Final Practice Day With the GOAT

Putting in the last hours of Cup preparation with Andy Morgan

Without question Andy Morgan is one of the best anglers on the planet and he helped drive that point home again this year after winning his third Angler of the Year title on the Walmart FLW Tour in just four years. Morgan is a grinder of a fisherman and that may be why he is one of the favorites to win the Cup this week. While his talents on the water are very known, little knowledge exists about how Morgan preps for a tournament. That’s why I hopped in his boat on the final day of practice to see how Morgan breaks down water to figure out the pieces of the $300,000 puzzle.

 

I met Morgan at the ramp at 7:15 in the morning and as soon as I got my gear in his boat we were floating just below the Highway 72 bridge looking for schoolers. While he waited for some to break the surface he pulled a worm out to drag around. That lasted all of about three casts before we idled to the other bank.

 

Morgan quickly put the worm rod back in the locker and grabbed a small squarebill off the deck to throw at the rip rap. He spent about five minutes working the bank, all the while keeping an eye out for schoolers.

“I don’t really think I am going to catch any here, but I need to keep them honest.”

After that he fired up his Evinrude and we took off down the lake to check out some small backwaters.

 

The next stop featured some laydowns and water willow that looked to be right up Morgan’s ally. He promptly grabbed a flipping rod (shocker, I know) and started to burn down the bank.

 

The back of the creek was littered with laydowns on a flat. Morgan was shocked that he hadn’t had a bite in at least a 150-yard stretch. Still, he pressed on.

The further back he went, the more he incorporated a spinnerbait. After a few casts he caught his first fish of the day. It wasn’t big, but he felt better about finally connecting.

 

A little after 9 o’clock the wind started to pick up and the clouds began to darken. Morgan kept a close eye on the storms, knowing full well that he didn’t want to be fishing when they rolled in.

 

We made a small run out to the main river to investigate some docks. He has caught some decent smallmouth off them before, but really he was more interested in finding an open slip to take shelter in once the rain hit.

 

Morgan is a minimalist when it comes to rod selection and he kept his options pretty straightforward throughout practice. A Texas rig, buzzbait, crankbait and spinnerbait seemed to be all he needed.

 

Distant rumbles of thunder and rain meant it was time to hunker down under a dock and ride out the storm. The first thing Morgan did when we got to shelter was bust out some snacks.

After that he pulled out some old TVA paper maps and we talked about how he used to use those along with a flasher to find offshore bass before most people even knew they lived out there. He still references paper maps to this day, and looked over a few things on Wheeler while we waited.

It didn’t take long for his phone to ring with fellow Cup competitor and hometown friend Michael Neal on the other end. Neal was also under a dock on the lower portion of the lake and the two discussed how fishing has been.

Nearly two hours have passed since first pulling out of the rain. We passed the time trading hunting stories and talking fishing. He was a cool as a cucumber despite losing a big chunk of his practice day. As the thunder echoes drifted off in the distance and the rain began to let up, Morgan said it was time to load back up and head to a different ramp.

 

Morgan wanted to use the final few hours of practice to launch up at Ditto Landing to explore a little more of the river. After throwing a few rods on the deck we headed out up the river to stop at the mouth of a creek.

 

Balls of tiny shad are seemingly everywhere on Wheeler right now and this creek is no different. You can’t hardly make a cast without shad flickering out of the water next to your bait or flashing out of the way.

Because of that, Morgan decided to tie on a new spinnerbait to better match the hatch. His choice of tackle storage is revealed to be pretty prime as he unzips a pink bag loaded with War Eagle spinnerbaits.

It didn’t take long to find the one he wanted, tie it on and get to work.

 

Once his bait was tied on we idled further up the creek. Morgan was keeping an eye out for schooling fish, laydowns and bait.

 

It was a short run up to the next stretch of bank where he started to throw his new spinnerbait. After several minutes he hooks up with a small one. Morgan would normally be more cautious of hooking fish, but today he wants to be certain of the size the creek holds, and that means every bite is fair game.

 

Morgan moves further up the creek and figures it is a good time to take a snack break. He has some pretty healthy options to pick through and points out that you can never have too much food.

 

A stretch of laydowns catch his eye and he employs his flipping stick to investigate. This bite definitely caught him off guard and about as soon as he sets the hook the fish comes flying in the boat.

“That may be the biggest fish in the lake right there,” Morgan says with a chuckle. It is a healthy keeper and certainly a step in the right direction.

He takes a few moments to apply a new Zoom Z Craw to his Texas rig. Morgan would flip for another 30 minutes before pulling the trolling motor to run back towards the ramp.

 

At his new spot along the main river, Morgan decides to bust out a shaky head. He has quite the collection of Zoom Finesse Worms and Trick Worms to choose from and plucks a green pumpkin worm from the box and starts casting.

“Sometimes you got to take roll call to see who all lives here,” Morgan says of his decision to bust out a shaky head.

Morgan quickly realized that he stumbled upon the motherload of micro-sized spotted bass. He catches a few for fun before heading to a nearby barge to make the final casts of his day.

 

He fished the barge for several minutes without a bite, despite the area looking very promising.

Quaker State pro Scott Canterbury stopped by on his way back to Ditto to chat. They go over how fishing has been and both decide to finish the conversation at the ramp.

 

As he rolls down the river to load the boat up for the day Morgan feels like he didn’t uncover anything worthwhile up the river, but likes that he at least checked it off the list. He still doesn’t have a game plan for the event, but then again, he seems to do pretty well flying by the seat of his pants.

 

Morgan loads the boat up quickly and jumps in his truck to head back to the house he is staying in for dinner. Even through a thunderstorm and location change on the lake went down, the AOY champ feels like the day was a success. We’ll see just how many pieces of the puzzle he found when the Cup kicks off Thursday morning.