FLW Tour Begins This Morning

Registration for the @walmart FLW Tour presented by Ranger is wrapped and we're ready to kick the season off tomorrow on #LakeOkeechobee! Lots of goodness at flwfishing.com. Photo by @the_pace22. #flwtour #flwfishing

A photo posted by FLW (@flwfishing) on Feb 3, 2016 at 3:25pm PST

It's a different perspective for me as the FLW Tour launches a new season this morning at Lake Okeechobee. My work this year is much less linked with FLW (or BASS) than it has been in a long time, but my personal interest is at least as high as ever. I've worked with so many of the anglers on this year's tour, including a couple of tour rookies, that I'm eager to see how everything goes for many different pros.

Interest-wise, it doesn't hurt that the season again starts at Okeechobee. That means there should be some bulging bags and maybe a few truly special fish brought to the scales this afternoon. Of course, big and small bags alike are the beginnings of season-long story lines, which I always enjoy following.

I won't be able to watch the live weigh-in or track much action on social media. However, if your schedule allows doing so, I'd absolutely recommend the flwfishing Twitter and Instagram feeds. They do a fabulous job of delivering the action to your computer or phone, wherever you happen to be. I certainly will take time this evening to look through the standings and read some of the coverage from the day.

I suppose they're about two hours from taking off. Unfathomable amount of nervous energy beside the lake right now!

No Cup for Me

For the past couple of days I've been seeing a lot of social media posts from friends who are traveling to or have just arrived in Hot Springs, Arkansas for the Forrest Wood Cup. Some are Cup competitors. Others are fellow media. Still others are manufacturer representatives or anglers who aren't competing but who will be involved with the outdoors show.

It's a little odd not being part of that mix. So soon after this year's long trout fishing trip, though, I didn't want to leave home again to travel to Arkansas for a week, and writing deadlines have become challenging. Still, I've been to the last several Cups, so watching the events develop from afar will seem increasingly odd as the actual competition draws nearer. (Official practice began this morning!)

No doubt I'll be following closely, and thankfully, FLW provides enough coverage between their website and their social media that you can almost get a sense of being there. In fact, I'm sure I'll do some remote coverage on this site. Still, it won't be the same as being out there at daylight when the boats blast off, backstage in the media room as guys are coming in and up front by the stage when the fish are being weighed.

It All Begins Today

Day one of practice for the @Walmart FLW Tour event on Toho is underway! Good luck to all! #FLWFishing pic.twitter.com/ivhGLkxivg
— FLW (@FLWFishing) March 1, 2015

Things have started! FLW Tour Pros have launched or are launching all over the Kissimmee Lakes chain in central Florida to practice for the tour opener, which begins on Thursday. Despite patches of snow that linger outside my window at home, the start of the FLW Tour season suggests that spring really is coming fairly soon.

I haven't looked at Kissimmee weather, but I suspect the pros will be targeting pre-spawn and even spawning fish. And as the tour itself moves north, so will warmer conditions. The excitement isn't just about spring and warmer weather, though. If you read this blog from time to time you know that I don't really mind cold and even go north instead of south through the winter so I can ice-fish. I just look forward to beginning of each new season, as a fishing writer and as a fan of the sport. I'm eager to see which pros figure things out at each tournament and how the fish behave, and to watch the many story lines that unfold through the season.

Even though the Bassmaster Classic was last weekend, that's a season cap for last year, not a fresh start, so it doesn't satisfy my desire to get things started anew.

I don't know which events I'll attend in person this week, but I'm always tracking them from wherever I am, both through the official tour feeds and through social media from various anglers. I suspect that in all the new excitement, a lot of cool Toho photos and notes will get posted today -- even more than normal for practice -- so I'll definitely have my eyes open!

Murphy on Murray

Dark skies and little breeze made Lake Murray largemouths tough customers yesterday, and fast-approaching rain gave Michael Murphy and I only a few hours to run around the lake.

That's OK. Spending time on Murray with Michael Murphy is always a great education and a lot of fun.  A pro angler who lives only a few miles from the lake, Murphy knows Murray very well, and he does a fabulous job of putting things into words. Although the fish weren't jumping into the boat, Michael did catch a couple of bass on a buzzbait, which was cool, considering that spring patterns are way behind schedule and the water is still only about 50 degrees.

I'll be talking with Michael and other Murray experts quite a bit this spring and summer in anticipation of the Forrest Wood Cup. Watch the FLW website for lake reports I'll be filing.

Tournament Morning

The Walmart FLW Tour begins its season this morning with Day 1 at Lake Okeechobee, and I admit being a little distracted from my work at home. They'll blast off at first safe light, so right now there's tremendous excitement around the launch area, with boats launching in the dark and anglers getting final well wishes from family and friends while answering media questions.

Practice time is over. The real deal is about to begin. Very soon each pro will have to decide on the stating spot he will run to -- a decision that could impact how the entire four-day tournament unfolds.

I've never been a tournament fisherman, so I can't rightly convey the angler's perspective. I really enjoy tournament mornings at the ramp, though (especially on day 1). There's just something about the great unknown, all that's about to happen and all that's at stake that fills the morning air with anticipation. And the everything only builds as first light creeps in and the boats start lining up by position. They're probably around that point now.

It wasn't practical for me to travel to Okeechobee, but I'm glad that social media allows the opportunity to follow things pretty closely. @FLWFishing does a tremendous job of tracking the action on Twitter, posting direct reports throughout the day and sharing many things that the FLW pros. And of course the weigh-ins will be broadcast live on flwoutdoors.com.

So I'll be watching from home and trying to not let it keep me from working on the stories that need writing. But when the Tour visits Lake Hartwell in a few weeks, you can bet I'll be out there in the dark in the morning enjoying the pre-tournament excitement first hand!

Rethinking Top Bags

Randall Tharp, Day 1 leader, Forrest Wood Cup, FLW photo

During the morning's takeoff show, Randall Tharp was asked about finding another kicker, and he pointed out that the biggest fish in his 18-8 bag on Day 1 of the Forrest Wood Cup weighed five and change. His smallest was around three pounds. While it's true a really good kicker could put any pro in the mix and was the missing element for many anglers in the field, Tharp's bag actually consisted of five quality fish, suggesting that he might have been onto something a little different -- yesterday at least. And early word from the @FLWfishing Twitter feed says that he already has a couple of good fish in the box.

Considering Tharp's catch more fully made me look closer at Bryan Thrift's bag and do a little math. Thrift's catch obviously was aided by a 7 1/2-pound bass, which he caught on a shaky head and by his own admission did not expect to find. Still, if you take 7 1/2 pounds off his total and divide the remaining weight by four, his other fish averaged close to three pounds. Make the fifth fish a 3-pounder and he'd still be around 14 pound, and still in second place. Oh, and he also has a 3 1/2-pounder aboard already today.

While I'm talking about backing yesterday's catch, it's worth noting, that Adrian Avena (4th yesterday) was already culling by 8:00 a.m. today, and Mark Rose (5th) has a 4-pounder in the box. I'm not saying the leaderboard won't shift. It may shift a lot, and specific kicker fish might play a huge part. I just realized I had been shortchanging the total efforts of Tharp and Thrift by only talking about kickers and wanted to clarify a bit.

Wheeler Wows Cup Crowd

Jacob Wheeler shows the crowd at the Gwinnett Center Arena two fish from his dominant Day 1 bag. FLW Photo by David A. Brown.

Indiana pro Jacob Wheeler stole the show on Day 1 of the Forrest Wood Cup. Wheeler's 21-pound, 15-ounce bag was more than five pounds heavier than any other angler's catch.
With conditions ranging from overcast to bright to seriously rainy, many pros found the bite tough and inconsistent. Even Wheeler didn't accomplish what he did with a single spectacular spot or by catching fish all day long. He reported hitting at least 50 spots during the day and only getting five largemouth bites.

FLW Tweets

If you want to keep up with the action at the Forrest Wood Cup and can't be there in person, just follow @FLWFishing on Twitter. Along with doing a great job of tweeting on the water reports and side stories from the Cup, FLW retweets stuff from all the competitors and others who are close to the action, so a single follow provides a great stream of photos and information. Of course, if tweets aren't enough for you, there's also live video coverage -- including live weigh-ins every afternoon --  on the FLW Fishing website.