photos by ChARLEs WALDoRF
MARK ROSE
CLAIMS FIRST AOY TITLE
LAKE ST. CLAIR FINALLY TAKES A GOOD TURN FOR ARKANSAS PRO
By Colin Moore
In the end, Mark Rose’ s most important weigh-in of the year was one in which he didn’ t participate. The FLW Tour’ s 2018 finale on Lake St. Clair in late June was the make-or-break climax to his season, and the Arkansas pro held a tenuous lead over Scott Martin in the Pennzoil Marine Angler of the Year race. Rose’ s part in the tournament was over after the second day, as he finished 67th in the standings, and all he could do was stand by and sweat it out as events moved past him and beyond his control. Martin, who’ s won every major award FLW has to offer, was his closest rival at 64 points behind and was making a strong bid to earn his second AOY title.
Martin ran out of fish and opportunity in the third round, however, as another angler bumped him from 10th place and the championship round. Rose won his first Angler of the Year title by a scant 10 points ahead of 2017 AOY Bryan Thrift.
It was absolution of sorts for Rose, the chance for him to put paid years of unexceptional finishes on St. Clair and on neighboring waters. St. Clair finally did him a solid. This time around, all Rose could blame his mediocre finish on was his choice to put aside his usual inclination to fish in attack mode and play defense instead.
“ Of course, hindsight is 20-20, but I fished way too conservatively at St. Clair. The [ AOY ] point spread went into my strategy,” admits Rose.“ Had I been fishing in a regular tournament I would be giving it my all, trying to get a check. I would not have fished the way I fished at St. Clair. I would have tried to get around the biggest fish I possibly could and figure out how to catch them.”
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