Morrow's Decisions, Resourcefulness Played Big Roles

Troy Morrow's pre-tournament research on Arkansas' DeGray Lake proved to be a complete waste of time and effort. But once he arrived at the site of the 2010 BFL All-American, just about every decision he made was right on the money.

The 38-year-old from Toccoa, Ga., who describes his day job as "doing whatever it takes to get to the next tournament," sacked 38-13 over 3 days to prevail in a 55-angler field that included several current and former tour pros. He outdistanced runner-up Tee Watkins by a little more than 8 pounds.

The victory not only earned him $120,000, but also gained him a berth in the Forrest Wood Cup in August. That event will take place at Lake Lanier – which is just 35 minutes from his home and is a venue at which he's fished well over 100 tournaments.

He came in one fish short of a limit on the final day and that bag was his lightest of the tournament, but he nonetheless triumphed at the All-American on his second attempt (he also qualified in 2006 and finished 17th). Throughout the event he displayed the savvy and resourcefulness of a full-time pro, which he aspires to be.

Here's how he did it.

Practice

Morrow tried to gather as much information about DeGray as he could prior to his initial visit, but solid intel was hard to come by. After all, the lake's not exactly on par with Guntersville or Fork as a bass-fishing destination.

Just about everything he found said it contained a substantial amount of hydrilla and his first inclination was that he might be able to fish Carolina rigs and jigs along the edges of the grass in the 18- to 20-foot depth range. But when he got there, he discovered there was little grass to be found.

There was buckbrush, though – lots of it. And he found lots of fish in it during his 4 1/2 days of pre-practice before the lake went off-limits. He said he could've caught a sack that weighed over 20 pounds one day.

Knowing that most of the field would focus on the buckbrush, he spent the rest of his pre-practice time searching for offshore brushpiles, and he found about 70 of them. On the official practice day he checked two of those, shaking off a 4-pounder and boating a 2 1/2.

He also marked about 20 bream beds. "With the full moon coming, I knew that was something I could have as a backup," he said. "It turned out I never fished any of them."

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 13-12
> Day 2: 5, 16-06
> Day 3: 4, 8-11
> Total = 14, 38-13

Morrow started day 1 on a pile where he'd found some schooling fish, and he and his co-angler each boated a good one right away. He threw a Zoom Fluke in the morning and switched to a crankbait and a big worm once the schooling activity was over, and that was a pattern he'd repeat throughout the event.

He ended up with a solid opening bag, but it could've been considerably larger. He broke off a 7-pounder and another fish he never saw on back-to-back casts when they wrapped his line around the brush.

When those fish got free, they took his only two Spro Little John DD crankbaits in clear/chartreuse along with them. He was unable to buy any locally, but he had two others that were a different color, so he scraped off the paint and re-colored them the best he could with an airbrush loaned to him by a friend.

Those newly painted baits helped him compile his exceptional day-2 bag, which included a fish that was well over 6 pounds. However, he eventually had them broken off as well.

He led by about 5 pounds with just 1 day left to fish, but figured he needed a couple more Little Johns to close the deal. The All-American competitors were sharing the same boatyard in Hot Springs with the competitors in the Ouachita FLW Tour, and he talked Scott Suggs into loaning him a couple in the nasty shad color. The paint jobs were a little different than what he'd been throwing, but he thought they might be close enough.

It turned out that the solid fish he caught in the morning on the Fluke was enough by itself to give him the win, but he didn't know that at the time. He finished out his limit on the crankbait, but threw one fish back at the dock after getting a "courtesy bump" – due to a slot limit, largemouths at DeGray must be under 13 inches or over 16 to go to the scale.

That left his bag one fish short, but its weight was more than enough to seal the win.

Pattern Notes

Morrow said the wind never blew exceptionally hard, but it nonetheless played a big role in his strategy because it allowed him to extend the Fluke bite past the early-morning hours.

"Whenever I'd get a little bit of a chop over the brushpile, I'd go back to (the Fluke)," he said. "If you paid attention, you noticed that the wind switched directions a couple of times and having as many places as I did, I could play the wind a little bit better.

"Just a little bit of chop over those piles helped immensely."

Gear Notes

> Cranking gear: 7'11" medium-action Duckett Fishing MicroMagic cranking stick, Shimano Curado casting reel (5:1 ratio), 8- and 10-pound P-Line fluorocarbon line, Spro Little John DD (clear/chartreuse or nasty shad).

> Fluke gear: 7'3" medium-heavy Duckett Fishing MicroMagic rod, same reel (7.3:1 ratio), 12-pound P-Line fluorocarbon, unnamed hook, Zoom Fluke (silver rainbow).

> Worm gear: 7'9" heavy-action Duckett Fishing MicroMagic rod, same reel (7.3:1 ratio), 17-pound P-Line fluorocarbon, unnamed 3/8-ounce tungsten screw-in weight, 5/0 Gamakatsu SuperLine EWG hook, 11" NetBait C-Mac worm (watermelon-red).

The Bottom Line

> Main factor in his success – "I had an overwhelming amount of spots and that allowed me to keep moving."

> Performance edge – "The Fluke was a key because the Spook bite just wasn't there."

Notable

> Morrow is self-employed and offers a variety of services. "I do some construction, some tree-removal and a few other things. But as much as I can fish, I fish."

> He and wife Sara have two daughters: Gabrielle, 7, and Isabella, 8.

Final Standings

Field = 55 boats

1. Troy Morrow -- Toccoa, Ga -- 5, 13-12 -- 5, 16-06 -- 10, 30-02 -- 4, 8-11 -- 14, 38-13 -- $100,000 + $20,000

2. Tee Watkins -- East Point, Ky -- 3, 8-10 -- 5, 16-12 -- 8, 25-06 -- 3, 5-06 -- 11, 30-12 -- $20,000 + $10,000

3. Keith Green -- Arkadelphia, Ar -- 5, 11-05 -- 4, 9-15 -- 9, 21-04 -- 4, 9-04 -- 13, 30-08 -- $16,000

4. Chris Darby -- Mount Ida, Ar -- 4, 7-00 -- 5, 13-13 -- 9, 20-13 -- 3, 8-09 -- 12, 29-06 -- $14,000 + $7,000

5. Jason Threadgill -- Norwood, Nc -- 4, 6-14 -- 5, 11-15 -- 9, 18-13 -- 5, 10-03 -- 14, 29-00 -- $13,000

6. Richie Eaves -- Nauvoo, Il -- 5, 10-14 -- 5, 11-03 -- 10, 22-01 -- 3, 5-00 -- 13, 27-01 -- $12,000 + $5,000.

7. Brandon Palaniuk -- Rathdrum, Id -- 5, 10-07 -- 4, 11-07 -- 9, 21-14 -- 1, 1-13 -- 10, 23-11 -- $11,000 + $4,500

8. Shonn Goodwin -- Moore, Ok -- 5, 12-06 -- 5, 6-10 -- 10, 19-00 -- 2, 1-15 -- 12, 20-15 -- $10,000

9. Ty Garrett -- Pulaski, Tn -- 4, 6-06 -- 5, 14-07 -- 9, 20-13 -- 0, 0-00 -- 9, 20-13 -- $9,000

10. Jason Grape -- Southside, Al -- 5, 17-13 -- 1, 1-07 -- 6, 19-04 -- 0, 0-00 -- 6, 19-04 -- $8,000 + $3,000

The following anglers did not make the cut and did not fish on day 3.

11. Kevin Brown -- Malvern, Ar -- 4, 9-00 -- 4, 9-11 -- 8, 18-11 -- $3,000 + $2,000

12. Jay Brewer -- Collinwood, Tn -- 4, 11-08 -- 3, 6-10 -- 7, 18-02 -- $3,000 + $2,000

13. Charles Cummings -- Leeds, Al -- 5, 9-03 -- 4, 8-15 -- 9, 18-02 -- $3,000 + $2,000

14. Greg Rikard -- Leesville, Sc -- 5, 9-00 -- 5, 8-15 -- 10, 17-15 -- $3,000 + $2,000

15. Brad Hallman -- Norman, Ok -- 5, 13-06 -- 1, 2-07 -- 6, 15-13 -- $3,000

16. Steve Wagner -- New Kent, Va -- 5, 6-08 -- 5, 9-01 -- 10, 15-09 -- $3,000

17. Johnny Price Jr -- Brookwood, Al -- 5, 8-03 -- 5, 7-06 -- 10, 15-09 -- $3,000

18. Duane Paquette -- Beebe, Ar -- 4, 6-07 -- 4, 8-15 -- 8, 15-06 -- $3,000

19. Joshua Wagy -- Dewitt, Va -- 3, 6-15 -- 5, 8-05 -- 8, 15-04 -- $3,000 + $2,000

20. Dan Ehmen -- Rockford, Il -- 3, 6-05 -- 5, 8-12 -- 8, 15-01 -- $3,000

21. Tim Staley -- Dowelltown, Tn -- 3, 6-09 -- 5, 7-14 -- 8, 14-07 -- $2,000

22. Patrick Bone -- Cleveland, Ga -- 3, 5-04 -- 5, 9-00 -- 8, 14-04 -- $2,000 + $1,500

23. Denny Strunk -- Madison, Tn -- 3, 3-10 -- 5, 10-07 -- 8, 14-01 -- $2,000

24. Roger Pope -- Statesville, Nc -- 4, 5-07 -- 4, 7-06 -- 8, 12-13 -- $2,000 + $1,500

25. Jason Counsil -- Casselberry, Fl -- 3, 6-09 -- 3, 5-05 -- 6, 11-14 -- $2,000

26. Patrick Tierney -- Denver, Nc -- 3, 6-07 -- 3, 5-06 -- 6, 11-13 -- $2,000 + $1,500

27. Eric Guimond -- Standish, Me -- 3, 5-07 -- 2, 6-01 -- 5, 11-08 -- $2,000

28. Dennis Berhorst -- Holts Summit, Mo -- 0, 0-00 -- 4, 11-04 -- 4, 11-04 -- $2,000 + $1,500

29. Patrick Dobbins -- Opelika, Al -- 2, 5-09 -- 3, 5-11 -- 5, 11-04 -- $2,000 + $1,500

30. Mark Morgan -- Science Hill, Ky -- 2, 6-00 -- 2, 4-12 -- 4, 10-12 -- $2,000 + $1,500

31. Ryan Deal -- Haubstadt, In -- 5, 9-04 -- 1, 1-01 -- 6, 10-05 -- $1,500 + $1,000

32. Steve Miller -- Mechanicsville, Va -- 4, 7-10 -- 1, 2-09 -- 5, 10-03 -- $1,500

33. Billy Bowen Jr -- Ocala, Fl -- 2, 5-09 -- 2, 4-09 -- 4, 10-02 -- $1,500 + $1,000

34. Dennis Forbes -- Medicine Lodge, Ks -- 4, 7-01 -- 1, 2-05 -- 5, 9-06 -- $1,500 + $1,000

35. Lyn Langston -- Timmonsville, Sc -- 3, 4-01 -- 4, 5-05 -- 7, 9-06 -- $1,500

36. Mark Robertson -- Henderson, Nc -- 1, 2-10 -- 3, 6-08 -- 4, 9-02 -- $1,500 + $1,000

37. Dustin Clontz -- Albemarle, Nc -- 3, 4-12 -- 2, 4-06 -- 5, 9-02 -- $1,500 + $1,000

38. Daniel Fletcher -- Drummonds, Tn -- 2, 3-14 -- 3, 5-02 -- 5, 9-00 -- $1,500

39. Michael Black -- Toledo, Il -- 0, 0-00 -- 5, 8-09 -- 5, 8-09 -- $1,500 + $1,000

40. Jay Keith -- Camden, Sc -- 2, 4-07 -- 1, 4-02 -- 3, 8-09 -- $1,500

41. Kirk Mcmullen -- Macedon, Ny -- 1, 0-15 -- 2, 7-05 -- 3, 8-04 -- $1,500

42. Jason Rayls -- Haskell, Tx -- 2, 5-01 -- 2, 2-15 -- 4, 8-00 -- $1,500

43. Donnie Rubel -- Murfreesboro, Tn -- 1, 1-05 -- 3, 6-03 -- 4, 7-08 -- $1,500

44. Brent Long -- Cornelius, Nc -- 3, 4-15 -- 2, 2-00 -- 5, 6-15 -- $1,500 + $1,000

45. Dave Mease -- Bethlehem, Pa -- 1, 2-12 -- 3, 3-03 -- 4, 5-15 -- $1,500

46. Jesse Draime -- Long Beach, Ms -- 1, 1-02 -- 3, 4-07 -- 4, 5-09 -- $1,500 + $1,000

47. Steve C. Johnson -- Lake Villa, Il -- 1, 1-05 -- 3, 4-03 -- 4, 5-08 -- $1,500 + $1,000

48. Jason Knapp -- Uniontown, Pa -- 2, 2-10 -- 2, 2-07 -- 4, 5-01 -- $1,500 + $1,000

49. David Reault -- Livonia, Mi -- 0, 0-00 -- 2, 4-10 -- 2, 4-10 -- $1,500

50. Don Brown -- Malvern, Ar -- 1, 2-06 -- 1, 2-04 -- 2, 4-10 -- $1,500 + $1,000

51. Dale Gorrell -- Quakertown, Pa -- 0, 0-00 -- 2, 3-09 -- 2, 3-09 -- $1,500

52. Edward Loughran -- Mechanicsville, Va -- 1, 3-04 -- 0, 0-00 -- 1, 3-04 -- $1,500

53. Clint Farris -- Crowley, Tx -- 1, 2-03 -- 0, 0-00 -- 1, 2-03 -- $1,500 + $1,000

54. Brian Tschudy -- Mascoutah, Il -- 0, 0-00 -- 0, 0-00 -- 0, 0-00 -- $1,500

55. David Spivey -- Hamilton, Oh -- 0, 0-00 -- 0, 0-00 -- 0, 0-00 -- $1,500