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Columbia to Host 2017 Forrest Wood Cup at Lake Murray
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Aug. 6, 2016) – FLW and Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board announced Saturday that Columbia, South Carolina, would once again be hosting the Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing, Aug. 11-13, 2017, on Lake Murray. The last time the Forrest Wood Cup was held in Columbia was 2014 and hometown hero Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, South Carolina, made professional bass-fishing history, becoming the 18th Forrest Wood Cup champion.
“We couldn’t be happier to be bringing the 2017 Forrest Wood Cup to Lake Murray,” said Kathy Fennel, FLW president of operations. “We’ve had great success hosting our FLW events in Columbia in the past and the fan attendance and enthusiasm at our previous tournaments has made bringing the Cup back an obvious choice. We are proud to bring our championship event back to our fans in South Carolina.”
Lake Murray and the Columbia area are a very familiar destination for FLW. The city has played host to both the 2008 and 2014 Forrest Wood Cups and numerous FLW-sanctioned tournaments. The 2017 Forrest Wood Cup will mark the 22nd anniversary of the championship event. The event will be held at the Colonial Life Arena with the Expo held at the neighboring Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
“We are so proud to once again welcome the Forrest Wood Cup to the ‘Jewel of South Carolina’. The economic impact felt when we hosted this event in 2014 is award winning,” said Miriam Atria, president and CEO of the Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board. “The fans in South Carolina are extremely passionate about bass fishing and we are excited to bring another world-class event that Lake Murray Country can enjoy.”
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat: @FLWFishing.
Bethel University’s John Garrett Wins Bassmaster Classic Bracket Championship
John Garrett of the Bethel University wins the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Classic Bracket earning a berth in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic to be held on Lake Conroe out of Houston, Texas.
Photo by Ronnie Moore/BassmasterPARIS, Tenn. — Some of John Garrett’s earliest bass fishing memories come from days spent on Kentucky Lake. He remembers frequent weekend trips with his grandad — driving up from Union City, Tenn., to the fabled fishery about an hour away.
It started when I was 7 or 8 years old,” Garrett said. “For about four or five years, we’d come out here just about every weekend … He’s taught me everything he knows, and he knows his stuff pretty well.”
Those memories will always be with John Garrett, but now he has a few more for the mental scrapbook –– he’s earned a spot in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro, and he did it on the same body of water where he learned to fish.
Garrett, a 20-year old incoming junior at nearby Bethel University, won the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Classic Bracket presented by Bass Pro Shops on Saturday when he weighed a 14 pound, 13-ounce limit before a crowd filled with familiar faces in downtown Paris. That was more than enough weight to defeat Texas State University’s Evan Coleman, who had an unfortunate day on Saturday, and didn’t catch a weighable fish.
After Coleman took the stage empty-handed, the fishing fans in attendance knew Garrett had won the single-elimination tournament. Garrett was the only angler to catch a limit through two days of fishing, and he did so again on Saturday. Although total weight didn’t count in this event (only how you compared head-to-head against your daily opponent mattered), Garrett’s three-day haul of 46-9 was impressive. Coleman had the second highest total, and that was exactly 30 pounds, 4 ounces behind the winner.
Van Garrett, John’s dad, was one of the first to greet the angler when he wheeled his truck into Paris Town Square where the final weigh-in was held. The two embraced and fought back tears, as Garrett’s Bethel University teammates swarmed him; offering high fives and fist bumps.
“There’s a lot of emotion going through me right now,” Garrett said. “I’m just happy I got blessed today and how things turned out. I’m an hour away from my hometown, and I’m pretty sure the whole city is up there by the stage right now. If I had to do this, it’s a great place to do it right here.”
Garrett, the No. 4 seed in this eight-man tournament, established a pattern early in the week and stuck with it throughout. On the first day, when he defeated No. 5 seed Sam Stone of Texas State University, he boated five bass in the 2 1/2 – pound range by going first to a shallow hump about a miley from the launch site at Paris Landing State Park, and then moving another 15 miles south on Kentucky Lake where he fished a ledge in approximately 15 feet of water.
On Friday, he lit into his biggest limit of the tournament — a 19-7 bag that was by far the heaviest of the event, and handily dispatched No. 2 seed Taylor Bivins of Kansas State. Saturday, Garrett caught 35 keepers and had a few of his biggest bites break off, preventing his 14-13 from going even heavier.
On the hump, he threw a small crankbait for keepers, and his bigger bites later in the day came on a 3/4-ounce wobble head with a Magnum Green Pumpkin Trick Worm.
“That worm seemed to be the deal,” Garrett said.
Garrett and Coleman had duked it out since 5:45 a.m. on Saturday until they checked in at Paris Landing State Park in nearby Buchanan, Tenn. at 1:30 p.m. The anglers were trailered the 25 minutes to Paris, where the final weigh-in was held.
Exhausted from some intense shoreline work the first two days, sixth-seeded Coleman broke form on Saturday when bluebird skies replaced the expected cloud cover which he hoped would help his shallow-water bite. In an effort to find bigger fish, he ran 40 minutes north to where Kentucky and Barkley lakes meet, but he couldn’t find a bass to bite.
He was disappointed, but said he gave everything he had.
“It was extremely frustrating,” Coleman said. “I knew I had to catch them today, and John’s schools … he hadn’t been burning them. He did today and he caught them. I could have done the same thing I had been doing the other days and maybe caught three fish for 8 1/2 pounds. But I had to gamble. I went to an area I hadn’t seen. It looked good on the contour maps, and it matched my pattern. So I ran there, and all I did was catch a few shorts.”
He wouldn’t do anything differently, however, he said.
“I got to the finals of the bracket, and I have no regrets,” the 20-year old Coleman said. “I gave it my all.”
The top four teams at last week’s College National Championship traveled to northwest Tennessee for the bracket event. The eight anglers were seeded individually and fished in a head-to-head format, with only one angler being able to advance all the way through the finals and into the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
Garrett, who is a business management major at Bethel, said it’s his aspiration to use his education to be around the fishing business as a professional. But at least for a year, it’s his fishing education and expertise that will have him matching wits against the world’s best bass anglers in the sport’s marquee event. The 2017 Classic will be held on Lake Conroe near Houston, Texas, Marc 24-26h.
“I’m trying not to think about that too much and stress on it,” Garrett said. “I’m going to let this sink in. But I can guarantee when I get to the Classic, I’m going to have a good time and enjoy it.”
Bethel University bass fishing coach Garry Mason said he’s not surprised Garrett fished his way into the Classic.
“John is such a great angler, a great young man, and a leader of our program,” Mason said. “But anytime you win at this level, there’s some amount of surprise…We were very much in anticipation of seeing him win, and he’s very confident right now. He was on a lot of fish.”
In addition to the Classic berth, Garrett won $7,500 to cover fishing expenses, and he earned free entry to all nine of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens in 2017. He will have use of a Nitro boat and a fully-rigged Toyota truck for the year, as well.
2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Title Sponsor: Carhartt
2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Presenting Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops
2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Premier Sponsors: GoPro, Huk, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha, Berkley
2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Supporting Sponsors: A.R.E. Truck Caps, Costa, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Power-Pole, Rapala, Shell Rotella, Shimano, ABU Garcia
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, B.A.S.S. Nation, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
Colorado Wins High School Championship
Turner Mason (left) and Ryan Wood (right) of the Front Range Bass Club in Colorado win the Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship held on Kentucky Lake out of Paris, Tenn., with a three-day total weight of 49 pounds, 4 ounces.
Photo by Ronnie Moore/BassmasterPARIS, Tenn. — Redemption. That sums up the week on Kentucky Lake for Turner Mason and Ryan Wood, winners of the Costa Bassmaster High School Championship.
Last year the teenage anglers from Colorado fished this very event and failed to catch a single keeper bass all week. Today, they capped an amazing week of fishing by winning the tournament with 49 pounds, 4 ounces.
Wood and Mason represented the Front Range Bass Club while enrolled at Legacy High School. Wood, a former B.A.S.S. youth state and national champion, was a member of the 2016 Bassmaster High School All-American Fishing Team.
Ethan Stone and Nolan Minor, fishing for Orange County High School in Virginia, took second with 48-6. Dailus Richardson and Trevor McKinney of Benton County High School in Illinois finished third with 46-5. Fourth were Ean Davis and Grayson Hanson of Pell City High School in Alabama with 45-15. Austin Hamner and Aaron Reed of Northside High School in Alabama took fifth with 45-12.
The winning game plan for Mason and Wood was conceived on the cross-country drive from their homes in Broomfield, Col.
“We fished deep last year and didn’t have the confidence in doing it again,” said Wood, 18, who will attend Dallas Baptist University and join its bass fishing team.
“We all are jerkbait junkies and use the lure a lot for all species back in Colorado,” added Chad LaChance, team coach and angling mentor of Wood since he was 9 years old.
“On the drive over we decided to somehow make it work since we have so much confidence in the jerkbait,” said Mason, 18, who will fish for the Colorado State University bass fishing team beginning this fall.
The jerkbait plan got validated upon arrival at Kentucky Lake. During practice the team caught fish of all species on the sub-topwater lure, just like back home, and plenty of quality largemouth and smallmouth.
“It worked from one end of the lake to the other, at least where we fished,” added Wood. “We could do no wrong and it was obvious all the various species were moving into shallow water to feed.”
In summer on Kentucky Lake bass fishermen rarely use the floating jerkbait. That is because the largemouth and smallmouth inhabit deeper, cooler water along the main river channel. They stay all summer long and feed on large schools of shad. Deep diving crankbaits are the top producers this time of year.
Mason and Wood discovered the bass moved into coves adjacent to the deep water to feed on baitfish. Even in shallow water the bass had a quick, short trip back to deeper water. Fish of all species came to feed, spending time to do little else, before darting back to deep water.
On average, they caught fish so shallow the boat created a mud line behind them. The presentation was equally as unusual. Mason and Wood snapped the rod tip and retrieved the lure as quickly as possible.
They used 5-inch floating jerkbaits in chrome for sunny skies and white under cloudy conditions. The lure was tied to 15-pound Stren braid with a 20-pound monofilament leader to prevent the lure from getting tangled. A 6-foot, 8-inch St. Croix Legend Elite Spinning Rod and Pflueger Patriarch spinning reel completed the tackle.
“We know it is unusual to catch bass in 90 degree water this time of year, on this lake, and in just a few inches of water,” said Mason. “But we had to give it a try.”
Redemption came early and quick. The team landed a limit weighing 14-10 by 7:30 a.m. on Thursday. They moved from 19th place into fourth on Friday with a limit weighing 17-15. The final effort produced a catch weighing 16-11 to seal the win.
Northside led the tournament on Thursday and then dropped to second the following day. They never recovered from missed opportunities. Fishing pressure from a weekend tournament hurt, too, today.
“We just didn’t execute well and had a lot of boats on our areas,” said Hamner.
The team focused on the typical summertime pattern of fishing the offshore ledges with deep running crankbaits.
Cap Massey, 14, of Animas, N.M., caught the big bass of the day weighing 8-5. He caught the largemouth on a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper soft plastic lure. The strike occurred as the lure was slowly dragged along the bottom near a dropoff in 7 feet of water.
The tournament began with 348 anglers representing 175 high schools from across the nation and Ontario. The field was cut to the Top 12 on Day 3 with the weigh-in held on the downtown square in Paris, Tenn.
Teams were awarded $70,250 in scholarship funds. B.A.S.S. contributed $21,000 and sponsors are provided $9,250. Bethel University provided the remaining $40,000. Triton Boats gave an additional $500 scholarship to each angler through sixth place.
2016 Bassmaster High School Title Sponsor: Costa
2016 Bassmaster High School Premier Sponsors: Toyota, Minn Kota, Triton Boats, Yamaha, Berkley, GoPro, Huk, Humminbird
2016 Bassmaster High School Supporting Sponsors: Phoenix Boats, Power-Pole, Rapala, Shell Rotella, Shimano, ABU Garcia, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Carhartt, Lowrance
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, B.A.S.S. Nation, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
Day Three Weigh in from Wheeler
John Cox continues to lead heading in to the final round of the Forrest Wood Cup, he weighed in 5 bass for 11 pounds. Todd Auten moved to second place with the days biggest bag, an impressive 17-10 pound limit. Auten trails Cox by less than a pound and the top ten wights are very close the right bites could keep this Cup very interesting until the last bass is weighed on Sunday afternoon.
Here are a few photos from this afternoon’s weigh in.
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Day 3 “On Deck” at Wheeler Lake
Conditions are sure to change, rain is in the forecast at Wheeler Lake for day three of the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup. Here is a look at what we saw this morning, “On Deck”.