Think again. Boyd Duckett took to Lake Lanier like it was his home water last week against fellow Elite Series pro Ish Monroe. With his UMF record now standing at 5-0, Duckett isn’t ready to concede his Ultimate Match Fishing title just yet.

“When I found out I’d be fishing against Ish Monroe, I knew it was going to be a tough assignment,” said Duckett. “Ish is a guy with outstanding instincts. When he gets on a roll, it can be over in a hurry. I was actually relieved when I lost the coin toss and Ish gave me the boat in the 1st quarter. I felt like I could dial in, relax and try to build a lead.”

With the previous day’s storms muddying up Boyd’s pockets, it looked like his pattern might just be in trouble early on. But true to his familiar form, that wasn’t the case. Although the runoff had stained the water, the mud was on the surface, and clear water remained just underneath the murky surface.

“For most anglers, it would have taken just a glance at that nasty water to pull the plug and try to put something together somewhere else,” said UMF host Joe Thomas. “Boyd didn’t do that. He went into the pocket and took a closer look at the water conditions. As he pulled in on the trolling motor, he could see the mud part to reveal clean water underneath…the kind of clear water that spotted bass love.” Thomas added, “Boyd Duckett just continues to surprise us. For anyone who thought 2007 was a fluke, I’ll tell you right now it wasn’t. This guy can catch ‘em.”

For Ish Monroe, the bite turned out to be a lot tougher than he expected. “When I prefished yesterday, it was cloudy, rainy and nasty…and the fish bit like crazy. Today, it was high pressure blue-bird skies and I just couldn’t get my fish to turn on.” What turned out to be even more frustrating for Monroe was the fact that he could get the fish to nip at the bait, but they just wouldn’t commit. “No fish for Ish today,” was all Monroe could utter as he tried everything to get a limit.

At the end of the match, Boyd Duckett’s 14.86 pounds, including a hefty 5.76 pound largemouth, proved too much for Ish Monroe to overcome. Duckett now moves on to the UMF Title Round on Lake Dardanelle in Arkansas, site of his Major Event championship in 2007 in which he pocketed a cool $250,000. “I’m ready” said Duckett. “One down and three to go; I’m on a mission to do what Rick Clunn and Luke Clausen couldn’t do, and that’s to be the first back-to-back UMF champion.” We’ll find out if Boyd can complete that mission soon enough.