Morgan destroys field

With all the good fishermen in the club very rarely does someone dominate a tournament but this year Scott Rice did it at Cadillac and Sunday Matt Morgan did it again on Lake Ovid. Matt brought in nearly 16 pounds while everyone else struggled to catch a few keepers and bested everyone else by over 10 pounds. Matt caught two that were over 4 pounds and also took home the big bass prize. Roy Albert took second with 6 pounds and Scott Rice just under six while taking home the Angler of the Year award in the process (more on that later). Here's how Matt did it.

Practice: Matt fished Ovid only once last weekend but from previous experiences on musky lakes he figured the fish would be shallow and tight in the weeds. The vegetation on Ovid is quite thick and the best way to access these fish is by flipping jigs and plastics into the weed mats. Morgan did just that and caught several good fish in practice, honing in on a few different areas and baits. He had a good idea he'd catch them pretty good Sunday but I don't think he knew how good.

Tournament: Morgan had a few key areas that had matted weeds but were close to deeper water and went to work. He flipped a jig and a plastic grub type bait (Erie Darter by Poor Boys Baits) both in watermelon hues into the tick vegetation. The water he flipped was anywhere from 2-6 feet deep and the water tended to be a little clearer inside the weed clumps. Both baits were of the 1/2 oz variety which was critical to get the bait into the heart of the cover which Matt felt was very important. At times if the baits hung up he would shake them free and allow the jigs to free fall deep into the weeds.

The bites came early and often as Matt caught two keepers fairly early including one of his big ones. He reported catching at least twenty fish and culled twice. The heavy jigs would penetrate the weed mats and once they did, the fish would grab the bait on the fall. Matt was sure the heavy weight was the key to the technique and I'm sure it was as I flipped a 3/8 oz bait all day and had only one bite. The smaller baits just couldn't penetrate the weeds.

Most flippers try and pitch their jigs into holes or openings in the weeds but the heavier weights allowed him to go right into the jungle and winch the fish out on his 50 pound power pro braid and 7'8" flipping stick. Great job and congratulations to Scott Rice for winning the AOY title as well.