VIDALIA, Louisiana – As he gets his first look at the map of the competition waters for his Elimination Round competition at the 2018 Lucas Oil Challenge Cup, South Carolina pro Andy Montgomery shakes his head and frowns at MLF executive producer Randy White.
White is the man who chooses the fisheries and boundaries for every MLF competition, and this morning, he’s chosen a lake that has Montgomery boondoggled.
“Randy, I don’t know anything about these kinds of lakes!” Montgomery protests. “I’ll be lucky to catch a single fish.”
In the spirit of the “no info” MLF format, White has done his job like a champ this week in the waters around Vidalia, Louisiana and Natchez, Mississippi. Among the field of Bassmaster Classic champions, Angler of the Year winners and Million Dollar Club members on the 27-man competition roster, not a one has ever fished this part of the Mississippi River Valley.
Even Louisiana native Greg Hackney, whom one might assume has spent at least one day in this area, is seeing these backwaters and bays for the very first time, even though he lives just 115 miles south of here in Gonzalez, Louisiana.
“What do I know about these places? Not a darn thing, really” Hackney says. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
It is, to borrow a phrase, a truly level playing field. And the rod lockers and tackle storage in the MLF competition boats have shown it throughout the week as the Cup anglers prepare for every potential condition and scenario.
Montgomery has managed to stuff 37 Daiwa rods into his Nitro Z7 this morning. Brent Ehrler’s first load-out from his regular-season tournament boat to his Z7 included more than 20 Plano tackle boxes. Gary Klein hoisted so many rods off his front deck during his boat transfer that he could barely get his hands around them.
“Personally, I love it,” says Daiwa Pro Ish Monroe. “This is what a fishing competition should be about: nobody out here has an advantage, nobody has a clue about how these lakes are going to fish, and nobody knows a single piece of information that might help them in this competition. It’s just pure competition, and may the best man win.”