Michael Bennett is only 23, but he's already in his 4th season on the FLW Tour. He's proven he belongs at the sport's top level by qualifying for every Forrest Wood Cup he's been eligible for.
Now he's proven that he can win at this level, too. The Californian caught a day-best 12-15 sack today at the Lewis Smith FLW Tour in Jasper, Ala. to finish with a 2-day total of 27-08.
He beat out rookie Scott Canterbury of Alabama by a little more than 3 pounds. Canterbury bagged 11-14 today and ended up 2nd with 24-05.
Florida's Koby Kreiger caught 10-05 today to finish 3rd with 20-00 and become the new Angler of the Year leader. Luke Clausen of Washington finished 4th with 10-09 today and a 21-05 total, and Alabama's Greg Pugh landed in 5th with a 10-05 bag today and a 20-00 total.
Here's how the bottom half of the Top 10 looked when it was over:
6. Darrel Robertson: 17-01
7. Jason Christie: 16-04
8. Brandon Coulter: 13-15
9. Glenn Browne: 11-14
10. Danny Pierce: 7-10
Fishing conditions today were nearly ideal – there was a mix of clouds and sun, and not enough wind to take any technique or area out of play. Most of the lake's fish are still transitioning to the spawn, though, and remained tough to catch unless they were already in water shallower than 10 feet.
There wasn't a significant migration toward the bank in the wake of the strong storm that hit Friday, and that hampered those who were counting heavily on the sight-bite. A spawner was picked off here and there, but there weren't enough to make a day out of.
Bennett carried a lead of a little more than 2 pounds into today. He lost three keeper bites – just as he had on day 3 – but the five he boated were plenty.
Bennett Thrilled
Bennett is still in the formative stages of his career, but a Tour victory has nonetheless been a longtime goal.
"It's incredible," he said. "It's something I've dreamed about since I was a little kid. The money is awesome, but the win is the big thing.
He felt good about his day on the ride back to the launch, but didn't know whether he'd done enough to close out the victory.
"I thought I might've left the door open – I didn't think I had quite as much weight as I did, and I thought there was a good chance someone could beat me. There were really only three guys with a legitimate shot, but the conditions were really nice and I though one of the bed-fishermen might have caught a couple of good ones.
"At least I felt I performed to a level where they had to beat me. I hadn't given it away."
His day started slowly – he had only one keeper at 9:00 – but then he caught three in a 20-minute period. Two of them came off the same dock and the other was a spawner he'd saved all week.
He weighed his two biggest spotted bass of the tournament today – a 4-pounder and a 3 3/4-pounder.
"I lost two that would have helped me, but I was just glad to catch five. They were the only five I caught all day."
Details of his winning pattern, as well as those for the other top finishers, will be posted soon