Gagliardi wins Forrest Wood Cup
Category: Tournament
Aug 17th, 2014 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Aug 17th, 2014 at 12:00 AM
Chevy pro Anthony Gagliardi destroyed the myth of the home lake curse by winning the Forrest Wood Cup (FWC) and $500,000 on his home lake. Seriously, the guy lives on the lake. He’s a total home boy. Gagliardi’s four-day total of 51 pounds, 2 ounces gave him an ounce more than runner-up Scott Canterbury (51-1).
The win on his home water was spectacular enough, but Gagliardi’s journey to the FWC was possibly more impressive. At the first event of the season on Lake Okeechobee in Florida, Gagliardi had a rules violation and was disqualified from the event. Instead of earning points over six tournaments to qualify for the FWC, Gagliardi had to qualify in five. Absolutely amazing and nearly impossible for most anglers, but not the comeback king of bass fishing.
Gagliardi feeling blessed.
“I didn’t think I had enough today,” said Gagliardi. “This week has truly been a blessing to me, especially after how my year started. Overcoming what happened this year, this has been a real emotional rollercoaster for me.
“If it were not for my wife’s support I am not sure I would have made it here after my start for the year. She encouraged me to keep going and told me I could do it. That kind of support is amazing. This was an amazing rollercoaster. Instead of finishing at the bottom like other rollercoasters, I started at the very bottom, but finished at the top.
“To me, this is one of the greatest comebacks ever.”
Gagliardi stuck with the herring pattern.
“I fished herring this week,” said Gagliardi. “I also fished the brush upriver. The herring bite was better, but I could get a bigger fish in the brush. Today I left the herring fish thinking I needed a bigger largemouth from upriver. I didn’t get them there today. I thought I made a very bad decision. As I was driving, I stopped at an area I had not caught them and put one of the bigger fish in my boat for the day.
“My decision making was very good this week.”