Texas pros, co-anglers eye Forrest Wood Cup
Three Texans, including Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Cody Bird of Granbury, and Shinichi Fukae of Palestine, are among the field of 58 bass pros slated to square off in the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup on Aug. 11-14 at Lake Ouachita in Hot Springs, Ark.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, The Cup is the year-end bass fishing championship hosted by FLW Outdoors. Anglers will be fishing for some serious bucks, including a guaranteed top prize of $500,000 that will go to the pro qualifier who sacks up the most weight over four days. The winning pro will win an additional $100,000 if he is qualified through the Ranger Cup contingency program.
Rich Dalby of Greenville and Jeff Sprague of Forney will compete in the co-angler division. The winning co-angler gets $50,000, plus another $10,000 if contingency guidelines are met.
The full field of 58 pros and 58 co-anglers will compete for two days, then cut to the Top 20 for Day 3. The winning co-angler will be decided on Day 3, while the pro field will be cut to the Top 10 for Day 4.
This will be Wendlandt's 13th Cup appearance and Fukae's seventh. It will be Bird's third trip to the Cup and his fourth time competing on Ouachita, where he has put together several Top 10 finishes since 2000.
"I love that place," Bird said. "I spent five days up there before cut-off, and my guess is it will be fishing pretty tough by the time we get there. August is just a tough month for bass fishing, I don't care where you are at. But somebody is going to earn a big payday and take home The Cup. I just hope it's me. It's one of the most prestigious titles you can win in bass fishing."
Bird predicts it will take an average of 12-13 pounds per day to nail down the win. He thinks several patterns will be working, but expects that water in mid-range and deep depths will produce the better quality.
"Ouachita is a pretty clear lake with quite a bit of grass, but I didn't find a lot of it that suits my style for flipping a big jig," he said. "I'm guessing they'll catch them several different ways. Some will be caught out of the grass, but brush piles and suspended fish around deep trees will probably be the main deals. I'm just going to try to mix it up. It'll be real interesting to see how this one unfolds."
Vick nails fourth
Veteran Lake Fork fishing guide Lance Vick of Mineola made a good showing in the final FLW Tour Major event of the 2011 season, held July 21-24 on Lake Pickwick. Vick fished his way to the final day cut and ultimately finished in fourth place with a four-day total of 67 pounds, 14 ounces. He pocketed $20,192.
While Vick had his best finish of the season at Pickwick, FLW Outdoors all-time leading money winner David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., was busy wrapping up the second FLW Tour Angler of the Year title of his career. The title came with a $100,000 check.
Dudley, who won his first AOY in 2008, is one of only three anglers to win the FLW AOY title more than once. His first came in 2008. Texas pro Clark Wendlandt of Leander is the only angler with three FLW AOY titles to his credit. He won it in 1997, 2000 and 2009.
Migratory game bird season dates announced
It remains to be seen what effect the lingering Texas drought might have on the upcoming dove and waterfowl seasons. But we'll find out soon enough.
Texas Parks and Wildlife recently announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regulations Committee has approved the 2011-12 seasons on migratory game birds, and waterfowlers will be pleased to learn there will be an extra goody in the basket.
In addition to approving a 16-day early teal season that will run Sept. 10-25, the feds gave the green light for eastern-zone goose hunters to shoot Canada geese during the same time period. The bag limit on teal is four, three on Canada geese.
TPWD waterfowl experts say the decision to ask for the early season on Canada geese was based on the growing number birds that have taken up residence in northeast Texas. TPWD small-game program leader Dave Morrison said the early season will provide some additional hunting opportunity that falls within the 107-day federal framework established for Canada geese.
Texas dove hunters will have a long weekend for the season opener this year. The traditional Sept. 1 opening day in the north and central zones falls on a Thursday. The season runs through Oct. 23 and re-opens Dec. 23-Jan. 8. A daily limit may include 15 birds, but not more than two white-tipped doves.
The south zone season opens Sept. 23 and runs through Oct. 30, then re-opens Dec. 23-Jan. 23 with a daily limit of 15, no more than two white-tips. In the special white-winged dove area, the season will be opening noon to sunset Sept. 3-4 and and Sept. 10-11. Whitewing season re-opens Sept. 23-Oct. 30 and again Dec. 23-Jan. 19.
According to TPWD reports, "the special white-winged dove area season takes four of the allowable 70 days, so when the regular season opens, this area must close four days earlier than the rest of the south zone. During the early two weekends, the daily bag limit is 15 birds, to include not more than four mourning doves and two white-tipped doves. Once the general season opens, the aggregate bag limit will be 15."
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