At the Forrest Wood Cup bass tournament on Aug. 5, Arkansas pro Scott Suggs became the first angler to win a $1 million prize. Suggs' unprecedented payday overshadowed a personal best by Karyn Sanchez of Midlothian.

Sanchez, 33, earned $3,500 for her ninth-place finish on the co-angler side of the Forrest Wood Cup, the FLW Tour's championship event. That's a pittance compared with Suggs' seven-figure check, but Sanchez started bass fishing just six years ago. She grew up fishing for crappie and catfish.

Ninth place is the second-best showing ever for a woman angler in the Forrest Wood Cup. In 2003, Mary Parnell of Casselberry, Fla., finished seventh as a co-angler.

Co-anglers are amateurs who pay a reduced entry fee and compete from the back of pros' boats for reduced prize money. Co-anglers are randomly paired with different pros during each competition day.

Sanchez competed in seven FLW tournaments this season and performed well enough to earn a payday in five events. She's not quitting her day job as information technology manager for a Dallas firm. No woman has ever won the pro side of an event on the FLW Tour or the rival Bassmaster Tour. In 2006, B.A.S.S. organized the Women's Bassmaster Tour, which holds six tournaments a season.

Sanchez, who learned competitive fishing from her husband, Davy, a Mansfield fire fighter, has not competed in WBT tournaments because the women's tour schedule conflicts with the FLW's.

"I really like the way FLW tournaments are structured," she said. "The prize money is better and the FLW schedule works better for me. I'm committed to fishing the FLW Tour."

Sanchez said she originally started fishing in local tournaments just by tagging along with her husband and his father, Andrew Sanchez of Melissa. When she started catching more fish than her partners, Sanchez was promoted to regular tournament partner for her husband. Her father-in-law became her biggest fan.

The more experience Sanchez gained, the more trouble the couple had when fishing together. "We don't fish together in tournaments anymore," she said. "As husbands and wives are prone to do, we wound up arguing over where we should fish and how we should fish. It just wasn't working."

Davy Sanchez supports his wife's tournament career and often travels with her to competitions. Their two children, daughter Kara, 14, and Colton, 2, also make the trips when school's out.

Sanchez said her daughter loves the travel but prefers barrel racing to fishing. Colton, so far, loves all things outdoors, particularly boats.

The FLW Tour has been a learning experience for Sanchez. With money on the line, bass pros can position their boat in such a way that the back-deck angler has little chance of catching a fish.

"I just do the best I can, but I'm always fishing in water that's been thoroughly worked over," Sanchez said. "These guys don't leave many fish. I try to ask as many questions and learn as much as possible from every pro that I fish with, and most of them are pretty honest with their answers."

Sanchez's favorite pro to fish with is bass fishing legend Larry Nixon. She's drawn him as a partner twice. The pros are so good that she paid her husband's entry fee as a co-angler in one tournament just so he could experience the pinnacle of competitive fishing.

Sanchez believes that her strongest technique is finesse fishing with light tackle and small lures. She sees her weakness as power fishing, which she plans to improve next season.

"The biggest issue in tournament fishing is confidence," she said. "If you doubt your ability to catch fish, you've lost before you even make the first cast."

Dave Washburn, media director for FLW Outdoors, said he's a little surprised that a woman has not yet won the pro side of an FLW Tour event.

"Fishing is the only sport besides horse racing where men and women are on equal footing," Washburn said. "I think the time is coming [when a woman wins a major tournament against the pros]. When it happens, it will be huge news."