The FLW Tour’s Finest
August 27, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Michael Bennett frog fished his way to a $1 million win in the Forrest Wood Cup with the same Snag Proof frog that won Fred Roumbanis a Bassmaster Elite victory on the same body of water earlier in the season. And while Fred was happy to share his frogs and his favorite spots, Bennett found his own unique pattern comprised of docks, shade, and grass to twitch his way to the biggest win of his life. He’ll talk about the tackle, the technique, and mindset that made him this year’s million-dollar man on the FLW Tour.
But first we hear from the FLW Tour Rookie of the Year, Scott Canterbury. Scott lays out his long road to the FLW Tour and talks about how important winning ROY is for him. He also shares the fundamentals of his success as he explains the value of fishing your strengths, growing your confidence, and catching limits.
After Scott, we get the straight story on deep crankbait fishing from FLW Tour Angler of the Year David Dudley. Dudley credits the technique for his tour win this season and for moving him up the leaderboard in several other events. In this interview, he busts some myths about cranking in his own pull-no-punches style that perfectly mirrors his cast-far and crank-fast style of fishing.
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Bennet New FLW Millionaire
August 17, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Team Duracell pro Michael Bennett of Lincoln, Calif., caught a two-day total of nine bass weighing 24 pounds, 15 ounces to win $1 million in the Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol on Lake Murray on Sunday. Bennett is the youngest champion in the history of the Forrest Wood Cup and topped his closest rival, Team Kellogg’s pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Penn., by more than five pounds to become the sport’s second instant millionaire.Bennett Still In Charge
August 16, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
There is an interesting fishing battle setting up in South Carolina at the Forrest Wood Cup and the winner of that battle is going to get a million dollars on Sunday afternoon.
After Saturday’s weigh-in, the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup has boiled down primarily to a two-horse race between Duracell pro Michael Bennett of Lincoln, Calif., and Kellogg’s pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa.
After day three Bennett leads with 16 pounds, 1 ounce. Lefebre is trailing Bennett by 2 pounds, 13 ounces with 13 pounds, 4 ounces. Behind those two is Terry Bolton of Jonesboro, Ark., with 10 pounds, 15 ounces.
Simply put, Bennett has put on a clinic the last three days, junk fishing by the seat of his pants. He is demonstrating the art of tournament bass fishing in its purest form, relying solely on his instincts and intuition to fish almost all new water each day and making critical decisions on the fly.
So far his approach has worked beautifully, but he is the first to point out that the bottom could fall out at any time.
The last two days he has gotten just five or six bites per day and has made them count.
On the other hand, Lefebre has committed to one area and he knows it well. Each day he has gotten more bites than Bennett. Today Lefebre said he had 11 or 12 bites.
The question now becomes whether Bennett can live on the edge another day for the quality bites. A stumble from Bennett and Lefebre’s consistency could put the Kellogg’s pro in the winner’s circle.
Beyond that, a face plant by either pro could leave the door open for Bolton or Chris Baumgardner.
Bennett turning trash into treasure
As for Bennett’s day, he is learning how to mine the treasures out of his junk-fishing. Duracell pro Michael Bennett has put on a junk-fishing clinic the last three days to lead the Forrest Wood Cup.Each day he has dialed in a little more on where he needs to be and what he needs to be throwing.
“I started the tournament with 8 to 12 rods on the deck and I’m now down to just three,” Bennett said. “I know what to look for but I have run completely out of water.”
A critical move by Bennett happened on day two. After finishing off his limit at about noon yesterday, he invested the rest of his tournament day riding around the lake looking for a particular mix of shallow cover. He found several places that fit the bill and fished those places today for his catch. But the problem is he can not find anymore water like it.
“I’ve been very comfortable fishing new water as long as it has the right ingredients,” Bennett said. “But today I fished everything on this lake that looked like that and I’ve basically got no new water to fish. I’m going to have to start repeating on water that I’ve fished over the last few days and I’m a little nervous about that because I feel like the fish don’t replenish very fast in these areas.”
Bennett hit 30 plus spots today and noted that the critical time is the first three hours of the day.
“Getting at least three fish in the boat in the first three hours is crucial,” Bennett pointed out. “That puts me on the right pace to finish my limit by check in.”
As for the nerves in fishing for a million bucks, Bennett candidly said, “I get nervous on stage, but once that’s over I’m fine.”
Lefebre lurking
Kellogg’s pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., is lurking behind Bennett for the $1 million top prize of the Forrest Wood Cup.In the Lefebre camp, there’s not much talk of junk-fishing, running and gunning or fishing by the seat of his pants.
Instead, Lefebre has spent the whole tournament in one area and knows it “like the back of his hand.”
He had nearly a dozen bites today and the best five checked in at 13 pounds, 4 ounces.
Unlike other leaders, who have had to run all over creation to assemble their limits, Lefebre has been steadily hammering out 11 to 13 pounds per day from this single area located up one of the rivers.
“I have a lot of confidence in the area,” Lefebre said. “I’m very familiar with what’s going on in there. Each day the pattern changes just a bit: some days the fish are more tucked in the cover and I have to probe in there to get them out; other days the fish are more outside the cover and I have to swim the bait more on the outsides of the cover to get the bites.”
Lefebre noted that Dion Hibdon and Jay Yelas are also up in his area, but he made it clear that he felt like they were not sharing the same water.
“We might be overlapping a tad, but for the most part we are all fishing different types of stuff up there,” he explained.
As for his chances at the million on Sunday, Lefebre said he would rather be in second going into the final day than leading.
“I wish that lead was just a few ounces instead of a few pounds,” he added. “But the pressure is on (Bennett) to hold the lead now.”
Bolton third
Terry Bolton of Jonesboro, Ark., holds down the third place position with five bass Terry Bolton of Jonesboro, Ark., holds down the third place position with five bass for 10 pounds, 15 ounces.for 10 pounds, 15 ounces.
Bolton continued “practicing” today and said he fished all new water for about 40 percent of the day. He had seven keeper bites and boated six of them.
Yesterday he relied on a topwater toad for most of his bites but said that pattern went away today.
“I only caught one on top today and I ended up culling that one,” he said. “I spent too much time fishing that toad today and when I finally put it down I caught some flipping and on a shaky head. I’m telling you, every day is like a completely different day out here.”
Baumgardner fourth
Snickers pro Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C., reeled in four keeper bass today for 10 pounds, 9 ounces putting him in fourth place.Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C., reeled in four keeper bass today for 10 pounds, 9 ounces putting him in fourth place.
The Snickers pro is fishing a Zoom Horny Toad and a buzzbait around shallow cover to catch his fish.
“Some of them are on grass, but some of them are coming off nothing looking areas, too,” Baumgardner said. “Some of the best banks are just little flat banks with nothing on them.”
“I struggled for a while and then made a move down to some clearer water and that seemed to help my bite,” he added.
Ehrler fifth
National Guard pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., caught a five-bass limit weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces to round out the top 5 after day three.Pro Brent Ehrler is well on his way to winning Ranger Cup for the second year in a row.
Ehrler is on the run and gun program, using a buzzing-type toad to cover heaps of water. He hit an estimated 30 different spots today.
“I fished about 90 percent new water today,” Ehrler said. “I’m focusing on the back ends of creeks, especially where I find mix of docks and grass. But I can’t get bites in areas I’ve already fished over so covering new water is a key component to how I’m fishing.”
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top-10 pros in the Forrest Wood Cup event on Lake Murray after day three:
6th: Brian Travis of Conover, N.C., three bass, 8-2
7th: Dion Hibdon of Stover, Mo., four bass, 7-2
8th: Kevin Vida of Clare, Mich., four bass, 6-3
9th: Jay Yelas of Corvallis, Ore., four bass, 5-9
10th: Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., two bass, 1-13
Day four of the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Murray will begin Sunday at 7 a.m. at the Lake Murray Marina and Yacht Club in Irmo, S.C.
Bennett Junk Fishes For Lead
August 15, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
The 2008 Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Murray is quickly turning into professional bass fishing’s version of Junkyard Wars. All afternoon the words “junk-fishing” have been the primary vernacular to describe the type of fishing that seems to be allowing pros to climb to the top of the leader board.
Essentially, junk-fishing is not so much of a pattern as it is a lack of a pattern. It’s almost as if the idea is to avoid attaching too much significance to any fish caught during the day because doing so might just lead an angler astray.
The terms “covering new water” and “keeping an open mind” have been uttered a lot as well.
Leading the Forrest Wood Cup after day two is Duracell pro Michael Bennett of Lincoln, Calif.
Bennett sacked up 15 pounds, 5 ounces today to add to his 11 pounds, 15 ounces yesterday to lead with a two-day total of 27 pounds, 4 ounces.
And as you might have already guessed, Bennett is referring to his fishing as junk-fishing.
“I started the day by fishing some of the stuff I fished yesterday and it didn’t work out so at about 9 o’clock I gave up everything I was doing and just completely started over,” Bennett said. “I hit one little stretch, put three decent fish in the boat and finished out a limit by noon. From there I just drove around the lake looking for new stuff to fish.”
The only common denominator Bennett can seem to find is not to stay in an area too long after he has caught fish there. Common logic would dictate staying in areas where fish have been caught, but not for Bennett.
“Every time I catch a fish or two off a spot, it’s done,” Bennett continued. “I’m slowly learning that there is no reason to return to places where I have caught fish. I can find consistency in fishing new water, so that’s what I’m going to continue to do.
“The patterns seem to change every day and the only way I can adapt to that is to fish each hour with an open mind, even if that means completely starting over every couple of hours.”
Rose second
After sacking up 20 pounds, 2 ounces yesterday, Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., Day-one leader Mark Rose punted and finished the opening round in second place.returned to his honey hole today and struggled just to get two bites.
He eventually ended the day with four bass weighing 6 pounds, 4 ounces which gives him a two-day total of 26 pounds, 6 ounces for second place.
“I went to the spot that produced the big bass yesterday, fished for two hours and only caught two keepers,” Rose said. “From there I ran way up the river and caught two more.”
Rose, too, is on a junk-fishing war path, fishing anything that gets in his way.
“I’m going to return to my best spot tomorrow and camp,” he added. “I know there are some big fish in there and all I want is just three bites from that place.”
As for why he likes the area, Rose noted that it features deeper bank grass than he has found in other parts of the lake.
Ehrler third
National Guard pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., coaxed five bass from Lake Murray today weighing 14 pounds, 12 ounces to move into third with a two-day total of 26 pounds, 1 ounce.National Guard pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., coaxed five bass from Lake Murray today weighing 14 pounds, 12 ounces to move into third with a two-day total of 26 pounds, 1 ounce.
Ehrler is a previous Forrest Wood Cup winner and he seems to only get calmer and more focused with each passing minute of mounting pressure.
And here’s the shocker: Ehrler is – you guessed it – junk fishing.
“I caught 7 or 8 keepers today,” Ehrler said. “I’m fishing both shallow and deep, but the better fish seem to be coming shallow. I’ve had a 4-pounder each day, which is why I’m in the top 10.”
“I’m probably hitting about 10 to 30 spots per day,” he continued. “Some of the stretches I’ve caught fish off of before; others are just random new places I’m not familiar with.
“I came here in pre-practice, fished four days of practice and I still have nothing solid to key in on. I honestly have no idea when or where my next bite is going to happen.”
Bolton fourth
Terry Bolton of Jonesboro, Ark., brought in the biggest limit of day two weighing Terry Bolton of Jonesboro, Ark., brought in the biggest limit of day two weighing 15 pounds, 12 ounces to put him in fourth place with 25 pounds, 10 ounces.15 pounds, 12 ounces to put him in fourth place with 25 pounds, 10 ounces.
Instead of calling it junk-fishing, Bolton refers to his fishing as “still practicing.”
“I fished deep for 90 percent of practice and it was terrible,” Bolton explained. “So when the tournament started yesterday, I just went shallow and treated it like another day of practice. And the way I look at it, I’m still practicing – just fishing whatever looks good.”
Bolton did reveal that he spent most of day two with a topwater in his hand.
“I’m burning a lot of gas and covering a lot of water,” he continued. “So far the only key for me has been to fish new water. Now that I’ve caught a few fish off some spots, those little gremlins in my head are starting to tell me to go back to those places. But I’m not so sure that I would not be better off to keep fishing all new stuff because that’s been the best.”
Travis fifth
TBF Champion Brian Travis of Conover, N.C., grabbed the fifth position on day two with a two-day total of 23 pounds, 1 ounce.
Travis has fished Murray before, but noted that his experience on Lakes Norman and Wylie near his home is coming into play now.
“There’s not much consistency to what I’m doing,” Travis said. “It’s like the patterns change drastically from day to day. I could not catch a fish the way I caught them yesterday so I changed up to a topwater and just went fishing.”
“I did key in on a special kind of grass today,” remarked. “It’s that same kind of bank grass that’s all over the lake, but what I’m looking for has to do with where the grass is positioned along a bank. The only problem is I have only found that unique combination in a couple of very select areas so duplicating it is tough.”
“But who knows?” Travis added. “The way this lake is fishing, I’ll be doing something completely different tomorrow.”
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top-10 pros in the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Murray after day two:
6th: Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C., two-day total of 23-0
7th: Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., two-day total of 23-0
8th: Jay Yelas of Corvallis, Ore., two-day total of 22-12
9th: Kevin Vida of Clare, Mich., two-day total of 22-11
10th: Dion Hibdon of Stover, Mo., two-day total of 22-1
Day three of the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Murray will begin Saturday at 7 a.m. from Lake Murray Marina and Yacht Club located at 1600 Marina Road in Irmo, S.C.
