In his rookie season in 2008 there was Lewis Smith Lake where he finished runner-up by a pound and a half.

In 2012, another pound and a half deficit cost him a win at Beaver Lake.

At Toho in 2015 he missed winning by 11 ounces.

But perhaps none of his close calls were more painful than the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup where he missed a $500,000 payday by a single ounce. The fishing world could only watch in dismay as video footage showed Canterbury having the winning fish hooked and it coming off halfway to the boat.

For nine years as a pro angler, Canterbury’s career has been littered with crushing close calls and heartbreaking bass.

Today, Canterbury can shelve all those stories; he won’t need them anymore. Today, Scott Canterbury became an FLW Tour winner at the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Jack Link’s on Beaver Lake.

By checking in limits weighing 12-14, 18-3, 14-6 and 17-0, Canterbury won with a four-day total of 62 pounds, 7 ounces. In the end, he beat runner-up Darrel Robertson by 1 pound, 3 ounces.

“This feels awesome,” Canterbury said moments after winning. “This is what I’ve always wanted. I mean the money is great, but that trophy, I’ll always have that. I’ll spend the money, but I’ll have the trophy forever.”

Canterbury spent his winning week up in the river portion of Beaver Lake, fishing cuts and pockets where bass were moving in to spawn.

He covered water quickly pitching a jig to anything and everything a fish might use to stage or bed around, including laydowns, rock outcroppings, crevices and shelves. When he got in a target rich area, he would slow down and become more thorough in his approach.

“I tried to cover mostly new water every day,” Canterbury says. “I did have a few places where I repeated each day, but for the most part I wanted to be fishing where I hadn’t been. Any of those cuts and pockets up the river were fair game.”

To reel in the win Canterbury used a trio of jigs. One was a 3/8-ounce Dirty Jigs Luke Clausen Signature Series Casting Jig(Canterbury craw) teamed with a NetBait Paca Slim (green pumpkin). The other two were 1/2- and 5/8-ounce Dirty Jigs Scott Canterbury Signature Series Flippin’ Jigs (Canterbury craw and chocolate thunder) trimmed with various chunks and trailers including a NetBait Paca Chunk. He fished the casting jig on 15-pound P-Line Ultimate Fluorocarbon and the other two on 20- and 25-pound test.

As many others in the top 10 noted, during the tournament the bass transitioned from a prespawn phase to a spawning phase. Canterbury found the same thing occurring with his fish and switched jigs accordingly.

“The first two day, the fish were down deeper in that 5- to 8-foot zone,” Canterbury details. “That’s when the compact pitching jig was best. But the last two days they seemed to have moved up shallower on the laydowns and on little ledges and shelves in the rock to bed. I really think it turned into a full blown spawn – and that’s when the bulkier flipping jig seemed to be better.”

Canterbury earned $125,000 for his win. And this story is now the one he will have to tell for many years to come.

Top 10 pros

1. Quaker State pro Scott Canterbury – Springville, Ala. – 62-7 (20) – $125,000

2. Darrel Robertson – Jay, Okla. – 61-4 (20) – $30,700

3. Keystone Light pro Jeff Sprague – Point, Texas – 60-13 (20) – $25,000

4. Scott Martin – Clewiston, Fla. – 59-8 (20) – $20,100

5. JT Kenney – Palm Bay, Fla. – 57-15 (20) – $19,500

6. Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan – Dayton, Tenn. – 57-12 (20) – $18,000

7. Quaker State pro Matt Arey – Shelby, N.C. – 55-1 (20) – $17,000

8. Chris Whitson – Louisville, Tenn. – 53-4 (20) – $16,000

9. Stetson Blaylock – Benton, Ark. – 51-4 (20) – $15,000

10. Andrew Upshaw – Sapulpa, Okla. – 51-1 (20) – $14,000

Complete results