COLUMBIA, S.C. – The 2008 Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Murray is quickly turning into professional bass fishing’s version of Junkyard Wars.
All afternoon the words “junk-fishing” have been the primary vernacular to describe the type of fishing that seems to be allowing pros to climb to the top of the leader board.
Essentially, junk-fishing is not so much of a pattern as it is a lack of a pattern. It’s almost as if the idea is to avoid attaching too much significance to any fish caught during the day because doing so might just lead an angler astray.
The terms “covering new water” and “keeping an open mind” have been uttered a lot as well.
Leading the Forrest Wood Cup after day two is Duracell pro Michael Bennett of Lincoln, Calif.
Bennett sacked up 15 pounds, 5 ounces today to add to his 11 pounds, 15 ounces yesterday to lead with a two-day total of 27 pounds, 4 ounces.
And as you might have already guessed, Bennett is referring to his fishing as junk-fishing.
“I started the day by fishing some of the stuff I fished yesterday and it didn’t work out so at about 9 o’clock I gave up everything I was doing and just completely started over,” Bennett said. “I hit one little stretch, put three decent fish in the boat and finished out a limit by noon. From there I just drove around the lake looking for new stuff to fish.”
The only common denominator Bennett can seem to find is not to stay in an area too long after he has caught fish there. Common logic would dictate staying in areas where fish have been caught, but not for Bennett.
“Every time I catch a fish or two off a spot, it’s done,” Bennett continued. “I’m slowly learning that there is no reason to return to places where I have caught fish. I can find consistency in fishing new water, so that’s what I’m going to continue to do.
“The patterns seem to change every day and the only way I can adapt to that is to fish each hour with an open mind, even if that means completely starting over every couple of hours.”