Summertime struggles
Hot, muggy conditions in store for day two
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – As expected, the bass fishing on day one of the 2007 Forrest Wood Cup was difficult to say the least. With daytime temperatures in the mid-90s, the largemouths in Lake Ouachita are suspended and sluggish, humbling even the sport’s elite.
Despite the slow bite, extra motivation will not be necessary. Each of the 81 pros and 81 co-anglers know the stakes, and with the low weights, anyone is capable of a fast ascension up the leaderboard. But it won’t be easy. Thursday was hot, but today will be even worse as some forecasts are predicting the hottest day of the year thus far for central Arkansas. Plus, the humidity was hovering around 90 percent shortly before takeoff.
What it takes to make a serious move is a kicker bite of about 5 pounds. These fish definitely exist, and if an angler can couple a 5-pounder with four 2-pounders, it just might be enough to make the all-important top-10 cutoff.
With the change in format, there likely won’t be much saving fish. Rather than having to defeat a single individual to advance through a bracket format, anglers now have to best 72 fishermen to continue on to the two-day final round.
In years past, many pros saved their best water for the final day of competition, hoping to scrape by, 
piece by piece, in their individual brackets. Third-place pro John Sappington says a few local guys may be saving fish for the final round, but he definitely isn’t.
“You have to catch all you can,” said the M&M’s pro. “There’s no leaving anything. I figure I still need 10 pounds today to make the cut.
“I think this is a better format; it’s more like fishing a regular FLW Tour event. But, this is going to make the finals all that more difficult.”
Snickers pro Chris Baumgardner was one of only 34 pros to catch a five-bass limit on day one. Still, he wasn’t satisfied with his performance, especially after having a successful practice.
“What I was doing in practice just died on me yesterday,” said Baumgardner, who caught five bass weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces.
Today his plan is to throw a variety of topwater baits including a buzzbait, a spook and a Pop-R.
“When you’re fishing for a million dollars, you got to at least give it a shot. There’s no fishing for second.”
The day-two weigh-in will be held at Summit Arena located at 134 Convention Blvd. in Hot Springs at 5 
p.m. For those unable to attend in person, FLWOutdoors.com brings all the action to your computer screen via FLW Live, where fans can follow the weigh-in in real time.
The Forrest Wood Cup Family Fun Zone and Outdoor Show – featuring more than 140 exhibits, fishing seminars by Forrest L. Wood and other bass-fishing legends, and free daily giveaways – runs from 2 to 8 p.m. at the convention center.
The full field competes in the two-day opening round for 10 slots in Saturday’s competition based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for day three, and co-angler competition concludes following Saturday’s weigh-in. The top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
Friday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:24 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 79 degrees
Expected high temperature: 98 degrees
Water temperature: 82-88 degrees
Wind: SW at 2 to 5 mph
Maximum humidity: 83 percent
Day’s outlook: hot and humid