Quick Bites: Forrest Wood Cup, Three Rivers, Day 3

What a difference a day makes

2009 Forrest Wood Cup

Three Rivers, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Semifinals, Saturday

Cup favorites overshadowed … Heading into the third day of Forrest Wood Cup competition, most bass-fishing fans expected to see a great battle between legendary heavyweights. After all, the top-10 field boasted the likes of 2003 Bassmaster Classic champion Michael Iaconelli, legendary pro and 1983 Bassmaster Classic champion Larry Nixon, 1999 FLW Tour Angler of the Year David Walker, 2007 Forrest Wood Cup champion Scott Suggs and 2008 Forrest Wood Cup runner-up Dave Lefebre. However, somebody forgot to tell Rusty Salewske, David Curtis and Cody Meyer that they were supposed to be overwhelmed. Although the three aforementioned anglers are great pros in their own right, they had combined for exactly two prior Cup appearances and a relatively modest $925,000 in career earnings at FLW Outdoors events. However, by the end of today’s weigh-in, the trio demonstrated yet again why bass fishing is such a unique sport. As it turns out, after today’s semifinal round of competition, Salewske (6 pounds, 6 ounces), Curtis (5 pounds, 7 ounces) and Meyer (5 pounds) had claimed the top three spots on the leaderboard, respectively. As for the bass-fishing pundits, most are now looking for a new line of work.

Three Rivers strikes back … As the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup field made their way to Pittsburgh, there was near unanimous opinion that the Three Rivers waterway would fish as tough as it did during the 2005 Bassmaster Classic. During that event, Kevin VanDam won the Classic on Three Rivers with a three-day catch weighing in at 12 pounds, 15 ounces. However, as the weights started coming in during the first two days of 2009 Forrest Wood Cup competition, it appeared that anglers would have a far easier time catching fish. To underscore this point, one only had to look at Greg Hackney‘s day-two catch of 11 pounds, 12 ounces to realize that the bite was far better than it had been in 2005. But then day three arrived – and the results were far from pretty. During today’s competition, three anglers – David Walker, Bryan Thrift and Larry Nixon – couldn’t manage a catch greater than 13 ounces. In fact, the top three pros were the only anglers to record weights over 5 pounds. And nobody could even break the 6-pound, 7-ounce mark. “It’s really disappointing,” said Nixon. “I had a good school of fish found, but the conditions really changed today.” Thrift agreed. “It was a really tough day today,” he said. “The conditions just changed. I lost two good fish today, but I don’t have excuses.”

Lefebre breathes sigh of relief … Although everyone seemed to struggle out on Three Rivers today to a certain extent, perhaps nobody was in worse shape at the end of the day than pretournament favorite Dave Lefebre. Although Lefebre had virtually no trouble finding fish or recording five-fish limits over the first two days of competition, he had exactly zero fish in the boat with time winding down in today’s competition. But then, as fate would have it, Lefebre nabbed a 3-pound, 15-ounce bass just as time was expiring. “That was probably the best moment of my career,” said Lefebre. “It was a struggle out there today. I got that one right at the end of the day, and I’m extremely thankful for that fish. I’m just real, real happy that it turned out to be a lot tougher day (for everyone) than I thought it was.” Despite the fact that he only caught one fish, Lefebre ended the day only 2 pounds, 7 ounces off the lead.

Congratulation to Mr. Roberts … While most of the pros struggled out on the water today, co-angler Brad Roberts of Nancy, Ky., was busy putting on a fishing clinic. On the strength of a 6-pound, 4-ounce catch, Roberts easily won the Co-angler Division while outfishing nine of 10 pros in the process. In fact, his win was so convincing that his next-closest co-angler competitor – Michi Oba – couldn’t get any closer than 4 pounds, 7 ounces. As a result, Roberts walked away with the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup co-angler crown as well as a check for $50,000. “This is just unbelievable,” he said. “It was a dream of mine just to make the top 10. I fished hard, fished clean and was able to cull a couple of times. After I caught my first fish, I had the jitters for about 45 minutes. But this is it right here. I always wanted to get a win, but to do it at the Forrest Wood Cup is just unbelievable. To have everything come together like this is amazing.”

The kids are all right … Before the pros and co-anglers set foot onstage during today’s weigh-in, the crowd was treated to a compelling awards ceremony for the National Guard TBF Junior National Championship contestants. Although each of the 80 young boys and girls who qualified for the event got a chance to walk across stage and acknowledge the crowd, only two youngsters were able to walk away with the title of junior national champion. Zack Messer of Aiken, S.C., took top honors in the 15-18 age bracket while Daryk Eckert of Stockport, Ohio, won first place in the 11-14 age bracket. The National Guard Junior World Championship, which took place on the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh from July 31-Aug. 2, was held in conjunction with the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup. First-place finishers in each age bracket received a $5,000 scholarship in addition to a $200 Walmart gift card courtesy of Goodwill. Second-place finishers received $3,000 scholarships plus a $150 Evinrude certificate. Third-place finishers received $2,500 scholarships plus a $100 Cabelas gift card. Fourth-place finishers received $2,000 scholarships. Fifth-place finishers received $1,500 scholarships. Sixth-place finishers received $1,000 scholarships. “It’s my dream,” said Messer upon receiving his first-place award and 2009 TBF national champion recognition. “It’s the biggest accomplishment I’ve ever achieved. It’s exciting.”

Quick numbers

1: Total first-place prize award, in millions of dollars, earmarked for the winner of the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup.

1: Number of previous Cup winners (Scott Suggs) still in the running for a 2009 Forrest Wood Cup title.

2: Total number of Bassmaster Classic champions still remaining in 2009 Forrest Wood Cup contention – Larry Nixon (’83 Classic winner) and Michael Iaconelli (’03 Classic winner).

2: Total purse, in millions of dollars, at stake at this week’s 2009 Forrest Wood Cup.

2: Total number of previous Forrest Wood Cup appearances by the top three pros in the standings heading into tomorrow’s finals.

3: Total number of five-fish limits caught by the entire pro field on day three of Cup competition.

3.625: Average weight, in pounds, of the catch of today’s pro field.

31: Total number of fish caught by the pros in today’s competition.

36-4: Total weight, in pounds and ounces, of fish caught on day three by pro field.

Sound bites

“I fished with Mike Iaconelli today, and I have to say that I’m now a big Mike Iaconelli fan.” – 2009 Forrest Wood Cup co-angler champion Brad Roberts, commenting on his pro partner in today’s competition.

“I fished with four of the best anglers in the world this tournament, so it’s been a great, great experience. This is the best experience a person could have.” – Forrest Wood Cup co-angler Tommie Goldston, on the added benefits of receiving an invite to the greatest bass-fishing tournament in the nation.

“You don’t know what this is right now, but it’s going to buy you a lot of diapers.” – Forrest Wood Cup tournament host Jason Harper, trying to explain to Brad Robert’s newborn baby what a $50,000 first-place check means to the family.

“I’m telling you, when practice was over, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to even catch one fish.” – Pro Rusty Salewske, commenting on his mindset prior to recording his first-place effort in today’s competition.

“There’s a lot of ways to catch fish here, but there are also a lot of ways to not catch fish here.” – Forrest Wood Cup pro David Walker, poking fun at his meager 13-ounce catch during today’s competition.

“I’m going to re-rig tonight and put on some bigger baits. I’m tired of fishing that little stuff.” – Forrest Wood Cup pro Larry Nixon, offering up a new game plan for Sunday’s final round of competition.