It’s Cup Time
Making the most of the supposed “downtime” prior to getting things started at Lake Ouachita
A lot of guys ask me about what it’s like to fish the Forrest Wood Cup. Well, it’s pretty dang cool, as a matter of fact. It’s only the biggest tournament in bass fishing.
People also want to know about how we get ready for tournaments, and whether preparation is different for the Cup. Of course it’s different. There is so much attention placed on this event from media, from sponsors and from fans that it’s truly a different kind of tournament.
It’s also different from the standpoint that it’s a one-tournament deal. We’re not fishing for points. All that matters is winning, so for sure I will prepare differently and fish the event differently than a regular-season tournament.
The other big difference is the time frame leading up to it. The Cup field was finalized on July 1 at Lake St. Clair, and three weeks passed by from that day until the dreaded off-limits period started on July 23.
Since St. Clair I’ve kept myself so busy that I haven’t had an opportunity to dwell on the Cup. After I left Michigan, I was home in Tennessee for a few days for the July 4 holiday, then loaded up the Lance camper and the Ranger and went to Hot Springs for some prep time on Ouachita. I only had two days out there before I had to rush home and get on an airplane and fly to Orlando for ICAST.
Since I had such a short period of time to look at a lake I had never even seen before, I left the Ducketts at home. Yep, that’s correct. I went on a fishing trip to Ouachita and didn’t even take a rod and reel. I fired up the Evinrude and my electronics and did a lot of looking from one end to the other. I saw lots of stuff that I want to fish when we get back, but I never made a cast.
After ICAST, I rushed back home, loaded up again and drove to Vermont for another tournament. Then I left Vermont and bounced across New York to Buffalo for the Costa FLW Series event on Erie.
Now I have about a week to make final preparations before the official Cup practice period begins. I’ll spend part of this week following up on some sponsorship leads I generated at ICAST. That’s a job that never ends for a professional angler. The real world can’t be put on hold either. I’ve got 19 acres at home that still needs to be mowed, and there are plenty of chores that my wife, Ashley, expects me to check off the list before I leave for Arkansas.
In reality for me, I’ll get to spend Thursday and Friday getting my tackle and boat organized and ready to drive out on Saturday. That’s when I’ll start paying attention to weather and what’s going on with water levels and so forth. I will do some social media stuff to get everyone in tune with the schedule next week so they can follow along and see us hopefully catch ’em up good.
Basically, since St. Clair, I’ve been stuck in a waiting period for the chance to fish the biggest derby in fishing. That’s why I’m actually glad to have been so busy. I never had the opportunity to get anxious or worry much about the Cup and what it entails.
I can say for sure that I’m pretty fired up to get the chance to fish this tournament. I have the opportunity to win this event and change my entire fishing career in one weekend. What a thought to ponder.
I’m looking forward to seeing you all out there in Hot Springs.
Until next time, JLam out.