The 2005 Wal-Mart FLW Tour comes to a climax when the top-48 pro and top-48 co-angler qualifiers after six regular-season events head to Arkansas for the year-end Forrest L. Wood Championship and Outdoor Show presented by Castrol.
At stake in the unique “bracket-style” event will be competitive bass fishing’s richest purse – $1.5 million. The winning pro will earn $500,000 cash; the top co-angler, $25,000.
Six-time (seven if he qualifies this year) Forrest L. Wood Championship qualifier Rob Kilby of Hot Springs, Ark., is no stranger to the 7,000-acre impoundment. He’s lived along the water’s edge for years and knows what it takes to win there.
During July, Kilby says a limit of 2-pounders each day will put an angler in the running for a serious payday.
“I am expecting to see plenty of 7- to 8-pound limits caught,” Kilby said. “But the key will be getting one of those 3- to 4-pound kicker fish each day. The angler who is able to do that will win it going away.”
Hamilton is a flipper’s paradise in that it is laced with hundreds of boat docks that have been doctored with brush. Anglers also should key on brush piles strategically placed along underwater creeks and drops.
“The tournament could even be won cranking or spinnerbaiting shallow around logs and sea walls,” Kilby said. “But I am betting that boat docks are going to be involved in the winning pattern in some fashion.”
Kilby’s call: “The angler who catches 10 pounds per day can pretty much control his own destiny.”