Tour Talk: Forrest Wood Cup

Beginning with the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup and continuing on during the 2015 Walmart FLW Tour regular-season events, FLW will be posting a regular post-tournament column called Tour Talk, where members of FLW’s media team and industry professionals – pundits, if you will – answer questions regarding tournament results, top pros and industry trends.

On the agenda in this installment are Anthony Gagliardi’s Cup victory, Scott Canterbury’s near-miss and the 2015 Cup site announcement.

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1. We all know Anthony Gagliardi’s story, but let’s recap: He was disqualified from the Walmart FLW Tour opener on Lake Okeechobee, had only five tournaments to qualify for the Cup on his home lake and made it into the Cup’s last qualification spot by just 1 ounce at the last tournament. This month, Gagliardi won the Cup by just 1 ounce in one of the most exciting and nail-biting weigh-ins ever (a pound separated the top five). Is this the greatest story in FLW history? And was it the best Cup ever?

Colin Moore, FLW editor-in-chief: Yes and yes. There was nothing like the 2014 Cup in terms of edge-of-the-seat excitement. Also, there was the great comeback angle – a rendezvous with destiny and that sort of thing. Before the event, I asked Dave Lefebre who he thought would win, and why. He said two words: Gagliardi … fate. That was as good a reason as any, and made the outcome seem more magical than mundane.

Curtis Niedermier, FLW managing editor: FLW has a long history, and a lot of it took place before my time. So there might have been a better story out there at some point, but I never read it. This one I experienced, and I’ll say that without a doubt it is the greatest story during my seven-year run with FLW. And the more I dig into it, the more I learn. Here’s what I think is most interesting. Gagliardi bombed the last time the Cup was at Murray. He wasn’t prepared. His game plan reeked of immaturity, as Gags fished one pattern and tried to force it to work. This time around, he had three options – and he needed them all. Coupled with what he learned while overcoming the DQ, I really believe that Gagliardi is in the right place in his career to achieve even greater highs in the next few seasons. Maybe a second AOY title?

As for the Cup, it was the best ever, but only by a hair. The final weigh-in was amazing, and easily the most exciting I’ve witnessed. But the tournament in its entirety gets only a slight edge over Scott Suggs’ win in 2007. The emotion, the crowd, the home-lake story, the $1 million prize – the 2007 Cup had everything but a nail-biting final weigh-in. Of course, that was my first bass tournament with FLW, so being there was a personal milestone for me. Maybe I’m biased.

Rob Newell, FLW field editor: Was it the greatest story in FLW history? Yes, mostly because Gagliardi’s set of circumstances and challenges was made public from the beginning. The DQ was not a private battle he fought behind closed doors. It was there in the open for all to see. After every Tour event this year, the first name I looked for in the standings was Anthony’s. There have been other big wins in FLW history that involved overcoming personal and/or financial struggles that were pretty compelling, but because those circumstances were private, the stories did not seem to be as big to the public. Gagliardi’s challenge was known. Everyone who follows FLW knew what that young man was up against just to qualify for the event, and then to win it.

Was this the best Cup ever? I have been to every Forrest Wood Cup since 1998 – some as a co-angler, some as a reporter – and without a doubt, this was the best Cup I have ever witnessed. Now, to be fair, the first time I saw $500,000 awarded to the winner (Dudley, 2003, James River) and the first time I saw $1 million awarded (Scott Suggs, 2007, Lake Ouachita) I was moved. The hair on my head felt like it was standing up when those checks were presented to bass fishermen. But for the last 20 minutes in the Colonial Life Arena the other day I literally could not breathe. Not only was there a huge sum of money involved, and we all knew what Anthony was going through trying to sort of vindicate his entire season, but it was all magnified tenfold by the way in which each of those top five guys took the lead by ounces – sometimes tiebreakers – and then proceeded to lose the lead by ounces. Every one of those top five guys, at least for one second, thought he had won the Forrest Wood Cup, and in the next second, four of them had it ripped from their hands. I’m not saying it was good for those four guys who did not win – it might have shortened their life span to some degree – but it sure was good for the crowd watching. When it was finally over, the first thing I thought was, how do you top that? That’s when I knew I had just witnessed the best Cup weigh-in in history.

Jody White, FLW communications specialist: This was my third time at the Cup, and it was definitely the best of the three. Based on what I can remember from following the Cup from afar, I'm sure this one would have eclipsed the others I paid attention to. So yeah, this was the best Cup of all time.

I think this is also the best story ever. It isn't merely qualifying against all odds and then winning the Cup that makes the story; it is the home-lake aspect. Gagliardi could barely describe the feeling of running down-lake from takeoff on the final day. There's nothing more special than that.

Tom Redington, Walmart FLW Tour pro and FLW blogger: It was certainly one of the most exciting Cups – I was extremely nervous just watching the final two weigh-ins.  Anthony winning the Cup is very impressive, but qualifying in only five events was a shocker. So many pros tracked his daily finishes during the season, and almost the entire field was cheering him on to make the Cup. Every sport has a "Team of Destiny" that wins despite a major obstacle, and Anthony got on one of those rolls. Like the ’69 Miracle Mets or N.C. State's buzzer beater to win the NCAA tourney over Houston, this win will forever be part of the folklore of our sport. By the way, traditionally, if you do poorly under pressure, it's referred to as “choking.” So now if you do well under pressure, should we call it “Gagging?”

2. Gagliardi is only the third person to win both the Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year title and a Forrest Wood Cup. David Dudley was the first, followed by Greg Hackney. Gags has three regular-season Tour wins and has earned more than $1.8 million in his career, which is fifth all time. Where do you think Gagliardi ranks among FLW’s best anglers of all time?

CM: Somewhere in the top 10. He’s certainly become one of the most consistent. Though he’s well-spoken and makes intelligent comments, Gagliardi is more understated when it comes to self-promotion, and he needs to work on that because it’s part of the showmanship package every great champion has.

CN: I’ll say top 15 currently, top 25 of all time. This is an interesting question because Gags isn’t loud and flashy – or a risk taker – like some of the bigger names in the sport. He’s consistently kicking butt, and you don’t even realize it. So some might rank him lower just because he’s off their radar. But in my opinion, how can you rank him any lower with $1.8 million in earnings, an AOY title and now a Forrest Wood Cup?

RN: When I think of the best pros in FLW Tour history, I usually roll out with the usual suspects: Ehrler, Thrift, Dudley, Nixon. Honestly, Gagliardi is not one that first pops into my mind. That will change now. I really believe that what has transpired this season, and to win the Forrest Wood Cup against all odds, has forced Gagliardi to tap into fishing potential he never knew he had. As a result, more wins will come his way.

JW: Personally, I tend to devalue wins as a metric by which to judge anglers. Thus, I could see putting Gags in the top 25, but I'd have a hard time making an argument for him to crack the top 10 by my criteria.

TR: If there were a tournament bass-fishing hall of fame, the dual AOY and Cup titles would make him a first-ballot inductee. He’s still relatively young for our sport, just entering his prime, so he could conceivably win several more titles and work his way into some elite company. Anthony's been incredibly consistent, and the pros certainly know how good he is. More than anything, the Cup win should raise his awareness among fishing fans as one of the truly great anglers.

3. What pattern or technique stood out to you as the most interesting from this year’s Cup?

CM: The in-and-out deal, where anglers were hitting the shallow fish early, then going to deeper fish in the afternoons. At least that was the pattern for many. Also, a lot of guys were skipping docks with buzzbaits that had toad trailers, and others were using the double-Fluke rig. You don’t see that every day.

CN: The return of the buzzbait. When’s the last time this classic topwater lure had such an impact on a major tournament? Half the field was frothing the shallows with buzzbaits. Buzzing toads were also a factor, as was the buzzbait-toad combo. I thought that was pretty cool in an age of fancy hard-plastic topwaters and floating frogs.

RN: I found Scott Canterbury’s pattern to be the most intriguing. That’s not to take anything away from Anthony or his well-deserved win. It’s just that from an outsider’s view of Lake Murray – someone who does not have a lot of local knowledge there – Canterbury put together what I consider to be a true pattern on water he had never seen before and nearly won the tournament against two of the best locals on the lake.

JW: Michael Wooley’s deep Carolina rig pattern. He had to regularly fizz fish, and was the only true Tennessee River angler who managed to crack the top 10. Electronics experts like Jason Lambert and Randy Haynes missed the boat, while Wooley found a few key areas and had the patience necessary to exploit them for a great finish in a very tough event.

TR: The big fish coming from ultra-shallow water. In this era when even every weekender is staring at the Lowrance all day for offshore schools, a few pros prove year after year that there are always some big fish shallow, no matter how hot or how cold. Physicists have Einstein’s theory of relativity; fishermen have George Cochran’s theory of relatively shallow. 

4. Three former Cup champions made it to the top 10 at Lake Murray, but each failed to win. When will we see our first two-time Cup champion, and who will it be?

CM: David Dudley or Brent Ehrler; talent-wise, it’s a tossup. A lot will depend on the fishery.

CN: Next season. Brent Ehrler. He hasn’t won a Tour event since, what, 2013? That’s a drought by his standards. I also feel like he’s been overshadowed by Andy Morgan the last two years and is due for his turn to make some history. I thought it was going to happen when Ehrler took the lead at Murray on day three. He failed to win because he failed to catch 12 pounds the final day. That cannot sit well with the guy who I truly believe to be the Tour’s greatest pro. Oh, and he’s won at Ouachita before, and that lake fits him just right.

RN: George Cochran! No, I’m kidding of course. If the first two-time winner comes soon, I’ll go with Suggs (shocker). If it’s later, I’ll go with Ehrler.

JW: I don't see it happening at Ouachita – Cody Meyer, Bryan Thrift and Stetson Blaylock are just too due. That said, it will happen before the Cup turns 25, and Brent Ehrler is as good a pick as any to do it.

TR: I know a lot of the previous winners wanted it really bad, and I thought this was the year it would happen. Winning the Cup is a life-changing event for guys, both financially and career-wise. In a sport that often sees top pros struggle to keep fishing for a living, winning the Cup means they can probably do it for as long as they want. Because of that, it’s great to continue to have new winners.

5. Fishing was tough at Lake Murray. We saw several anglers catch big bags but flop the next day. Even some of the top 10 anglers failed to catch a limit on day four. Do you think this type of fishing makes for a good championship, or would you rather see everyone hauling in giant bags?

CM: Gagliardi won with a daily average of less than 13 pounds, or less than 3 pounds per fish in a lake where there is a 14-inch size limit. Big stringers might make the weigh-in crowds ooh and aah, but small stringers make for more exciting tournaments. Everything can pivot on one small fish, or the lack thereof.

CN: This felt like the perfect championship to me. There were shallow patterns and deep, morning patterns and midday, river patterns and patterns at the lower end. This one had it all. And, man, did I fall in love with Lake Murray. There was shallow cover everywhere and in such a great variety. It’s not what I remembered from my last trip there a few seasons ago during spring.

I loved that this event required absolutely perfect execution (see Canterbury’s missed opportunity the last day) and a four-day game plan to win. Gagliardi, Canterbury, Ehrler – they were the most consistent, and that’s why they finished 1-2-3. That’s a championship.

RN: Nope, no giant bags. Pros will hate me for this, but I like the August grinders where 14 pounds is a good bag (Ish would be having a cow right now). Maybe it’s because the first Bassmaster Classics I attended in the early 1990s were tough, summer events, and as a result I’ve always felt a field of the best should really be tested on a challenging field of play. In my mind, Lake Murray in August is the perfect model for just such a field of play. What I liked about Murray was that any type of fishing could have won the Cup. Nearly every type of fishing was represented in the top 10 – shallow buzzing, dock flipping, deep-water drop-shotting, schooling fish. That type of venue allows all the pros to bring their specialty to the table and apply it. If you went to, let’s say, Florida or even a Tennessee River ledge lake in the summer for the Cup, the dominant techniques would have less variety.

JW: First of all, there’s nobody in the world who is a bigger advocate for a Cup at Champlain than me. Nonetheless, I was blown away by the complexity of Lake Murray, and it was a great stage. I’ve come to realize that no matter where the Cup is held, the winner is typically considerably more dialed in than the rest of the field, and that’s what matters most. I like the test that tough venues provide, and I’m leaning slightly further in that direction than I was before this year’s Cup.

TR: It’s certainly a true test of angling skills, as guys have to adjust every day and figure them out repeatedly. There were enough big fish caught to make for big charges from back in the field, and that enhanced the drama. Add in the wild card of blueback herring, and you have an event that fans loved watching, yet left a lot of the best anglers in the world scratching their heads.

6. Scott Canterbury finished second to Gagliardi by just 1 ounce. He lost a big one the final day that would have won him the tournament. This is Canterbury’s second runner-up finish at the Cup in three years. Next year we head to Ouachita for the Cup. Does Canterbury finally get his?

CM: Nobody wants to win more than Canterbury, and he’s really fired up because he came within a couple of ounces of winning it all this year. But he finished 24th in the Cup that Scott Martin won on Lake Ouachita in 2011, so that’s not exactly a recommendation. Canterbury will be a champion, just maybe not next year.

CN: No. My money’s on Brent Ehrler, Scott Suggs or Spencer Shuffield to win next year. Canterbury has too many studs and too many locals to overcome. That said, he’s probably on the short list of best pros without a Cup victory, so it won’t be much longer. I just hope he can move past the disappointment of losing a 5-pounder the last day that could have easily won him the Cup. That’s fishing, and he’s one of the best. We know it. Let’s hope he does too.

RN: There are two names in my mind that will soon win a Forrest Wood Cup: Bryan Thrift and Cody Meyer. After his performance at Murray, I am adding Scott Canterbury to that list. Will it be at Ouachita? I don’t think so. I see Canterbury winning his some day when FLW possibly returns to Birmingham at Logan Martin or Lay Lake and he has a little more home-lake knowledge to push him over the top.

JW: Nope. But, it will come.

TR: Scott definitely deserves to win one, being so close. Scott’s strength is being so versatile. He catches then everywhere we go, shallow or deep, warm or cold, winter, spring, summer, and fall.  Winning the Cup takes everything happening just right, but Angler of the Year rewards consistent results by the best anglers. Things might never fall in place for Scott to win the Cup, but he definitely has the skills to win an AOY in the next few years. 

7. On the subject of Lake Ouachita, who’s the early favorite?

CM: Scott Martin has to be a favorite, because he won there last time by 4 pounds and change over Randall Tharp, who’s also a pick. Other than those, Cody Meyer and Brent Ehrler will be tough, and a couple of young guns who didn’t figure into it last time: Spencer Shuffield and Stetson Blaylock. That’s assuming all those guys qualify.

CN: See above: Ehrler, Suggs and Shuffield.

RN: Suggs.

JW: Cody Meyer is due.

TR: I’m rooting for Stacey King. He’s battling some health problems right now, but he is truly one of the nicest guys on Tour, and he has consistently caught them for years. He’s always a threat to win on Ozarks lakes, and having him back healthy and seeing him hold the trophy on the biggest stage would make for an awesome Cup.