2010 FORREST WOOD CUP: Western anglers in the thick of it on Day 1
POSTED Aug. 5, 2010 / 7:10 p.m.

DULUTH, Georgia - Turns out that spotted bass in 90-degree Georgia bathwater behave a lot like bass in Lake Oroville, Lake Shasta, Lake Hodges, Lake Washington, and any other deep, clear West Coast fishery. At least, that’s the impression you’d get after Day 1 of the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.  

Ramona, Calif. native Kevin Hawk leads a decidedly West Coast-heavy top 15 after the first day of competition at the $500,000 Cup on Georgia’s Lake Lanier, weighing in 14 pounds, 12 ounces to set the benchmark for a tournament that’s quickly shaping up to be a donnybrook where West Coast names like Cody Meyer, Rusty Salewske and Brent Ehrler are among the heavy hitters.

“I feel right at home out here,” Hawk said after stepping off the stage at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. “This place sets up just like Southern California, fishing deep, finesse fishing. I feel real comfortable doing that out here. I feel good.”

Hawk, as did several of the other anglers in the top 15, stuck with a drop-shot and finesse worm as his primary bait, keying on spotted bass that appear to be moving from the surface down onto submerged brushpiles above the 30-foot thermocline throughout the course of the day.

And like many of the 16 other anglers who weighed in 10 pounds or more on Thursday, Hawk fished multiple locations, plucking one or two fish off a spot before moving on to the next.

“I had a little milk run of spots that I ran as fast as I could, fishing both reaction baits and plastics,” Hawk said. “It’s more a matter of fishing enough spots to come across a few better fish, that’s a key. I’m (fishing) a combination of fast and slow. You want to move around fairly fast, but when you’re on (your spot), you want to fish it slow and deliberate, and not get rushed. If there’s an eating fish around the brushpile and you get bit, you need to pick up and leave.”

Oklahoma’s Jason Christie (14-8) and Florida’s J.T. Kenney (14-6) trail Hawk, followed by Grassy Valley, CA angler Cody Meyer (14-3), who finished third at the 2009 Cup in Pittsburgh. Former FLW Angler of the Year Brent Ehrler of Redlands, CA (8th with 12-9), 2009 Cup second-place finisher Rusty Salewske (11th with 11-8), Washington’s Ron Hobbs, Jr. (12th with 10-14) and Arizona’s Thanh Lee (14th with 10-11) rounded out the West Coast contingent in the top 15.

Tightly bunched
Heading into Friday, 17 anglers are bunched within 4 pounds of the lead, with less than a pound separating the top 5 in the race for the top 30. Local club tournaments held in the weeks prior to the Cup hinted that a 12- to 14-pound daily bag would likely push an angler into the top 10, and Hawk expects the peloton to stay tightly grouped for the duration of the tournament.

“It seems like spotted bass tournament are really tight, always within ounces,” Hawk said. “I definitely think this will play out that way.”

The conditions
If a lake could talk, this is what Lake Lanier would say: "Daytime highs in the upper 90s. Heat index over 105. Water temperatures around 90 degrees. Heavy afternoon thunderstorms a'comin'. Greetings, anglers. I'm Lake Lanier. I'm going to make you earn your $500,000."

As I write this, nighttime temperatures have "mellowed" out at 83 degrees, and are expected to drop into the upper 70s later tonight. Tomorrow's forecast calls for highs around 93, a heat index of 102, but with a 60 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms that could drop a quarter inch of rain or more at a time throughout the Atlanta metro area.
-JS 

8FOLLOW THE 2010 FORREST WOOD CUP HERE and stay logged in to FLW Live throughout the course of the day for exclusive videos and updates from the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup. Check out the NWWC Bass Report regularly for exclusive on-site updates as NWWC host Joel Shangle heads to Atlanta to cover the "world championship of bass fishing".

-JS

Copyright © 2010, Northwest Wild Country Radio Network, All Rights Reserved