COLUMBIA, S.C. – There is an interesting fishing battle setting up in South Carolina at the Forrest Wood Cup, and the winner of that battle is going to get a million dollars Sunday afternoon.
After Saturday’s weigh-in, the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup has boiled down primarily to a two-horse race between Duracell pro Michael Bennett of Lincoln, Calif., and Kellogg’s pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa.
After day three, Bennett leads with 16 pounds, 1 ounce. Lefebre is trailing Bennett by 2 pounds, 13 ounces with 13 pounds, 4 ounces. Behind those two is Terry Bolton of Jonesboro, Ark., with 10 pounds, 15 ounces.
Simply put, Bennett has put on a clinic the last three days, junk-fishing by the seat of his pants. He is demonstrating the art of tournament bass fishing in its purest form, relying solely on his instincts and intuition to fish almost all new water each day and making critical decisions on the fly.
So far his approach has worked beautifully, but he is the first to point out that the bottom could fall out at any time.
The last two days he has gotten just five or six bites per day and has made them count.
On the other hand, Lefebre has committed to one area, and he knows it well. Each day he has gotten more bites than Bennett. Today Lefebre said he had 11 or 12 bites.
The question now becomes whether Bennett can live on the edge another day for the quality bites. A stumble from Bennett, and Lefebre’s consistency could put the Kellogg's pro in the winner’s circle.
Beyond that, a face plant by either pro could leave the door open for Bolton or Chris Baumgardner.
Bennett turning trash into treasure
As for Bennett’s day, he is learning how to mine the treasures out of his junk-fishing. Each day he has dialed in a little more on where he needs to be and what he needs to be throwing.
“I started the tournament with 8 to 12 rods on the deck, and I’m now down to just three,” Bennett said. “I know what to look for, but I have run completely out of water.”
A critical move by Bennett happened on day two. After finishing off his limit at about noon, he invested the rest of his tournament day in riding around the lake, looking for a particular mix of shallow cover. He found several places that fit the bill and fished those places today for his catch. But the problem is he cannot find any more water like it.
“I’ve been very comfortable fishing new water as long as it has the right ingredients,” Bennett said. “But today I fished everything on this lake that looked like that, and I’ve basically got no new water to fish. I’m going to have to start repeating on water that I’ve fished over the last few days, and I’m a little nervous about that because I feel like the fish don’t replenish very fast in these areas.”
Bennett hit 30-plus spots today and noted that the critical time is the first three hours of the day.
“Getting at least three fish in the boat in the first three hours is crucial,” Bennett pointed out. “That puts me on the right pace to finish my limit by check-in.”
As for the nerves in fishing for a million bucks, Bennett candidly said, “I get nervous onstage, but once that’s over, I’m fine.”