The Chevy Open (Murray FLW) near Columbia, S.C. promised to be a slugfest, but nobody expected the drama at today's final weigh-in. Tim Carroll, who led days 1 and 2, delivered a jaw-dropping 30-15 sack. And yesterday's leader, Brennan Bosley, threw up a 24-13 limit. But local Anthony Gagliardi topped them all. His 28-04 bag of pigs gave him just enough to edge out Bosley by 1-08.
The win is Gagliardi's second, but his sweetest – he did it in front of a hometown crowd. And he did it against two other sticks on a big-fish pattern. And he did it in some of the most miserable conditions
in recent memory – near-freezing temperatures and a driving rain. And his 2-day, 47-04 total is the heaviest "final-round weight" in FLW Tour history.
Bosley's 24-13 limit was close, but not enough. Added to his 20-15 day-3 weight, he finished with 45-12 total.
Tim Carroll made a hard charge and also set a record. His 30-15 limit today (a 6-pound-plus average) was the heaviest single-day weight in FLW Tour history. But Carroll couldn't overcome his lost fish on day 2, when he weighed three for 14-11, and finished 3rd with 45-10.
More than 10 pounds behind Carroll was 4th-place finisher Dave Wolak, who caught a 12-05 limit today and finished with 25-01 total.
Jeremiah Kindy finished 5th with four for 12-15 today and 21-12 total.
Gagliardi Stoked
Gagliardi's previous Tour win was at Kentucky Lake in 2004. The win here boosted his Tour winnings over the $500,000 mark.
"Oh man, I feel on cloud 9," he said. "I can't believe it. I didn't think I had near as much weight as I did. I must not have paid real close attention to what I caught. I knew I'd be 2nd or 3rd at worst. But to win? I just can't believe it."
Anglers weighed their fish one-by-one onstage, and each time, a big fish put someone else in the lead. Gagliardi was to weigh the final fish, and needed a little over 6 pounds to beat Bosley.
"That weigh-in was absolutely the best," Gagliardi said. "It was the most dramatic weigh-in I've ever seen. Compared to that when I won Kentucky Lake, that was nothing.
"Each person was weighing one big fish to take the lead. It came down to the last fish, and I needed around 6 pounds. When you see that weight pop up onscreen – there's nothing to describe that."
He used the same pattern today that carried him the first 3 days – jigs and cranks in deeper water. Details of his winning pattern, and patterns for the other top finishers, will be posted soon.
Brennan Bosley said he fished flawlessly, and he's happy with his finish.
2nd: Bosley Feels Great
Bosley, from Benton, Ark., made it close. And he watched Gagliardi win once before, at when Bosley finished 7th at Kentucky Lake. But this event was an FLW Tour "Open," so 2nd paid $100,000. Not too bad.
"I feel great about it," he said of his finish. "You know, I did everything I could do. I went out and fished the last 2 days flawlessly. I never lost a fish. My execution was top-notch. I don't know if I've ever executed that well in a tournament situation.
"Sure I would love to win," he added. "But I had a great day today. I got beat. That's all. I'll just take my $100,000 and be happy with it."
4th: Wolak Happy
Wolak had a short practice, which he thinks helped – he didn't get locked into shallow fish. And considering he finished 115th at the Okeechobee opener, he's all over his 4th-place finish here.
"I feel excellent about it," he said. "I stunk up the joint at Okeechobee, so I had it in me this week. I don't know what that did to me – doing so poorly at Okeechobee – but I told my wife that I really wanted to make the cut here.
"I had the stroke of good fortune to make the cut on a tiebreaker, so I went out to fished as hard as I could. I did a little bit of everything. When it got cold I made some adjustments, fished a little deeper and scratched my five fish out."
He noted he was impressed by Gagliardi's performance under pressure. "Seriously, my hat's off to Anthony. First of all, he was on his home water and had a lot of pressure. To come in with ridiculous weight, in tough fishing conditions, was very, very impressive to me."
6th: Pirch Happy Too
Arizona's Cliff Pirch weighed 10-02 yesterday and 10-15 today to finish 6th with 21-01 total. Gagliardi's total was more than double his weight, so Pirch doesn't feel too bad. But he was cold today.
"I'm happy to get in the Top 10," he said. "I feel real fortunate to end up 6th. It was a great tournament. A lot of things worked well for me, and I'm real happy to be where I am."
He noted conditions were so miserable it affected his fishing – he let his hands get too cold. "If it would have been around 32 degrees, that would have been better. It would have been snowing and more comfortable.
"But we had rain that needed to turn to snow. I got three good bites on a jig and lost three. I let my hands get too cold and I didn't have good feeling today."
8th: Herren Pleased
Alabama's Matt Herren could have had a better finish today, but he dumped a 10-pounder and weighed four for 16-06 (18-11 total).
"I had a good tournament," he said. "I had to make some adjustments – I had some big changes that presented me some problems on day 3. Other than that, I'm pleased with what happened."
He fished shallow, and the 10-pounder he hooked today bit in less than 2 feet of water.
10th: Segraves Not Happy
Florida's Terry Segraves finished at the bottom with only three fish for 7-05. He was on a shallow bite, which imploded when the weather turned cold.
"It's pretty lousy – I'm not very proud of it," he said. "I stayed with the shallow-water fish I found, and that kind of let me down. I stayed with them longer than I should have."
But along with Wolak, he's happy that his Top 10 here helps compensate for a poor Okeechobee finish. In Segraves' case, he finished 155th at his home-state opener.
"It's always great to get in the Top 10," he noted. "But when you get in there and compete against those other nine, you say, 'I want to win this thing.' When it doesn't happen, you're kind of disappointed."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 10 anglers, 6 limits, no zeroes.
> Gagliardi is currently ranked No. 7 in the BassFan World Rankings. The post-Murray rankings will be updated shortly.
> Carroll weighed an 8-pounder 3 of the 4 days, and noted he "lost" the tournament on day 3. "I had several fish pull off Friday, and any one of those would have been a $200,000 fish. That's easy to say in hindsight, but going down in the record books for the heaviest 1-day weight in (Tour) history is truly amazing."
> The previous 1-day weight record was 29-06, set by Jeff Coble at Santee Cooper in 1996.
> Along with the "final-round" FLW Tour weight record, Lake Murray also owns the "opening round" weight record – 49-08, set by Darrel Robertson in 2003.
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Anthony Gagliardi -- Prosperity, Sc -- 5, 19-00 -- 5, 28-04 -- 10, 47-04 -- $200,000
2. Brennan Bosley -- Benton, Ar -- 5, 20-15 -- 5, 24-13 -- 10, 45-12 -- $100,000
3. Tim Carroll -- Owasso, Ok -- 3, 14-11 -- 5, 30-15 -- 8, 45-10 -- $50,000
4. David Wolak -- Warrior Run, Pa -- 5, 12-12 -- 5, 12-05 -- 10, 25-01 -- $40,000
5. Jeremiah Kindy -- Benton, Ar -- 4, 8-13 -- 4, 12-15 -- 8, 21-12 -- $30,000
6. Clifford Pirch -- Payson, Az -- 4, 10-02 -- 5, 10-15 -- 9, 21-01 -- $28,000
7. David Smith -- Del City, Ok -- 5, 8-11 -- 5, 10-02 -- 10, 18-13 -- $26,000
8. Matt Herren -- Trussville, Al -- 2, 2-05 -- 4, 16-06 -- 6, 18-11 -- $24,000
9. Katsutoshi Furusawa -- Tokyo, Japan -- 3, 6-03 -- 2, 6-09 -- 5, 12-12 -- $22,000
10. Terry Segraves -- Kissimmee, Fl -- 1, 3-12 -- 2, 3-09 -- 3, 7-05 -- $20,000
