Knight, 'the champ,' reels in $500,000

Brad Knight of Lancing, Tenn., celebrates after winning the $500,000 FLW Forrest Wood Cup on Sunday. Knight had a four-day weight total of 51 pounds, 12 ounces for 20 bass.
Brad Knight of Lancing, Tenn., celebrates after winning the $500,000 FLW Forrest Wood Cup on Sunday. Knight had a four-day weight total of 51 pounds, 12 ounces for 20 bass.

HOT SPRINGS -- Jacob Wheeler faltered in his quest to become the first angler to win the Forrest Wood Cup twice, but Brad Knight of Lancing, Tenn., held steady to win his first championship Sunday on Lake Ouachita.

Knight weighed in five bass weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces to boost his four-day total to 51-12. Knight overcame 4-ounce penalty for weighing in a dead fish to best the final field of 10 by 3-15 to win the coveted silver Forrest Wood Cup and $500,000.

"I left everything I had on the water," Knight said before a capacity crowd at Bank of the Ozarks Arena. "I'm physically and emotionally drained out. I've waited for 15 years to be standing on this stage. If I'm dreaming, please, nobody wake me up."

Finishing second was Ramie Colson of Cadiz, Ky., whose total weight of 47-13 was worth $60,000, followed by Brandon Cobb of Greenville, S.C. (47-11; $50,000), Wheeler of Indianapolis (45-13; $37,500) and Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla. (45-4; $30,000) to round out the top five.

Larry Nixon of Bee Branch (44-10; $23,000) finished seventh.

Knight started the day in second place 12 ounces behind Wheeler, who jumped from third to first in Saturday's third round. Knight shared a small area with ninth-place finisher Mark Daniels and Cobb for the entire tournament. Knight and Daniels had been fishing the same targets, but Daniels started the day ninth with little chance to win, so he gave Knight first crack at everything on Sunday and kept his distance until Knight was finished.

"My hat's off to Mark," Knight said. "He left me a lot of water. He stayed out of my way and gave me a big area."

Daniels said he and Knight did not negotiate the situation beforehand. He said he yielded the area out of professional courtesy and respect. Nixon applauded him for his sportsmanship.

"It was just mutual respect for each other," Daniels said. "We just kind of meandered through this big area. If I saw he was fishing one twig, I wasn't going to jump in and fish the one right in front of him. I'd cross over to the other side. It was like that all week long."

Knight fished a variety of baits around visible timber in a shallow cove. Daniels and Cobb fished the same targets as Knight, but Knight said he figured out how the fish were positioned on them more precisely than the other anglers, and he caught more and larger fish.

Whenever Knight caught a fish, he marked it with his GPS so that he could return to the same spot later. Fish continued to bite from the same spots for four days. The result was a career capstone.

"When you win a tour-level tournament, that's a career-changer, and it's a great feather in your cap, but when you win the Cup, that's a life changer," Knight said.

It was also a grand payoff to a big gamble. Knight said his wife quit her job as a registered nurse two years ago at the end of Knight's worst year as a pro. He said he was anxious about missing precious time with his newborn daughter, and the pressure weighed too heavily for him to continue apart from his family.

"I'd be gone on a road trip for two, three weeks, and my little girl would look at me like she didn't know me," Knight said. "I got home at end of that season and told my wife, 'You're either going quit the nursing job, or I'm going to bow out of the tour and just fish around the house."

Now, Knight said he can put his daughter through college and pay off his home.

"To put my name on a list with Scott Martin, Jacob Wheeler, David Dudley, I'm honored to have my name on that list," Knight said. "I may not catch another bass as long as I live, but I'll always be the champ, and nobody can take that away from me."

Wheeler appeared to be invincible entering the final round, propelled by strong momentum and a reliable pattern. His topwater bite faded amid thunderstorms and a cold front, and he finished the tournament by catching only three bass that weighed 4-12.

Colson caught four bass that weighed 10-4 in the final round by working a Zoom Ol' Monster 10-inch worm in plum/apple and blue/fleck colors in brushpiles. He said he had no regrets, and that he wouldn't do anything differently if he could fish the tournament again.

"I fished as well as I could have fished," Colson said.

Sports on 08/24/2015

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