Kentucky Lake Learning

Mark Rose had barely gotten words out of his mouth explaining how bass tend to behave during the fall and talking about where the fish should be when he set the hook into a chunky bass that gave credence to what he had been saying. Not that his words about bass need credence. In recent years Rose has established himself as one of the finest anglers on the FLW Tour, and big river impoundments like Kentucky Lake are his specialty. Still, it's fun to watch the bass cooperate and back his words.

I didn't fish today. Instead, I spent a full day learning about bass behavior and fishing tactics from top bass pros. It was a great day of learning and doing photo work on one of the finest bass lakes in the nation. Each of the four guys I spent time with provided a little different perspective, with all four giving me great material for stories.

Although we spoke mostly about tactics, I learned much more about the lake itself today -- thing that will help me with stories about Kentucky Lake and with future fishing trips. Both are good things because Kentucky Lake is a popular destination to write about, and it's also one of my favorite places to fish.

Tomorrow starts with more of the same, except with crappie pros instead of bass pros, but by late morning, Nathaniel and I will be bidding Kentucky Lake farewell and pointing the truck toward Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Paris Fishing

OK. I'm talking about Paris, Tennessee. Of course, I probably don't need to say that. With that particular Paris being on the banks of Kentucky Lake, half the folks who read this blog might think about bass or crappie fishing on the big lake before the Eiffel Tower or other French landmarks when they hear mention of Paris. In truth -- exception if I were somehow afforded the opportunity to take my daughter Sarah to the across-the-pond Paris, I'd much rather be headed toward Fish Tales Lodge on Kentucky Lake than France.

Good thing. Truck will be pointed toward Tennessee tomorrow morning for a couple of days of fishing and photo work with the Strike King pro staff. I actually won't fish much and may not fish at all. It's a gathering of pros and writer for the purpose of shooting photos and videos, doing interviews and spending time with guys like Mark Rose, Kevin VanDam and Shaw Grigsby. I've attended the same annual event several times in the past and always drive a way with a lot of good material. Most is long term, for magazines, but watch for blogs about the outing, stories on FINS'nTALES, new videos on the YouTube channel and updates on my facebook page.

From Paris, I'm headed south toward Lake Charles, Louisiana, which is Cajun Country and therefore a more genuinely French culture. More on that to follow.

40th to 17th to 4th to ?

Jacob Wheeler surged to 4th place with today's best bag.

For anyone who has paid attention to the Forrest Wood Cup through the first three days, it would be tough to not have an eye on Jacob Wheeler.

Last year's FWC champion came out of the gate slowly, with a 7-pound, 4-ounce first-day catch that put him in 40th place out of 46 anglers. It was popular to say that things could flip flop on Day 2, and a lot of anglers did indeed move up or down notably. Still, I'm not sure anyone expected Wheeler to flop things quite the way he did. Wheeler's 13-7 Day 2 catch was second best brought to the scales that day and jumped him all the into 17th place, which put him within the cut and allowed him to fish again today. He struck again today, bringing in 14 pounds, 4 ounces and jumping all the way to 4th place. Wheeler's bag, which was the best catch brought to the scales on Day 3, put him 4 1/2 pounds behind leader Bryan Thrift.

Thrift has gotten all his biggest fish off a single spot, and he said he had to fish two hours in that spot to catch one fish today. He has seemed somewhat surprised by what he has caught all week. Wheeler, on the other hand, figured something out on Day 2, and it has worked very well for him for two days. He appears to be getting stronger as the tournament progresses.

That's not to say he's going to overtake Thrift (or that either will be the winner for that matter). Although Thrift has seemed surprised by each day's catch, the fact is that he keeps catching them very well.

Five of the ten anglers remaining are within five pounds of one another at the top, and three of them (including Thrift) are still ahead of Wheeler. Randall Tharp, who led for two days and slipped to second today, believes he knows what he needs to do to bring it home. Larry Nixon found muddy water in his best spot today and it didn't produce at all, leaving him scrambling. The Red is a highly dynamic river, though, and that mud could settle tonight and put Nixon right back where he wants to be. Meanwhile, Mark Rose said yesterday that he thought his best bags were still ahead. He wasn't able to prove that today, but tomorrow things might be different.

The ten pros who remain take off tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. Central. The weigh-in begins at 5:00. If you can't be here to watch it in person, you can watch it live on flwoutdoors.com.

Moving Day at Forrest Wood Cup

Larry Nixon, 3rd place going into Day 3 of the Forrest Wood Cup

With only 10 pounds separating the 20 anglers who remain and two days left to fish, I still think the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup is anyone's tournament. The pros toward the bottom would have to have a lot of things work their way, including a bit of stumbling by the anglers at the top, but there are big wild card fish in the Red River, and groups of fish that have produced for someone can run out in four days. Plus, it's a river, and a change in flow, water color or temperature could change fortunes in either direction. Of course, to compete tomorrow, an angler has to finish in the Top 10 after today.

Mark Rose, who sits in 5th place, 5 pounds out, said that a conditions has been changing that should favor his best big-fish spots -- waters he hasn't fished yet during the competition. He said on stage last night that he believe his best days are yet to come. I just read on the @FLWFishing Twitter feed, by the way, that Rose's other pattern is cranking downriver and that improved clarity is the key. He is doing that this morning and got an early limit in the boat.

Meanwhile, Ray Scheide, sitting one place ahead of Rose, brought in 12-12 yesterday, but word is that he had some seriously big fish get off and that he's fishing in mega-thick cover in a backwater that holds some heavyweight fish. He says he figured out a couple of things yesterday and that if he could capitalize today, he could "blow the doors off this thing."

Then there's Larry Nixon. The General is the only angler in field to bring in 13 pounds or more both days, and he apparently has a specific big-bass spot that has been producing for him. He also brings unparalleled experience.

Randal Tharp and Bryan Thrift, in first and second, respectively, both backed giant18-pound-plus bags with solid 11-pound sacks and are separated by only 4 ounces. Both believe they would need at least one more legitimately big day to take home the Forrest Wood Cup and the $500,000 check. Tharp seems confident that he's around the right fish. Thrift still acts surprised by the big fish he's catching but continues to get it done.

Looking down through the top 20, it's roughly a three way split among anglers who had a pretty big first day and a mediocre second day, anglers who did the opposite and moved up yesterday, and anglers who had brought in two solid limits. Last year's champ, Jacob Wheeler, made the most noteworthy jump, following a weak first day that had him in in 40th place with one of yesterday's best bags (13-7), which jumped into the cut in 18th place. Another day like that today, and he'd be fishing for all the marbles tomorrow.

If you want to track how things are progressing during the day, the #FLWFishing Twitter feed is tough to top. They have guys on the water watching and posting regular reports. Of course, they can't follow everyone, with 20 pros still fishing, so who knows which angler might bring a big surprise to this afternoon's weigh-in?

Mark Rose Fishing his Comfort Zone

Wheeler leader Mark Rose and his daughter Hannah Grace show off part of Rose's Day 3 catch. FLW photo by David A. Brown.

This week at the FLW Tour Open at Wheeler, Mark Rose is getting to do what he does as well as anyone on tour -- studying offshore structure and fish with his electronics and figuring out which ones will bite and how to catch those fish. In recent years Rose has made a study of offshore fish in big-river systems, and he seems to catch them every time the tour makes a stop on a big-river impoundment. Wheeler is actually the Tennessee River impoundment where Rose has the least experience, but it fishes much like others in the system and during this week's tournament he's fishing as if he were on home waters.

The tournament's not over, and Rose is not getting many bite each day so anything could happen. However, he has brought in a big bag on each of the first three days and leads the event by 7 pounds going into the final day. He's catching his fish on a few different baits, with the specific choice varying according to how the fish are positioned on the structure. Rose's biggest stated concern is that he has been fishing a couple of specific areas and has worked them hard. He'll try to milk the same spots one more day, but he might have to go looking for new fish.

Closest behind Rose is Blake Nick, an Alabama angler who is targeting feeding fish near Wheeler Dam. Today Nick was hindered by wind and necessary boat positioning that gave his co-angler a better casting angle than he could get for the fish he was targeting. Today is forecast to be calm and there are no co-anglers, both of which could be good things for Nick.

Rose Picked Pieces for Strong Day 1 Lead

Mark Rose 21-pound, 7-ounce first-day catch at the Lake Wheeler FLW Open gave him a 3-pound, 7-ounce lead. FLW photo by David A. Brown.

Based on Mark Rose's dominant first-day catch at Lake Wheeler and his history of dominance on big-river reservoirs, one would assume he had figured out a really solid pattern. Rose reported otherwise, though. He actually is moving a lot, fishing both deep and shallow, battled to collect his 21-pound, 7-ounce Day 1 limit and used several different lures to catch the fish he brought to the scales.

Most other angers' reports were similar. It seems Wheeler's bass are scattered from very shallow water to deep ledges and that shad are everywhere, making the fish difficult to pattern and to catch. Several pros reported moving frequently, mixing it up and finding little rhyme or reason in when, how or where they caught their best bass. Rose's big catch put him 3-pounds, 7 ounces ahead of local angler Blake Nick. Luke Clausen, Russ Lane and Greg Hackney are holding the next three spots in the standings after one day of competition.