FLORENCE, Ala. - Recent Morgan County graduates Will Thomas and Michael Arienzo fished in a World Finals event on Lake Pickwick in Alabama and placed fifth this past weekend.
Securing a top-five spot in a World Finals tournament was a huge deal just because of how many anglers there are out on the water. There were 416 other teams in attendance, but that never seemed to bother the Bulldog fishers.
Will’s mother, Andi Thomas, got to witness her son’s boat make it to the championship day.
“Anyone can sign up and fish the World Finals. The MLF side you qualified in for, so you’re guaranteed three days to fish, and Friday was the cut day to fish the championship day that Saturday,” Andi said. “Will and Michael made that cut, so they fished against 30 other anglers and finished fifth.”
The duo found more success as the tournament went on, catching heavier fish each day than they hauled in the day before.
After combining Day 1 and Day 2 weights, the Thomas/Arienzo pairing left the lake with 17 pounds, four ounces of bass. The group also added 11 pounds and one ounce on the third day when they competed against roughly 400 other boats to secure a spot for the championship round.
Andi believes the time the two Bulldogs have spent fishing together really helped performance, even though Thomas and Arienzo were hardly ever paired together last season.
“[Arienzo] wasn’t [Thomas’s] fishing partner throughout the year, but they have fished this tournament before as freshmen and actually made the championship cut that time finishing 26th overall,” Thomas said. “It’s kind of cool that they came back their senior year and did it even better-getting fifth.”
The two Bulldogs' comfort level with each other provided the confidence necessary to fish a good tournament.
On top of the three-fish limit, Andi acknowledged how difficult Lake Pickwick truly is for even the best anglers.
“They fish a lot of local tournaments together which has made them comfortable together,” Thomas said. “[Pickwick] is a hard lake to catch fish on. They really just had to grind it out and figure out where to be. With a 15-inch size limit, it’s difficult to catch three big fish.”
Both Bulldog anglers finished their high school careers strong, and Will continues to develop his skills for the University of Montevallo Falcons where he plans to fish at the next level.