Lake Ouachita stingy at Forrest Wood Cup

HOT SPRINGS -- Lake Ouachita was unkind to the 56 anglers fishing in the first round of the Forrest Wood Cup on Friday, but Alex Davis of Albertville, Ala., claimed a slim lead by weighing in five bass worth 13 pounds, 10 ounces.

Five ounces behind Davis was Nick LeBrun of Bossier City, La., who caught five bass weighing 13-5, followed by Zack Birge of Blanchard, Okla. (5/13-1), Corey Johnston of Cavan, Ontario (5/12-8) and James Niggemeyer of Van, Texas (5/12-2).

FORREST WOOD CUP

Lake Ouachita

Day 1

NAME; HOMETOWN; FISH; WT

Alex Davis; Albertville, Ala.; 5; 13-10

Nick LeBrun; Bossier City, La.; 5; 13-5

Zack Birge; Blanchard, Okla.; 5; 13-1

Cory Johnston; Cavan, Ontario; 5; 12-8

James Niggemeyer; Van, Texas; 5; 12-2

Wes Logan; Springville, Ala.; 5; 11-9

Bradford Beavers; Summerville, S.C.; 3; 11-6

John Cox; Debary, Fla.; 5; 11-3

Jason Lambert; Michie, Tenn.; 5; 10-0

Justin Atkins; Florence, Ala.; 5; 9-14

Sheldon Collings; Grove, Okla.; 5; 9-10

Clent Davis; Montevallo, Ala.; 5; 9-8

Austin Wilson; Citrus Heights, Calif.; 5; 9-8

David Dudley; Lynchburg, Va.; 5; 9-3

Bryan Thrift; Shelby, N.C.; 5; 9-0

Scott Martin; Clewiston, Fla.; 5; 8-12

Matt Becker; Finleyville, Penn.; 5; 8-7

Brandon Cobb; Greenwood, S.C.; 5; 8-7

Cody Hahner; Wausau, Wis.; 2; 8-4

Chad Foster; Pequot Lakes, Minn.; 5; 8-2

All 56 anglers will fish in the second round today. The 10 anglers with the heaviest cumulative two-day weights will compete Sunday for the $350,000 top prize in the championship round.

Like every other angler, Davis took a long time finding a way to catch a keeper bass Friday. A keeper on Lake Ouachita is 13 inches, and Davis caught his first at 11:30 a.m.

"I caught a good one after I went three hours without a bite," Davis said. "You hear it all time, 'last cast.' I caught my big one with only two minutes before I had to go in."

Only 3 pounds, 12 ounces separate first place from 10th. With such tight compression at the top, Davis said he'll have to get lucky to gain some distance on his rivals.

"I have to keep an open mind," Davis said. "I caught them in places today that I never fished in practice. I fished 4 miles of water today, but it was real random. There was no pattern at all. I caught some in a foot, and some in 30 feet."

LeBrun, who qualified for the Forrest Wood Cup by winning the Bass Fishing League All-American, said he caught his best fish in what he said appeared to be "dead" water. He said he will try a few extra things today to duplicate Friday's success.

"We all have the same ability and the same equipment," LeBrun said. "I might only get five bites, and it's hard to keep your mind right. If I get seven bites tomorrow, I'll feel like I'll be back in the mid-teen range, and I'd feel like that would be a blessing from the lord."

Birge, who competed in the 2014 Carhartt Collegiate National Championship at Beaverfork Lake near Conway, said he was satisfied with his performance Friday.

"I hit the best stuff I had today," Birge said. "I caught schoolers this morning. I have just one area. I probably saw 10 to 15 fish that came up and tried to eat it but didn't commit. I'll hit the same place tomorrow and see where it takes me."

Weights are extremely tight from 10th place to 35th place. Only 1 pound, 10 ounces separate 11th place from 26th, and only 2-10 separate 11th from 35th. All of those anglers saw plenty of fish, mostly schoolers, but they wouldn't bite.

Scott Martin, who won the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup at Lake Ouachita, finished the day in 16th place with five bass that weighed 8-12.

"Fish were blowing up everywhere," Martin said. "I ended up putting my little rubber crappie minnows on to see if they would bite that. It was frustrating. If I could learn how to catch some of those, it would be interesting.

"If I catch a big bag tomorrow, I could get myself back in contention. How I'm going do that, I don't know."

Mark Rose of Wynne finished the day in 32nd place (5/7-2), and Greg Bohannan of Bentonville was in 50th place (1/1-4).

Three anglers, Randy Haynes, Clark Wendlandt and Larry Stoafer, did not weigh in a fish Friday. Stoafer was hospitalized before the tournament for emergency gall bladder surgery and was unable to fish. FLW officials said he will attempt to fish today.

The anglers will take off at 7 a.m. at Brady Mountain Resort and Marina. The weigh-in will begin at 5 p.m. at Bank OZK Arena.

Sports on 08/11/2018

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