone on and I don't have to work quite as hard as I once did, but I know how to work."
His competitive fire hasn't diminished a bit.
"When time runs out on the clock (on a tournament day), I'm kind of pissed. Like when I had 17 pounds (on day 2 at Champlain), I wasn't happy because I know I could've done better somewhere. That kind of mentality may give you an edge."
Not an Easy Go
It's easy to look at all of the talent that's departed the FLW Tour in favor of the Bassmaster Elite Series in recent years and claim that winning titles and awards has gotten easier for the stalwarts such as Morgan who remain on the circuit. Morgan, naturally, doesn't buy into that line of thinking.
"You've still got to go out and catch something," he said. "It's no different. I go to the (Toyota Texas Bass Classic) and do pretty good there, too (Top-4 finishes in each of the past 2 years), and that's the Top 15 in each league. It's fishing, and I don't give a damn who shows up. That doesn't make any sense.
"If I was coming to Champlain and catching 13 pounds a day and doing good because the field sucked, that'd be a different story. But that's not the case."
No matter the scenario at a particular venue, he almost always figures out something that'll bring him a solid payday. And if a venue has stymied him, like Champlain did on his first several visits, he'll eventually solve that puzzle, too.
After finishing no better than 52nd on four trips to the New York-Vermont fish factory, he's now made back-to-back cuts there.
"I think it's just focus," he said. "Champlain can be very intimidating because it's big and it's got so many fish, both largemouths and smallmouths, and you can get confused trying to figure out what you need to do.
"I finally just had to start fishing my way for the largemouths. I had to hardhead-up, keep my focus and get it done."
Ready for a Victory
If there's anything that bothers Morgan, it's that he hasn't had a victory since he triumphed at Beaver Lake in 2007. There have been many, many close calls in the interim, including six runner-up finishes.
"I just want to win something," he said. "I don't care what it is – I'm just tired of coming in 2nd and that kind of stuff.
"It's fun being in contention, but I'd still like to win one every now and then."
He'll get one more shot at it this year when he competes in his 19th Forrest Wood Cup at Lake Wheeler in Alabama. Shortly after that, his attention will turn to his other great passion – deer hunting.
Then he'll be back to do it all over again in 2017.
"I make a good living over here (on the FLW side) and I enjoy it and it's not too stressful, and I like to hunt and do other things. My mouth waters every time they fish the (Bassmaster) Classic in February or March and that's something I'd really love to do, but I just don't want to go through everything that it'd take to get there and I probably won't ever try."
