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This
article made possible by:
By Eric Jex
Having the opportunity to talk fishing with the angler
currently 8th in the overall FLW Tour standings was
extremely exciting for me. My
initial intent was to profile Jim Moynagh’s career and hopefully
obtain some insight into Jim’s success and how he got to where he is
today. What I found while
interviewing Jim was another regular guy that seemed genuinely happy
to just talk fishing, like we were leaning up against our boats at the
landing after a day on the lake.
A regular guy that took 2nd place in the recent FLW
tour event at Pickwick Lake, and currently stands in 8th
place in the point’s race.
Jim’s
Background and Career Highlights
Growing up in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area Jim (like many
others) credits his father for getting him into fishing.
Jim Moynagh became involved with his first bass club in the
1970’s in Minnesota. Club
tournaments were really his first taste of tournament fishing, a few
years of success at the club level peaked Jim’s interest.
He started looking for bigger tournaments with bigger
opportunities to move his career forward. Building up
his confidence and having success at the local tournament level jump
started his career. Eventually
Jim got to the point in which he was able to focus primarily on
fishing and became a full-time pro in August of 1995.
Two years later, Jim’s first year fishing the FLW Tour, he
made a huge splash by winning an FLW Tour event at Lake Minnetonka.
Beating out anglers like Mark Davis, Dion Hibdon, and locals
legends like Tony and Ted Capra put Jim at the fore front of the sport
in his rookie year on tour. Jim
remembers having some extremely intense practice periods leading up to
the tournament on Minnetonka and having that intensity and success
carry over to the tournament days.
Since 1997 Jim has competed in every FLW Tour event plus 4
FLW Tour Championships. His
highest finish for one season was 8th in 1998, that year he
took 17th place at the FLW Championship on the Mississippi
in Moline. Jim says he
has had some inconsistent years since 1998, and is focusing on getting
back to the FLW championship this year.
Ironically, after his 2nd place finish at Pickwick
Lake in March and a top 50 at Beaver Lake a few weeks ago Jim is
currently sitting in 8th place in the overall standings.
I could spend much more time rattling off Jim’s successes at
other levels including the Stren Series, BFL and Ranger M1
tournaments, instead let’s start learning more about what makes this
ten year FLW pro tick.
Goals
for 2006
Jim wants to capitalize on his good start to the 2006 season
by making it to, and being a contender at the FLW Tour Championship.
He would love to get back into the winners circle as soon as
possible, but just as important he wants to become more competitive at
each and every event.
Favorite
baits and techniques?
Well this one might be obvious to anyone familiar with All-Terrain
Tackle’s “Jim Moynagh Rock Jig”.
That’s right, the jig named after him is his go to lure, it
is the lure he caught most of fish on in his recent 2nd
place finish at Pickwick. When
the Jim Moynagh Rock Jig isn’t at the end of his line Jim prefers
fishing a variety of techniques with a Senko.
He was actually one of the first anglers on tour to
successfully utilize a Senko. Like thousands of other bass aficionados, when the right
conditions present themselves top water baits are among his favorite
lures. His versatility and ability to change techniques to match
current conditions has much to do with his success.
How
have you changed? / What
have you learned over the past 8 to 10 years on tour?
Some of the most critical things Jim feels he has improved on
over recent years on tour include his approach to practice and his
versatility as an angler. Being
able to eliminate and break down water faster in practice has lead him
to recent success. Another
thing Jim has learned to do is become more versatile.
When he was a rookie on tour he relied mostly on his patented
rock jig or flipping shallow cover.
While these still remain to be his stronger go to techniques,
he now has the capability to employ other techniques, and maybe more
importantly has a better understanding of when to employ different
tactics. Casting accuracy
and ability to dissect cover is another area of improvement Jim has
focused on while on tour.
Aside from the above improvements, Jim feels maybe his most
important adaptation has been his much improved ability to fish
different bass in different situations.
When he first came on tour he was primarily a Largemouth
angler, he has become much better at figuring out Smallmouth in a
variety of water types. In fact, he now tends to focus on Smallmouth rather than
Largemouth on bodies of water that contain solid populations of both.
He has been able to focus on getting more consistent bags by
zeroing in on smallmouth.
Favorite
Bodies of water?
Lake Minnetonka has been good to Jim in many different
tournaments; therefore he considers it his favorite tournament lake.
However, Jim’s favorite body of water to just go out and fish
is Rainy Lake in Northern Minnesota.
Favorite
Aspects of Being a Pro Angler?
Being on stage on the final day of a tournament.
Competing and going through the emotions when you have an
opportunity to win is what drives Jim, and what he really enjoys.
Least
Favorite Aspects of being on Tour?
Undoubtedly the hardest part of being on tour his being away
from is wife and two children for extended periods of time.
Having to make sacrifices in your social life with family and
friends is very difficult.
Advice
to Aspiring Tournament Anglers?
Jim thinks the most important thing for aspiring tournament
anglers is to be realistic with themselves.
Tournament fishing can get expensive, so be realistic with your
financial situation as well as your ability.
Make sure the success you’ve had on a local and then regional
level warrants a move towards the top levels and tours.
Jim
Away From the Lake
When Jim is not on tour he enjoys and values his family time.
He likes to play sports with his two young boys and go on
family trips. He also
likes to take his boys out fishing, if he can pull them away from
hockey or other sports they may be playing in a particular season.
Sponsors
Tyson
All – Terrain Tackle
Vexilar
Salmo Lures
Ranger Boats
Yamaha Outboards
MinnKota
Jim is truly a class act and I hope I get the opportunity to
work with him again in the near future.
We also wish him best of luck in this years upcoming FLW
events.
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