Clent Davis Wins 2018 Forest Wood Cup Lake Ouachita with 36-13lbs!

Davis restarts career with FLW victory

by Sean Ostruszka

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Little less than a year ago Clent Davis was contemplating giving up the sport of professional bass fishing for good. Now, he’s the Forrest Wood Cup champion.

Big worm and topwater proves to be key baits on win.
(Photo: FLW)

Despite starting the final day at Lake Ouachita in 10th place, Davis crushed the largest bag of the tournament – 17 pounds, 13 ounces – to be the first angler to make up nine places on the final day of the Cup. His 36 pounds, 13 ounces was more than 7 pounds better than second-place pro James Niggemeyer.

“I don’t even know what to do or what I’m feeling,” a stunned Davis said on stage after day-two leader Wes Logan lifted his hand to show he had only one fish in his bag. “This is incredible.”

Davis’ run to becoming Cup champion started last November when FLW Senior Director of Tournament Operations Bill Taylor called Davis about returning to the Tour after being on the Bassmaster Elite Series the previous two seasons. Admittedly, Davis was burnt out on the sport, but the itch came back after that call.

Fast-forward to the Cup, and Davis knew there was only one way he was going to have a chance to win.

“I’m a decent offshore fisherman, but I think I’m a really good brush pile fisherman,” Davis says. “So that was the only thing I was going to do since day one.”

Clent Davis Wins 2018 Forrest Wood Cup!

Congrats to Clent! Clent came all the way from 10th to take the cup.
Learn how he won the FLW Cup tomorrow right here on IBASSIN.com

2018 Forest Wood Cup Lake Ouachita Day 2: Wes Logan Leads with 23-13lbs!

3 Canadians Out of Top 10
by Sean Ostruszka
FLW PRESS RELEASE

After two days of fishing, pros are usually pretty dialed in on their patterns. Not this week. You’d be hard pressed to find a pro who feels confident in any sort of pattern on Saturday at the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Ouachita.

Mixing shallow and deep working for Logan.
(Photo: FLW)

Case in point, day-one leader Alex Davis brought a lone fish to the scale today. Nick LeBrun, who was in second on day one, only caught three keepers. He was fortunate one of them weighed more than 6 pounds, which helped him stay in second.

At this point, even new leader Wes Logan is unsure if he’ll catch another fish with how random and tough the bites have been on Lake Ouachita. His catch thus far is 23 pounds, 13 ounces, including a 12-pound, 4-ounce bag that was the largest of day two. He has a 1-pound, 2-ounce lead over LeBrun going into the final day

“I’m just going with my gut, and so far it’s been right,” Logan says.

The Springville, Ala., pro has been running a two-pronged attack up shallow and out deep.

Two key offshore spots in 17 to 25 feet of water have been more consistent. He’s been able to catch multiple keepers there each day.

The shallow pattern is a lot more random. He doesn’t know where he’s going to go at any given moment.

“I must’ve hit 50 spots today,” Logan says. “I burnt a good amount of gas. I’m just running anywhere I see. No real reason to it. Just covering water.”

The end result has been him catching 10 keepers each day.

As for Sunday’s final day of competition, Logan doesn’t even know where he’ll start. While the deep bite has been more consistent, he’s not getting any big bites out there, and it seems to be better in the afternoon. That leaves him probably going shallow, but where is anybody’s guess.

The “anybody’s guess” part could be said about who’s going to win this event too. With such unpredictability in the bites and weights, most every pro in the top 10 has a shot to win if he has a good day.

Still, considering he’s a rookie who’s never been to Ouachita, Logan is just quite pleased to be where he’s sitting.

“I’m obviously excited [about leading the Cup],” Logan adds. “But you want to be leading after the third day, not the second.”

TOP 10 PROS

1. Wes Logan – Springville, Ala. – 23-13 (10)           

2. Nick LeBrun – Bossier City, La. – 22-11 (8)        

3. James Niggemeyer – Van, Texas – 20-14 (9)         

4. Zack Birge – Blanchard, Okla. – 20-6 (10)

5. Jason Lambert – Michie, Tenn. – 20-3 (10)          

6. John Cox – DeBary, Fla. – 19-14 (9)        

7. Bradford Beavers – Summerville, S.C. – 19-5 (8)  

8. Brandon Cobb – Greenwood, S.C. – 19-2 (10)     

9. Justin Atkins – Florence, Ala. – 19-0 (10)

10. Clent Davis – Montevallo, Ala. – 19-0 (10)        

2018 Forest Wood Cup Lake Ouachita Day 1: Alex Davis Leads with 13-10lbs!

Cory Johnston in 4th!
FLW PRESS RELEASE

Alex Davis best them all on difficult first day.
(Photo: FLW)

Alex Davis was talking with his dad, Jeff, before the Forrest Wood Cup about who was going to win it.

“I told him whoever was going to win this thing would do it on luck,” Alex says. “By God, that’s exactly what happened today for me.”

He’s not lying. The Albertville, Ala., pro went from a single 1-pounder at noon to a day-one-leading 13 pounds, 10 ounces through a comedy of randomness.

Setting the scene, Alex figured he had some solid stretches where he could catch them shallow on topwater, and they certainly showed they were there, as he had seven blowups throughout the morning. He only landed the lone dink, and he lost another three on a worm.

“I have no idea how,” he says.

Finally, he made a move and caught a pair of small fish. Another move prompted a fourth.

“My dad told me before I left today, ‘Don’t come back with four,’” Alex says. “I knew of one brush pile. So I went there, made one cast and the second it hit the bottom I set the hook. So then I had a limit and decided to head in.”

However, there was still a little time left before the 33-year-old had to check in. He decided to stop on one more area. First cast he caught a 3-pounder on something “special” he didn’t want to discuss until tomorrow.

Again, he was “done,” but he still had a little time left. So with 10 minutes to go he stopped at a random cove he’d never even been in before.

“My last cast I caught my biggest fish of the day,” Alex says. “I slung him in the boat, pulled up my trolling motor, tossed out my smallest and checked in. How crazy is that?”

Obviously, luck can be fickle, so when it comes to day two the pro has “no idea” what he’s going to do or how well.

“I may just go throw topwaters again tomorrow,” he says. “I had all those blowups. I do know I’ll check that one special thing. Everyone will see it tomorrow on live, but if it goes it could be awesome.”

TOP 10 PROS

1. Alex Davis – Albertville, Ala. – 13-10 (5)

2. Nick LeBrun – Bossier City, La. – 13-5 (5)

3. Zack Birge – Blanchard, Okla. – 13-1 (5)

4. Cory Johnston – Cavan, Ontario – 12-8 (5)

5. James Niggemeyer – Van, Texas – 12-2 (5)

6. Wes Logan – Springville, Ala. – 11-9 (5)

7. Bradford Beavers – Summerville, S.C. – 11-6 (3)

8. John Cox – DeBary, Fla. – 11-3 (5)

9. Jason Lambert – Michie, Tenn. – 10-0 (5)

10. Justin Atkins – Florence, Ala. – 9-14 (5)

ICAST 2018: Molix RA Shad Swimbait and SV Craw with Carl Jocumsen

Swimbaits are the hottest lures this year on both the FLW and BASS Tours. FLW Pro, Carl Jocumsen has been scoring well with the RA Shad Swimbait and the SV Craw across the U.S.A..
Molix is an amazing lure company that is making its mark North America. Listen as Carl explains these 2 cool baits from Molix.

ICAST 2018: Booyah Melee Bladed Jig with Zell Roland

Everyone loves a bladed jig. Legendary angler Zell Roland help inspire the new Booyah Melee bladed jig. The design has a unique head that give maximum vibration and great deflection when crashing into cover. Listen as Zell explains this new Booyah Melee bladed jig.

ICAST 2018: Neko Skirted Nail Weights by VMC with Mike Iaconelli

Its the fine tuning that can really make the difference. One of the hottest technique is Neko rigging and the VMC skirted nail weight is something to use. Listen as Mike Iaconelli as he explains this 2018 ICAST Award Winning accessory.

ICAST 2018: LUNKERHUNT's New Jigheads

Lunkerhunt Jigs have been built using premium components and feature high quality finishes.

Lunkerhunt Jigs come in a variety of Gamefish and Panfish/Live Bait styles. Each jig family has patterns, weight options, and hook sizes that have been hand crafted to generate strikes, and maximize hook-up percentages. All Lunkerhunt Jigs come with a double lock bait holder to hold plastics in place and limit slippage.

Gamefish Jigs Gamefish Jigs come in both Darter and Ball head styles. They are great for a wide range of gamefish species. They have a sturdy long shank hook that excels when fished with soft plastics like swim baits, oversized grubs, and split tails. Lunkerhunt Gamefish Jigs are available in 1/8 Oz, 1/8 Oz, 3/16 Oz, ¼ Oz, 3/8 Oz, and ½ Oz sizes and are available in 14 different fish catching patterns. Panfish/Live Bait Jigs Panfish/Live Bait Jigs have short shank hooks with a little bit of flex for high hook-up percentages. Lunkerhunt Panfish/Live Bait Jigs come in 1/32 Oz, 1/16 Oz, 1/8 Oz, and ¼ Oz sizes and are available in 14 different fish catching patterns.

Bryan Labelle Wins 2018 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Eastern Open No. 3 on Lake Champlain with 58-10lbs

Molix Pro Carl Jocumsen big bass 6-5lbs!
By Jon Storm
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Flipping and spinnerbaits key to win for local.
(Photo: BASS)

Bryan Labelle of Hinesburg, Vt., began Saturday’s final round of competition at the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Eastern Open No. 3 at Lake Champlain with the firm belief that he could catch 18 to 19 pounds. 
 
He felt that’s what he needed to hold off second-place Bobby Lane. Turns out the fishing was tough across the board, and Labelle caught just 15-8, the sixth heaviest limit among the final Top 12 anglers. Still, it was enough to best second-place Buddy Cippoletti of Wading River, N.Y., by 2-3 ounces and deliver Labelle the first significant win of his career.
 
Cipoletti weighed a 17-10 limit, while Lane, an Elite Series pro from Lakeland, Fla., who began the day in second place, weighed just 14-2 and finished third. Only half of the final 12 pros topped the 15-pound mark.
 
“I’m super excited, obviously — I didn't think I had it,” Labelle said. “It was my worst day ever on Champlain. I thought I had 12 1/2 or maybe 12 3/4 pounds. I didn’t realize I had 15. 
 
“This is my first big win. I was real nervous in line. Bobby (Lane) made it pretty hard on me. He was going through the weights back and forth — what we needed. For me, I think the most important thing was sticking to my game plan. I made a big mistake today, trying to target smallmouth to start. I was second-guessing myself all day, but once I changed to largemouth, I stuck with that all day.”
 
Labelle noted he has thousands of waypoints on the lake. He runned and gunned, stopping and dropping for about 10 minutes at each spot in search of largemouth. He weighed four largemouth and one smallmouth today.
 
Labelle’s key bait was a 1/2-ounce Dirty Jigs Scott Canterbury Flipping Jig, tipped with a Zoom Flippin’ Blue trailer. He was flipping and pitching grass areas in Mississquoi Bay, at the north end of the lake.