Rodrigue defies all odds, wins co-angler title at Atchafalaya

Flanked by his fellow co-anglers, Brad Rodrigue of Pierre Part, La., acknowledges the crowd after winning the title at Atchafalaya. Photo by Gary Mortenson. Angler: Brad Rodrigue.

February 14, 2003 • Gary Mortenson • Archives

Louisiana native jumps off waiting list to snare top prize of $15,000

MORGAN CITY, La. – If you had asked Brad Rodrigue last week to give you the odds on his chances of winning the co-angler title at the Atchafalaya Basin, he probably would have put it somewhere near 100,000 to 1. You see, Rodrigue wasn’t even scheduled to fish the tournament as he was 120th on the waiting list. In addition, the Louisiana native had never fished an FLW tournament in his life. But as luck would have it, when all was said and done, none of that really mattered.

“I’m speechless right now,” said Rodrigue, who had never won more than $2,000 in a fishing tournament in his career until now. “It’s really exciting. This is the best tournament I’ve ever had.”

And to think it almost never happened.

“It’s really quite amazing,” said Rodrigue, of Pierre Part, La. “I really got in this tournament through the back door. I was 120th on the waiting list, and I didn’t really think I had a chance. But only one guy in front of me on the list showed up, so I got in.”

However, that was only half the battle for Rodrigue. Not only was he fishing in the biggest tournament of his career, but he had all the pressure of fishing on his hometown water to contend with as well.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself,” said Rodrigue, who has fished the Atchafalaya area for more than 23 years. “And then I went out there and blanked on the first day. My friend called me later that night, and I had to tell him I didn’t catch anything, but a lot of out-of-town guys did. I was pretty hard on myself.”

However, like all good anglers, Rodrigue rebounded. On day two, the Louisiana native salvaged the tournament by landing a 13-pound, 8-ounce catch – good enough to move up more than 90 spots in the standings and qualify for the finals in fifth place. From there, things began to quickly turn in his favor. Using a combination of crankbaits, spinner baits and Brush Hawgs, Rodrigue began his assault on the title during the final day of competition.

But while the day started off well, Rodrigue had less than 10 pounds in the boat by late afternoon. However, that would soon change as well.

“At about 2:15 p.m., I landed a 5-pounder,” he said. “I was just unconscious when I caught that fish.”

Luckily for Rodrigue, he regained his metaphorical consciousness long enough to return to the weigh-in and collect his trophy.

“This has been just a great week,” said Rodrigue. “I got to meet a lot of great people, including a lot of the pros I had only read about. It was a great experience.”

Turner comes up a few ounces short

Although Rick Turner of Tyler, Texas, lost out on a tournament title by a mere 9 ounces, the Texas native demonstrated as much class as you could possibly expect after suffering a bittersweet defeat.

“It was a great week,” said Turner, who used an 11-pound, 4-ounce catch to land a second-place finish and a check for $6,000. “I thought I had a good chance to win this tournament, but overall I have no complaints. I’ll be back. You’ll see.”

Best of the rest

After registering a total catch of 9 pounds, 7 ounces, day-two leader Dennis Kirby of Lakeland, Tenn., walked away with a third-place check for $4,000.

In fourth place was Richard Strother of Tyler, Texas. Strother, who turned in a catch of 8 pounds, 12 ounces, won $3,000 for his efforts.

Sandy Gaudet of Belle Rose, La., finished the tournament in fifth place. Gaudet used a catch of 5 pounds, 6 ounces to net $2,500 in prize money.

Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finalists were Simon Morrow (sixth) of Alexander City, Ala., with a catch of 2 pounds, 5 ounces; Frank Meyer (seventh) of Marianna, Fla., with a catch of 1 pounds, 14 ounces; David Brunaugh (eighth) of Carbondale, Ill., with a catch of 0 pounds; Gerald Williams (ninth) of Scottsdale, Ky., with a catch of 0 pounds; and Gerald Grace (10th) of Lincoln, Ala., with a catch of 0 pounds.

FLW co-angler action resumes March 12-15 at Lake Murray in Columbia, S.C.