Oh, my Tosh
California co-angler crushes almost 17 pounds, wins $20,000
BENTON, Ky. – In a barnburner in the co-angler finals, Stephen Tosh Jr. of Waterford, Calif., edged out perennial Wal-Mart FLW Tour contender Greg Gulledge of Monticello, Ark., with a nasty four-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 13 ounces. The West Coast rookie earned $20,000 for the win at Kentucky Lake.
“It was unbelievable. Shin, he’s just a great a guy to fish with and very courteous,” said the 23-year-old Tosh, referring to his pro partner Friday, Shinichi Fukae of Osaka, Japan.
Tosh caught three of his four bass using a drop-shot with a Kinami Cut Tail on 6-pound fluorocarbon line. He caught his fourth fish on a Mann’s 30-Plus crankbait.
His two biggest bass were hefty, both estimated to weigh around 6 pounds apiece. But Tosh said he could have had much more than that since he broke off two more fish that were reportedly even bigger.
While he out-fished even the entire pro field, he said that if he would have landed his two biggest fish, “Dude, it would have been so ugly. They were both as big as those (two that I caught).”
Tosh, who also led on day one, felt he might have had a little advantage this week. He fished two days with Japanese pros, Takahiro Omori on Thursday and Fukae Friday, and said his ability with the drop-shot fit well with their respective fishing styles. Not only that, the young co-angler runs a specialty fishing guide service for Japanese clients on the West Coast, so he’s used to working with friends from the Far East.
“That’s why I think it was a lot easier for me. I’m around them all the time and I can understand them,” said Tosh, the son of FLW pro Stephen Tosh Sr. “Being from California, if you don’t know how to drop-shot, you just get smoked.”
Gulledge, a six-time FLW finalist, collected the third runner-up finish of his career and won $10,000. He also nailed a big sack, weighing in a five-bass limit worth 16 pounds, 3 ounces, and perhaps thought he had finally broken through for victory.
“The last three times I’ve been up here, I haven’t caught a fish on the third day,” he said onstage at Friday weigh-in. “I think I could get one.”
He ultimately fell short, however, but still felt good about his performance.
“It’s been a good day. It didn’t start off really good; it took all day to catch those fish,” said Gulledge, who used a crankbait. “The two big ones hit on back-to-back casts. My fifth fish was my last one.”
Rounding out the top five co-angler finishers at Kentucky Lake are Alex Ormand of Bessemer City, N.C., with four bass weighing 10 pounds, 10 ounces (3rd place, $9,000); opening-round leader Frank Divis Sr. of Fayetteville, Ark., with five bass weighing 9-10 (4th, $8,000); and David Gee of Plymouth, Ind., with three bass weighing 6-9 (5th, $7,000).
Rounding out the top 10 in the Co-angler Division are Troy Cox of Bono, Ark., with three bass weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces (6th place, $6,000); David Hudson of Jasper, Ala., with two bass weighing 6-3 (7th, $4,000); Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala., with three bass weighing 6-3 (8th, $3,000); Darrell Stevens of Roseland, Va., with two bass weighing 4-10 (9th, $2,500); and Jeff Stegner of Fair Grove, Mo., with one bass weighing 3-8 (10th, $2,000).
The final day of FLW competition at Kentucky Lake begins Saturday at 7 a.m. CST as the 10 pro finalists take off from Kentucky Dam Marina in Gilbertsville, Ky. The heaviest two-day weight from Friday and Saturday combined will determine the tournament’s $100,000 winner.