Boat Conversations with FLW Tour BP Fishing Pro Jim Moynagh

In case you did not know, I went fishing with BP (fuel) Fishing Pro Jim Moynagh from Carver MN. We fished lake Minnewashta for about 5 hours. This blog is about the conversation we had on the boat, which was basically me asking questions about things I was curious about. Here is some of what we discussed:

FLW $1.7 million plus Fantasy Bass Fishing Game:
Jim thought it was just fantastic and thought it will probably help the anglers out down the line. He thought the payoff would probably come in the next few years. He did not have any knowledge as to whether the prize structure will be significantly reduced in 2009.

The 2009 FLW Tour Schedule:
The 2009 FLW Tour features 3 bodies of water (Norman, Kentucky Lake, Champlain), half the tour schedule, that Jim has a history of success on. I wanted to know if Jim was especially looking forward to 2009. He took a measured approach saying he really does not get excited anymore about having certain lakes on the schedule. He has had enough tournaments that he was really looking forward to and then bombed out on to get over confident or excited about anything.

FLW Field Size Cut for 2009
Jim was not super enthusiastic about the cut in field size, like you might think he would be. He is really concerned about the entry fees going up and the prize money staying level or even going backward a bit. It seemed to me that he would not mind 200 boat fields if the purses were increased.

Training Regime
I think it really helps a professional bass fisherman to be in good physical and fishing condition. Jim does work out on a regular basis, sometimes even during a tournament if he can swing it, doing a combination of strength training and cardio. He believes that there is no substitute for time on the water for being on top of your game. Jim absolutely loves to fish and said he is known for being a guy that puts in long days.

Tournament Formatting FLW Tour vs. FLW Series
Jim says he likes to get a guaranteed 3 days to fish which is what the FLW Series offers. As far as weights being set to zero, it doesn't really matter to him.

Alliances, Rivals, Respect:
Jim is kind of a loan ranger and does not team up and collaborate with any of the other competitors on tour. He said he really does not have a nemesis on tour and has the utmost respect for all the anglers that he fishes against.

Co-Anglers:
Jim said he thought all Bass Pro's including himself would prefer to be the only fisherman in the boat during a tournament. However he thought that Co-Anglers were a big help to keep the integrity of the sport intact. He brought up a article by BassFan with Rick Clunn and said he basically agrees with everything Clunn said. He said most Co-anglers are great to fish with and has had only a few that caused problems.

Jim had a story about a co-angler that made a cast that connected with a Canadian goose as 3 of them were flying bye. The Co was fishing with a Chatterbait, at the height of the Chatterbait craze when they were scarce, and it was his only one. Jim said the hooked flying Goose broke the line without even breaking stride and boy was that Co-angler mad to loose his Chatterbait.

The Bubblegum Super Fluke:
Jim asked me about the type of fishing that I prefer to do and one of the things I brought up was that I have a lot of confidence in a bubblegum colored Zoom Super Fluke. This remark brought a smile to Jim's face. He said he doesn't usually fish with flukes, but he did absolutely get schooled by a Co-angler on Lake Champlain that was using a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke.

Favorite Kind of Fishing:
Jim's favorite fish is the smallmouth bass and he is a happy camper if he can get away with fishing them on topwater or with jerkbaits.

Favorite Body of Water:
Jim said his favorite kind of fishing is successful at Rainy Lake and he has had a lot of tournament success on Rainy with the big smallies, so that is the lake he likes best.

Secret to the Fort Francis Canadian Bass Championship:
The Fort Francis Canadian Bass Championship is a 100+ boat field tournament on Rainy Lake that Jim has won 4 times (08,07,99,98) placed 2nd twice (00,97) and 3rd once (02). Jim said he wishes he knew what the secret was and could bottle it for other lakes. He said it just seems like at times on Rainy it seems like he can do no wrong, his decisions just always seem to be the right ones.

This year an off year for him on the Minnesocold tournament scene:
Jim said he has fished fewer tournaments in Minnesota this year than he ever has since he began tournament fishing when he turned 18 years old. He didn't really have a reason why that I can remember.

He said he hasn't even been on Lake Minnetonka once this year.

His future in the sport:
Jim wants to continue tournament fishing on the professional level for the forseeable future. He is very concerned about the rising costs that professional fishing is experiencing. I got the impression that as long as he is successful and remains competitive that he will continue to fish, but that he fears the rising costs and a couple of bad years could end up forcing him out.

We did talk about more than this but this is all I am going to blog about. Jim is a genuine and humble guy that is a credit to the sport.