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Chad Morgenthaler Wins Lake Toho Southern Open

Entering the final day of competition at the Lake Toho Southern Open, Chad Morgenthaler said he was worried about being able to catch several anglers ahead of him in the standings. He entered day 3 in ninth place, eight-plus pounds off the lead, and figured it'd be quite a chore to overcome Floridians Brandon McMillan and Bobby Lane, who were first and third, respectively, after day 2. Maybe it's time people should start worrying about where Morgenthaler is on the leaderboard, especially in the Sunshine State. Thanks to catching the lone 20-pound bag (22-03) on the final day, Morgenthaler erased his sizable deficit and kicked off 2015 with his second win in Florida in 13 months. His three-day total of 52-07 was more than three pounds better than Lane's. After a lengthy practice session gave him a pretty solid idea of how the fish would react under various conditions, Morgenthaler decided that maximizing his fishing time in Lake Toho was the best strategy and it paid off with his first Open victory. He also won the Bassmaster Classic Wild Card at Lake Okeechobee in December 2013 that gained him entry into the 2014 Classic. "This is probably the sweetest one by far," he said of the win. "I felt like the Wild Card win was great and was important, but it was smaller field. Even though the competition was stiff, it wasn't a full-blown top end field. This was full 200-boat field with locals, a bunch of Elite guys and the best sticks in Florida and I was able to overcome it. It's rewarding all the way around." He also said grabbing the first ticket to the 2016 Bassmaster Classic a "game-changer" for him. "It eases your whole year and really makes you dangerous," he said. "I could go out and throw up some bombs if I'm not careful and if I go for the gusto at some places. You never know what tomorrow will bring so you might as well enjoy it."

After spending some time at Lake Hartwell, site of this year's Classic, before it went off limits on Jan. 1, Morgenthaler went straight to central Florida and got started on his Toho prep on the 3rd. For the following two weeks, he combed the entire Kissimmee Chain trying to determine where the best concentration of fish were and could be come tournament time. "Typically that doesn't help me," he said of the extended practice time. "It causes you to not fish your instincts, but it helped me because when that first cold front came through it gave me ample time to check everything on the system that could be a player. I was able to rule out a lot over that time frame so it was really worth it this time." Florida bass are notorious for getting lock jaw during even the slightest cold front and Morgenthaler said understanding that and figuring out where those go when the temperatures drop helped him immensely. "It's just really understanding what to look for and how to fish through the changes," he said. "I really look for that when I'm down there. I've had my butt kicked as much as I've been successful, but I have a good sense of where the fish are at and try to get into those meeting points and get them coming and going." He also knew the conditions were right for an all-out sight-fishing derby. "Seldom will that hold up for the duration," he said. "We had warm weather before practice and quite a bit of fish moved off the main lake and into those spawning areas. Then it cooled down and they pulled out and staged and when it warmed back up more fish came into those staging areas and stopped." He spent the first four days of practice on Kissimmee Lake, but couldn't catch more than 14 pounds a day. "In a tough tournament, that'd be surviving," he said. "I couldn't make it happen there." When he shifted focus to Toho, he had a couple strong days both quantity and quality wise. "It just looked better to me, plus I'd have more fishing time and there'd be less pressure," he said. "It was a sleeper."

Competition:

The first day of the tournament saw Morgenthaler made a bunch of adjustments based on the overcasts conditions. "The sun never showed up, but luckily I had a couple of stretches that produced that day," he said. "They didn't produce the rest of the event, but that's classic Florida. You have to keep moving until you find them." He didn't have his first keeper until 10:30 a.m., but after finding "one of those golden stretches," he boated 16 1/2 pounds in the next 90 minutes and wound up with 16-07 for the day. On day 2, he cut the time spent at his first spot as his confidence in it started to wane. It wasn't until the sun popped out around 1:30 that everything changed for him. "I just started wailing on them," he said. "It was like I was in a different tournament at that point. Between 1:30 and 5, I must've caught 45 fish. It was crazy." He said he targeted thicker vegetation once the sun broke through. "The sun put them there since they weren't on the spawning areas," he added. Morgenthaler's focus was targeting dense and isolated clumps of milfoil near spawning areas. He was flipping and punching a creature bait on 1 1/2- and 2-ounce weights.

"The wind laid down so I could see real well when the sun came out," he noted. "The clumps were about the size of the front deck of the boat, but they had to be close to spawning areas." He had 13-13 on day 2 and made the top-12 cut in ninth place with 30-04. The wind slacked off even more on the final day, allowing Morgenthaler to move further out on the main lake where he felt there were higher concentrations of fish. He opted to start on a different area than he did the first two days and he promptly caught three 4-pounders to set the tone. "That made me bear down even harder," he said. "What's nice about being in second or third or ninth is it's not yours to lose. It's yours to win. You fish more at ease and don't too excited with hooksets and all that. You're just more methodical and calm." Finding that comfort zone, even when he'd go 30 minutes between bites, was a big factor for Morgenthaler. "I figured those guys down in Kissimmee were fishing way too fast and were running against the clock," he added. Going right to his primary areas to start day 3 remind him of how Greg Hackney dominated last year's Elite Series event at Cayuga Lake. "After those cold fronts, those big fish tend to bite early on in the morning then slow down as the pressure starts to rise," he said. "Even though I was fishing vegetation, those big fish fire when the pressure is lower and then slow down during the day." Once the sun got up Saturday, he was able to target specific areas a little better and that allowed him to pick off a 7 1/2-pound kicker around 12:30. He was surprised his was the only 20-pound bag on day 3. "I was scared of Brandon and Bobby," he said. "I knew what Todd (Auten) was doing. He was fishing a different pattern altogether. It was not a surprise he was catching them when we had clouds and wind, but on the last day it flopped and it helped me and hurt him I think. When the sun got out that's when my fish bit.

Winning Pattern:

Morgenthaler said there were couple key elements to his success. First, being able to judge the fish when the cold front came through during the tournament was critical. The other was committing to staying in Toho. "The light came on for me on day 3," he said. "I was there when the last cold front came through and I'd figured out where they were going and what they were doing so I was ready when that weather repeated itself. I had to survive days 1 and 2 banking on knowing I could duplicate that from the week before. "Another thing that played to my strengths is nobody thought it could be won on Toho. On day 1, 145 (boats) locked down (out of Toho). I fished anywhere I wanted to go. Any time you have that it's like you're in a different tournament. I didn't burn time running and locking and I was able to get settled down and in the zone quicker." In terms of his presentation, he said he'd punch the bait through the grass, then let it sit on the bottom for a bit. He'd then lift it to the underside of the mat and pause it before letting it fall again. "I finally figured the cadence out," he said. "I had to leave it in there a long time. Sometimes I'd have to have do 15 to 20 up-and-downs before I'd get a bite."

Winning Gear:

Flipping/Punching gear: 7'11" extra-heavy Denali Jadewood J2 casting rod, Shimano Chronarch Ci4+ casting reel (7.6:1 gear ratio), 45-pound Gamma Torque braided line, 1 1/2- and 2-ounce Reins Tungsten slip sinker, 5/0 Gamakatsu heavy cover worm hook, 3.65" Missile Baits Baby D-Bomb (bruiser flash).

Main factor: "I'd have to say my persistence with being okay with how I was fishing. I felt like I was fishing the way I needed to fish to win. I was there to just try to win and I knew that to win it had to go my way fishing that way. When I get on the right flipping bite, I know I'll be in the top 10. I never gave up the faith even though I went long stretches without a bite. I had bad practice days, but I counted on it coming through for me when it mattered."

Performance edge: "The Wild Card last December was my first tournament out of my Phoenix 920. This was my first event out of my new 921 and I won it so I feel like if I can get a new boat for every tournament, I could win them all. I'm not sure Gary Clouse would go for that, though. Also, my Minn Kota (Fortrex) 112 was awesome in that grass. It got me into places I couldn't get with anything else. There were some places that were choked off and I was able to get in there."

Lake Toho Open Winning Pattern Bassfan 1/20/15 (Todd Ceisner)

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