Homeward bound with $5,000

Long road back to Indiana is affordable for co-angler winner

ZAPATA, Texas – When a disappointed Ron Fabiszak walked offstage after weighing in Saturday, he had one thought on his mind: load the rig and get back on the road to South Bend, Ind.

The co-angler leader after the first two days of the Walmart FLW Series East-West Fish-Off had weighed four bass at just under 13 pounds. Behind him were 19 other anglers within 15 pounds of his weight. On Falcon Lake a 15-pound sack of fish is as common as a stray cat in an alley in Zapata.

So Fabiszak waited in the wings, certain that the next co-angler who took the stage would knock him from atop the leaderboard and let him get back on the road to Indiana, where a foot of new snow awaited a shovel in his driveway.

Today, he might well be using a snowblower.

Fabiszak’s three-day total of 53 pounds, 6 ounces held up in one of the closest finishes in FLW co-angler tournament history. Fabiszak drove away with the first-place check of $5,000, the only place that paid in the Co-Angler Division at the East-West Fish-Off.

Six ounces separated the top three places. Masayuki Matsushita was second with 53 pounds, 1 ounce, and Troy Crawford of Phoenix was third with 53 pounds.

Fabiszak won while violating a sacred law of tournament fishing that says you must weigh a limit each day to have a chance. Not only didn’t he weigh a limit each day, he didn’t weigh a limit on any day. He had four bass Thursday that totaled 28 pounds, 2 ounces, the heaviest one-day weight by any co-angler; three bass Friday that went 12 pounds, 7 ounces; and four bass Saturday that went 12 pounds, 13 ounces.

When you weigh 11 of a possible 15 fish, that’s called doing it the hard way.

“I hope not having that fifth fish won’t cost you the win today,” FLW announcer Chris Jones said after Fabiszak had weighed in. “It will,” Fabiszak replied as he walked offstage.

Two hours later the tone onstage was much different.

“Ron Fabiszak, you’re going to the Forrest Wood Cup!” Jones hollered as Fabiszak accepted the mock cardboard check that tournament winners hoist over their heads.

“I don’t fish the tour, so this is the only way I can get to the Cup,” Fabiszak said. “I’m pretty happy and pretty excited.”

Happiness and excitement had replaced feelings of doom and dejection. While fishing Saturday, Fabiszak lost his prized Stanley spinnerbait. He had bought it at a local tackle shop, had used it throughout the tournament and had just one. He caught his 28-pound bag on day one by slow-rolling the spinnerbait near the bottom. On days two and three, he had better luck higher in the water column.

Then the unthinkable happened: The bait got hung up on a snag and was gone.

“I caught three fish on it before I lost it,” Fabiszak said. “I caught the last one flipping.”

He didn’t know it at the time, but his huge 28-pound bag on day one had made the difference. None of Fabiszak’s challengers came close to matching it. Sixteen heavier bags were brought to the scales during the tournament, but all were weighed by pros.

Matsushita rigs his way into second

Masayuki Matsushita had his own prized bait – a Deps 9-inch Kinko worm, manufactured in his native Japan. He said he caught all of the 15 bass he weighed by Texas rigging the worm at various depths. He finished day one in 18th place with 12 pounds, 9 ounces before moving into fourth place on day two with 20 pounds, 7 ounces. The second-place finish was his highest ever on the FLW circuit.

Crawford is cool under pressure

From 30th into third – that was Troy Crawford’s tournament. The Phoenix co-angler had a tough day one, on which he weighed four bass at 8 pounds, 8 ounces. But on day two he made his move, landing a respectable five-fish limit that went 23 pounds, 10 ounces, placing him fifth.

But on day three he once again brought four fish to the scales, and though it was the heaviest bag of the day at 20 pounds, 14 ounces, it wasn’t enough to overcome Fabiszak.

“One more fish and I would’ve won it,” said the second-year co-angler, who placed 32nd at this year’s Forrest Wood Cup. A Texas-rigged lizard and drop-shotting worms were his best techniques on Falcon.

Everyday Iloski finishes fourth

Mike Iloski of Escondido, Calif., had perhaps the most consistent tournament of any co-angler, he just didn’t have quite enough weight to win.

Iloski was in fifth place after day one with 20 pounds, 2 ounces. On day two he pulled 16 pounds, 11 ounces to take over second place with a combined weight of 36 pounds, 13 ounces.

Now just 4 pounds behind Fabiszak, a victory was within reach. But on day three Iloski brought to the scales his lightest bag of the tournament – 14 pounds, 1 ounce – which dropped him into fourth place with a three-day total of 50 pounds, 14 ounces.

Let’s hear it for Japan

Michi Oba of Tokyo was another co-angler who made an impressive charge at the end. He started the tournament with 12 pounds, good for 20th place. But on day two he took over eighth with five fish weighing 19 pounds, 5 ounces. He finished up Saturday with another limit that tipped the scales at 16 pounds, 13 ounces, bringing his three-day total to 48 pounds, 2 ounces. He was one fish shy of the 15 possible, and had that one fish weighed at least 5 pounds, 5 ounces, he would have had his first tournament win.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:

6. John Bitting, Westminster, Calif., 45 pounds, 3 ounces

7. Bill Scharton, Oakdale, Calif., 44 pounds, 10 ounces

8. Greg Sniffen, Saratoga, Calif., 43 pounds, 3 ounces

9. Robert Wood, Jupiter, Fla., 42 pounds, 4 ounces

10. John Browning, Payson, Ariz., 41 pounds, 14 ounces