BENTON, Ky. (May 15, 2004) - Pro Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C., hauled in a two-day catch of 10 bass that weighed 29 pounds, 8 ounces to claim his first career Wal-Mart FLW Tour bass fishing tournament win and $100,000 cash Saturday on Kentucky Lake. Gagliardi entered Saturday's competition in the No. 6 spot and brought in five bass Saturday that weighed 14 pounds, 13 ounces to best runner-up angler Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., by a mere 5 ounces.
Much like fourth-place finisher David Fritts of Lexington, N.C., who led the event the first three days, Gagliardi locked into a deep cranking pattern on Kentucky Lake to take the victory. He caught his tournament-winning bass on a Lucky Craft deep-diving crankbait.
"I spent my whole practice trying to put together a deep cranking pattern," Gagliardi said. "I stuck with it the whole time and never changed my game plan. I executed well and made sound decisions, and that is what it takes to win."
Despite having the run of the mammoth Kentucky and Barkley lakes, Gagliardi stuck to the Kentucky Lake side all four days but, like everyone else, found the windy conditions that plagued the event every day to be less than favorable. "Yesterday I caught two fish when I did not know that I had a fish on," he said. "It's just so hard to position the boat and hold yourself in the right depth. It's a battle."
Gagliardi has fished the FLW Tour off and on since 1999, and Saturday's victory was his second career top-10 finish on the FLW Tour. "It feels like it's been a long time coming," he said. "I haven't fished that long, but you wonder if it's ever going to happen, if you're ever even going to come close. This is my first top 10 in two years and to win it is just amazing."
Rounding out the top five pros are Hackney (10 bass, 29 pounds, 3 ounces, $37,000); David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va. (10 bass, 27 pounds, 15 ounces, $25,000); Fritts (10 bass, 26 pounds, 14 ounces, $20,000); and Shinichi Fukae of Osaka, Japan (10 bass, 26 pounds, 11 ounces, $18,000).
The tournament began Wednesday from Kentucky Dam Marina in Gilbertsville with a field of 200 pros and 200 co-anglers competing for two days for one of 10 slots in Friday's competition in both divisions. Co-angler competition concluded Friday with Stephen Tosh Jr. of Waterford, Calif., claiming the $20,000 top prize. The 10 pros who advanced to Friday's competition continued to fish Saturday for an accumulated two-day weight.
Fukae took over the Angler of the Year points race thanks to his fifth-place finish on Kentucky Lake - his fourth top-10 finish of the season. Fukae, who has 908 points for the year with one event remaining, is a former Japanese angler of the year and is making a strong run to claim similar status here in the United States. Trailing him in second is Hackney with 875 points.