All of Mann's Problems Have Silver Linings
By Pete Robbins
September 22, 2009
Buford, Ga. – Reached at home, just a few days after his season-ending FLW Series victory on Clarks Hill, Tom Mann Jr. softly answers “all right” when asked how he’s doing.
All right?
Um, Tom, you’ve got a check for $122,000 burning a hole in your pocket, you just experienced what you deemed the best year of your already illustrious fishing career, you’ve qualified to fish for a seven figure check on your home lake and your first grandchild is due next week.
Just all right?
Actually, he’s better than that, and after a bit of convincing and cajoling he’ll admit to it, too.
Entering the fourth and final FLW BP Eastern Series event of the season, he was in 6th place in the standings. The top twenty at season’s end would qualify to fish next summer’s Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Lanier. All he needed was a solid performance, nothing flashy, in order to progress. Instead of coasting into the post-season, he crushed the field, catching four successively larger stringers en route to an 11 pound final margin of victory. Not only did that put him in the cup, it earned him the Angler of the Year award.
“To win the tournament and then win Angler of the Year on top of that, it’s just ridiculous,” he said. “I’m absolutely blessed.”
While he’s aware of his blessings, he also knows that the next step won’t be easy.
Problem Number One: He hasn’t earned the big prize yet.
The fishing media have forced Mann to discuss next year’s Cup since before the season started. Admittedly, he’s been a party to the madness, too, making it clear that it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Both the internal and external expectations are sky-high.
“I’ve probably spent more days on Lanier than anyone else alive,” he said. In some of our minds, that makes him a prohibitive favorite before the field is even set in its entirety. At the same time, it puts a fair amount of pressure on him. In some fans’ eyes, anything less than a victory will be a disappointment. He’s not necessarily counting on the million dollar first place award, but the seemingly omnipresent belief that it’s his for the taking makes any other money he earns before then seem insignificant.
Silver Lining Number One: Two hundred forty five large.
While it’s not a million bucks, Mann has won nearly a quarter that amount from FLW Outdoors in 2009 -- $53,000 on the FLW Tour (most of which came from a 5th place finish in the season opener on Guntersville) and a whopping $192,000 on the FLW Series.
“On the outside looking in, it seems like a tremendous amount of money,” he said. “But Uncle Sam gets about half. It’s great, but it’s not necessarily as good as it sounds. I’m a realist. It came at a good time. It couldn’t have come at a better time.”
Problem Number Two: Practice Ain’t Easy
Mann credited his success on the FLW Series this year to an unyielding pre-practice schedule. In past years, he hadn’t scouted most lakes prior to the official practice period, but with Lanier in his sights he made it a priority to do so in 2009.
“I pre-fished for all of the Series tournaments at least four or five days,” he said. “Obviously, it paid off. I couldn’t do that for all of the Tour events, although I did pre-fish for Guntersville. I spent all of those extra days on the water. At Clarks Hill, I went for five days and then the four practice days.” The result was four top tens, including a win, and an AOY trophy – along with a visibility problem.
With nearly a full year until the Lanier event, the calendar should provide him with plenty of opportunities to keep looking for new places, but the reality is that too much time on the water could be akin to shooting himself in the foot.
“I have to be real careful,” he explained. “In fact, I’ll probably have to spend less time on the water. I can’t go out there and fish the way I fish without a boat going by just about every minute.”
The implication, of course, is that his spots will be blanketed with tournament competitors or recreational anglers the second he leaves them. That’s a shame, because not only would he like to spend some time pre-practicing, but fun-fishing as well. “It’s going to be tough on me,” he added. “I love just going out there and fishing.”
Silver Lining Number Two: Don’t Need It
As noted above, Mann has spent countless thousands of hours graphing and fishing Lanier, possibly more than anyone else alive. As a result, “there’s not anything else for me to search,” he said.
He added that in all of the major tournaments he’s fished on Lanier, he doesn’t remember ever finishing outside of the top ten. And this is going to be a true test of the best – summertime recreational boat traffic, a deep structure bite on finicky spotted bass, and a blueback shad population that’ll be here one day and gone the next.
All of those attributes give Mann an advantage over what a local would have in a typical shallow-water largemouth fishery. He may have to expose some of his secrets to the locals, but if ever there was a time to do that, this one will be it.
Problem Number Three: Tough Competition
Even an angler in the midst of a great season with a clearly-stated goal to shoot for can stumble, as did Mann at the third Series tournament on Dardanelle, where he finished 67th. The competition is unforgiving and there aren’t many secrets left.
“These guys are good and they’ll spend time out there,” he said matter-of-factly.
Some have taken it a step further. Former Cup champion Luke Clausen, a highly-regarded deepwater finesse angler, has moved to Gainesville, Georgia and will likely haunt Lanier during every free minute over the next year.
In his wrapped boat, Mann will be a spectator magnet, too, attracting locals who want a shortcut to obtaining his 30 years of effort.
Silver Lining Number Three: Been There, Done That
“There won’t be any way to keep the spectator traffic down,” Mann said. “They did it to me on Clarks Hill and I still won. But it’s not going to be five boats, it’s going to be 105 boats. I don’t blame them and there’s no way to stop it.”
At this point, spectators are part of the game and Mann, who’s fished Atlanta’s recreational playground since he was 16, knows how these fish react to boat traffic and congestion. While others may be able to pattern the fish during the week, when the weekend comes around it’ll be a whole new ballgame.
Mann’s bigger concern would seem to be “localitis” – the phenomenon that until recently prevented anglers from claiming championship crowns on lakes near their home. That glass barrier was busted for good in 2007 when Boyd Duckett won the Bassmaster Classic on Lay Lake. And if that victory could be chalked up as a fluke, it instead becomes part of a pattern when you consider that both George Cochran (2005) and Scott Suggs (2007) won FLW Championships on their home waters. In fact, Cochran’s best spot was essentially in his back yard.
“I’ve never had a home lake curse on me,” Mann concluded. Accordingly, he’ll happily take his chances on Lanier.
“This year we fished the Cup in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,” he stated. “I don’t ever want to do that again.”
If everything comes together and he claims the big prize in front of friends and family, “that would be the icing on the cake for everything that has ever happened to me in fishing,” he said. “Some people say it would be a career-ending moment, but I’m certainly not going to do that. I’m fishing too well right now.”