Bass Fishing Aug - Sept 2017 | Page 84

After 14 years of trying, Monsoor is finally a Tour champion. TOP FIvE name 1. TOM MONSOOR 2. CHAD WARREN 3. CHRIS JOHNSTON 4. CODY MEYER 5. MICHAEL NEAL hometoWn LA CROSSE, WI SAND SPRINGS, OK PETERBOROuGH, ON AuBuRN, CA DAYTON, TN CO-ANGLER CANNON WINS IN MARYLAND By Chad Love Co-angler champion Ryan Cannon of Bullard, Texas, caught his fish on a Texas-rigged Yamamoto Senko with a pegged 1/8-ounce weight. Cannon target- ed holes in the grass, letting the Senko get down in each hole before working it through the grass clumps. Most of Cannon’s bites came on the fall as he worked the Senko from hole to hole. Other than one fish he caught on a Heddon Zara Spook, all of Cannon’s fish were caught on a Senko, and he employed the same tactic both days to catch 33 pounds, 6 ounces. WeIght 66-11 66-06 65-08 64-11 64-03 fIsh 20 20 20 20 20 WInnIngs $100,200 $30,100 $25,000 $20,000 $19,000 an oS 82 Monsoor knew his rock pile spot could produce a quick limit, so it’s where he started every day during a low and incoming tide, noting the first morning in particular that “it was on.” Once he had his limit, he’d make the 10-mile run south to camp in Quantico Bay in an effort to cull out everything he caught in the morning. The first two days it worked perfect- ly, as he left Mason’s Neck by 8:30 a.m. with a decent limit. Then Quantico Bay would cough up a few key 4-pounders to anchor his 19-6 and 16-14 bags. By day three, though, the pressure from the previous days had begun to take its toll. Monsoor was still able to get an early limit, but it took a little longer. He then spent six hours in Quantico with only four bites to show for it, only two of which culled him up to 15-5. Monsoor, figuring that area was done, was forced to make some deci- sions about where to go after leaving his first spot the final day. Then Mother Nature made the decision for him, bringing significant winds and a small- craft advisory that limited anglers’ abili- ty to run around in the rough water. As he had the previous three days, Monsoor milked all he could from his rock pile, but any thoughts of heading to an offshore spot on the main river were blown away by the wind. That left him going back to Quantico one last time. “I’m lucky it worked out that way,” Monsoor says. “At around 1:30 p.m. I caught two good ones on back-to-back casts that put me ahead.” flWfIshIng.com I august-september 2017