'Nice Guy' Matsubu Blows Away Toho Field

Ben Matsubu wondered whether he did the right thing 2 days ago at the Toho Bassmaster Elite Series when he hooked up his co-angler Mary Delgado with the right crankbait. She caught 14 1/2 pounds – twice his weight – and he fell from 3rd to 7th. And that was after he'd shared his best spot with friend Takahiro Omori, who needed some fish to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic.

Matsubu wondered, would being a "nice guy" cost him $100,000?

But as day 3 closed, he'd moved back up to within a pound of then leader Brent Chapman.

And he stunned the field today when he slammed an unbelievable 25 pounds and smoked the field by a massive 14-pound margin.

To put that winning margin in perspective, it took only a 12-08, 2-day total to make the Top 50 cut and $10,000 this week. So his margin of victory was more than the 50th-place finisher's 2-day weight.

His winning total of 66-08 breaks down to an average of about 16 1/2 pounds per day.

Chapman weighed 10-02 today and finished 3rd with 52-05.

Bill Smith, Jr., who led day 1, began the day in 4th. He caught 16-11 – the second heaviest bag of the day – and moved up to finish 2nd.

With his finish, Smith improved to 84th in the year-end Elite Series points, where he's tied with Grant Goldbeck. BASS only invites the Top 84 anglers back to next year's Elite Series – the rest must requalify through the Elite Series Wildcard Qualifier tournament or other trails.

Due to the tiebreaker – heaviest total weight caught on all regular-season, full-field days – Goldbeck's in and Smith's out.

Rookie Glenn Delong weighed 12 pounds for the second day in a row and finished 4th. Scott Rook, with just 6-14 today, improved one spot to finish 5th.

Today marked Matsubu's second Florida win in the past 10 months – he won the Wildcard Qualifier at the Harris Chain last November.

He was the first and only angler this week to break the 20-pound barrier, and he did it on the day when it counted most.

Matsubu Feels Blessed

Along with his $100,000 1st-place prize, Matsubu banked another $10,000 in big-fish and Berkley Heavyweight awards.

"It feels great," he said of the win. "I lost weight trying to figure out what my plan was for today. I only got about 4 1/2 hours sleep, and I'm so tired right now, all I want to do is go to sleep."

He launched this morning with the feeling he needed 18 pounds to have a chance to win. He tanked 12 to 13 pounds by 10:30, at which point he knew the rest of the field would have to catch them.

He then whacked an 8-13 toad. "I just wanted to get that 9-pounder in. I'd just gotten through catching a 5 and a 6, and I said, 'Man, just let me get this one in.' The barb of the hook wasn't even in it. I thought it was a 12-pounder when that head pulled out of the water. It was an old fish."

He finally ended with a 3 1/2-pounder that culled out a dink.

"I knew I had close to 24 pounds and it felt great," he said.

What's curious about his two Florida wins is they've come in the late summer and fall, when Florida's at its most difficult.

"I've struggled for the last 4 years here in Florida," he said. "I just can't figure these fish out. But it's always been in spring (that I've struggled). The last two I won here were in the spring and summer.

"I just feel blessed. And these fans are great."

His primary area was in Toho, out in open water. The key, he said, was that he fished grass points along a massive area of matted grass. He noted that others passed by the key spots all week, but he was able to find them with his Humminbird Side Imaging unit. He's not sponsored by the company – he bought the unit at Bass Pro Shops.

He primarily used two techniques – he cranked a Lucky Craft RC 1.5, and Carolina-rigged a "generic" junebug worm he purchased locally several years ago.

The full details of his winning pattern, plus pattern information for the other top finishers, will be posted soon.

2nd: Smith Feels Good

Smith was on a solid pattern in a good area – he just ran into a 25-pound wall with the name Matsubu spray-painted across it.

About his finish, Smith said: "I feel pretty good about it. I felt like if I could catch 16 or 18 pounds, I'd put the pressure on Brent. I knew Ben had been catching them, but I didn't think he'd catch them that good.

"I had my chances today. I lost two big fish on top of the two big ones I had."

He noted he's actually "kind of glad" he lost those two big ones. If he'd caught them, he'd have probably finished within a few pounds of Matsubu. He lost a 2-pounder over the side of the boat yesterday during bag-up, just prior to weigh-in, so if he'd lost by 2 pounds, that bumble might have haunted him for life.

Also notable is he's not broken up about missing Elite Series requalification based on a tiebreaker.

"Going into this tournament, I planned on not fishing next year," he said. "Me and my family planned on my just fishing the (Bassmaster) Opens. I was looking at the points, and even if I'd won the event, I didn't' think I'd have enough to requalify.

"We just had a baby boy, and I've got a 3-year-old boy. I missed him tremendously this year. So we planned to go fish the Opens and requalify and come back the following year."

He did say that if he's reinvited for next year – a distinct possibility, based on who accepts invitations from the Opens – he'd consider accepting if he got the right sponsorships and could afford to have his family travel with him.

If he doesn't fish next year, he'll stay busy with the Backwaters Tackle store he owns.

"We're getting ready to launch a new website – TackleExperts.com," he said. "So taking some time off won't hurt us any. It'll give me more time to get that up and working properly."

3rd: Chapman Will Take it

Chapman, like Smith, ran into the 25-pound wall, but he didn't help his cause with a 10-pound limit today.

"I'm happy, but I really thought I had 2nd," he said of his finish. "Now I'm very disappointed with my day. The fish were a little lighter than I thought. So on that note, I wish I'd had the opportunity to catch a few more fish.

"But on the same hand, if someone had asked me (before the event) if I'd take a Top 12 finish, I'd say absolutely."

He also takes away a key lesson from this event.

"I didn't even catch a 2-pounder all of practice," he said. "So the biggest thing for me is this is a big confidence booster – to remember to not get myself down even if I have a bad practice. Bad practices can turn into great tournaments."

He added that he was shocked to see Matsubu weigh 25 pounds. "When a guy goes out and does that well, and catches that kind of weight, he deserves to win. If I'm going to lose, I'd rather lose it that way than by ounces."

4th: Delong Stoked

For rookie Delong, this was a heck of a way to end the season. He moved up from 92nd to end the season 81st in the points.

"I'm ecstatic," he said. "This is the tournament of my life – the tournament of my career.

"My career was on the line. I came down here with a Top 12 finish on my mind to requalify for the Elites. I got 4th. What else can I say? I did what I had to do."

He noted he missed fish the first 3 days, and one today that would have helped, and he wasn't surprised to see Matsubu sack 25.

"The spot I was fishing here last year – I caught 26 pounds there," he added. "It's just a matter of getting the lucky bite. He had an 8-13, and that's the difference."

5th: Rook Happy With Finish, Year

A 5th-place finish moved Rook up to end the year 7th in the points.

"I feel great," he said of his finish, and his season. "It was a really good year. And I'm really happy. When I came here, I had the Classic made, so my goal was just to cash a check and try to move up further in the Angler of the Year money – it pays a little better in the Top 10. I did all that.

"I busted a good bag yesterday and made the Top 12, and ended up in the Top 6. I'm tickled."

One down note is his friend Davy Hite missed the Classic.

"I room with Davy Hite," Rook said. "He wasn't catching them real good and was on the bubble (for the Classic). I told Davy to come down with me to the area I was fishing. It turned out Kevin VanDam found the same fish, and Kevin Wirth, and Casey Ashley.

"(The first day), I hit the key spots and caught six or eight keepers real quick in 30 minutes. Then I waved Davy over, to try to get him enough to make the Classic, and his non-boater Harry Potts winds up catching 21 pounds. Davy only caught like 5 pounds. That kind of hurt."

11th: Scroggins A Little Disappointed

Toho expert Terry Scroggins was running and gunning this week, and flipping mats. He ran out of fish yesterday, and couldn't find anything new today. He weighed less than 9 combined pounds the past 2 days and finished 11th.

"I'm a little disappointed I didn't catch them the last 2 days," he said. "Practice was tough on me, and I struggled through the tournament. But I'm generally happy with the 12th-place finish."

The Top 12 helped him climb to end the year 4th in the points. And he leads the Southern Open points, so "all in all it's been a good year.

"It's a good feeling, but it can come and go," he added. "I realize that, so I'll try to stay on top of it as much as I can."

About today, he noted: "I knew I was going to run out of fish. I was preparing for it and trying to find new fish every day. I just couldn't find any more."

12th: Wurm Fine With It

Given the situation, Mike Wurm's elated about his 12th-place finish. He entered the event at 48th in the points, and needed to climb at least 12 spots to make the Classic. He did that and more, and in the end, that's what matters most to him.

"I feel excellent, and really satisfied," he said. "I put a lot of hard work in this week, stuck to my guns, and stuck to my focus. I had that (Classic) goal in mind, and it worked out. Everything came together. Hopefully next year I won't put myself in that predicament."

He began the day in 9th, but a 3-02 bag dropped him to 12th. He's not complaining – he'd been running out of fish, and knew it was just a matter of time until they dried up.

"Maybe they moved – I never could locate them again," he said. "I had two places, and besides that, I had nothing else really going. So I had to scramble and look for something today.

"I'd already done my work (made the Classic), so this was just icing on the cake. I was 10 pounds behind the leader (yesterday), and I knew this was Toho, but I wasn't on that kind of fish. I'm very satisfied with my week."

He used two techniques. Each morning, he threw a Smithwick Devil's Horse behind the grass. He later backed out to a mid-lake point, where he Carolina-rigged a 6-inch watermelon-candy Strike King 3X lizard with a 1/2-ounce Tru-Tungsten weight.

Notable

> Day 4 stats – 12 anglers, 8 limits, 2 fours, 2 twos.

> To view the year-end points standings, click here.

> Jon Bondy's biggest fish today was a 6-05. He never weighed a limit, but finished 6th. He flipped Kissimmee grass and said he caught two 5 1/2s, a 6 1/2, and one almost 8 from the same spot. "I fished it quite a bit," he added. "But in 7 days, I didn't catch a limit here, and made the Top 12 cut. That's unbelievable for me."

> Martens, who caught 10-05 today and finished 7th, got to watch Matsubu's magic. "I witnessed some seriously big fish being caught," he said. "(Matsubu) was like a couple hundred yards from me. It was impressive every time he hooked a big one. I was in a calm cove. He was on a windy point."

> Eighth-place James Niggemeyer said: "I'm really pleased with my finish because practice was so horrible. I never had a limit in practice, and one day I had one bite. And I'm happy I ended the year on a high note, and made it into the Top 50 for AOY – I'm 44th overall."

> Weigh-in was briefly delayed tonight due to a lighting storm. Bradley Hallman, who finished 9th, joked that he wished it started raining before he took the stage, so nobody saw his 4-13 weight.

Day 4 (Final) Standings

1. Ben Matsubu -- Hemphill, TX -- 20, 66-08 -- 305 $111,000
Day 1: 5, 16-01 -- Day 2: 5, 07-10 -- Day 3: 5, 17-08 -- Day 4: 5, 25-05

2. Bill Smith Jr. -- Somerset, KY -- 19, 52-07 -- 300 -- $31,000
Day 1: 5, 18-06 -- Day 2: 5, 10-12 -- Day 3: 4, 06-10 -- Day 4: 5, 16-11

3. Brent Chapman -- Lake Quivira, KS -- 20, 52-05 -- 300 -- $25,000
Day 1: 5, 10-14 -- Day 2: 5, 18-12 -- Day 3: 5, 12-09 -- Day 4: 5, 10-02

4. Glenn Delong -- Bellville, OH -- 20, 50-09 -- 285 -- $18,000
Day 1: 5, 15-07 -- Day 2: 5, 10-02 -- Day 3: 5, 12-03 -- Day 4: 5, 12-13

5. Scott Rook -- Little Rock, AR -- 18, 41-09 -- 280 -- $18,000
Day 1: 5, 11-13 -- Day 2: 3, 03-08 -- Day 3: 5, 19-06 -- Day 4: 5, 06-14

6. Jon Bondy -- Windsor CANADA -- 15, 41-01 -- 276 -- $16,500
Day 1: 3, 08-15 -- Day 2: 4, 15-14 -- Day 3: 4, 06-06 -- Day 4: 4, 09-14

7. Aaron Martens -- Leeds, AL -- 17, 40-14 -- 272 -- $15,000
Day 1: 2, 02-03 -- Day 2: 5, 13-12 -- Day 3: 5, 14-10 -- Day 4: 5, 10-05

8. James Niggemeyer -- Van, TX -- 18, 40-08 -- 268 -- $15,500
Day 1: 5, 08-10 -- Day 2: 3, 05-10 -- Day 3: 5, 19-01 -- Day 4: 5, 07-03

9. Bradley Hallman -- Norman, OK -- 19, 40-07 -- 264 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 08-07 -- Day 2: 5, 14-01 -- Day 3: 5, 13-02 -- Day 4: 4, 04-13

10. Cliff Pace -- Petal, MS -- 20, 40-04 -- 260 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 10-06 -- Day 2: 5, 12-12 -- Day 3: 5, 10-04 -- Day 4: 5, 06-14

11. Terry Scroggins -- San Mateo, FL -- 16, 36-10 -- 257 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 17-13 -- Day 2: 5, 10-00 -- Day 3: 4, 04-12 -- Day 4: 2, 04-01

12. Mike Wurm -- Hot Springs, AR -- 17, 35-14 -- 254 -- $12,300
Day 1: 5, 10-03 -- Day 2: 5, 11-15 -- Day 3: 5, 10-10 -- Day 4: 2, 03-02

Big Bass

> Day 4 -- Ben Matsubu -- Hemphill, TX -- 08-13 -- $1,000
> Day 3 -- James Niggemeyer -- Van, TX -- 07-15 -- $1,000
> Day 2 -- Jon Bondy -- Windsor CANADA -- 07-15 -- $1,000
> Day 1 -- Jim Murray -- Arabi, GA -- 07-06 -- $1,000