If Darrel Robertson hadn't been so greedy, he could've easily made the Top-10 cut at last week's Beaver Lake FLW Tour. He had something else on his mind, though.
"I wasn't trying to make the Top 10, I was trying to win it," said the Oklahoma veteran and former Forrest Wood Cup champion. "I went and got a limit of spotted bass (in the middle of the day), but two of them were 12-inchers and I was sure I could get two or three good largemouths to bite and I'd get rid of them. That just never happened."
He started day 3 in 2nd place after weighing 14-05 and 13-09 on days 1 and 2, respectively. On day 3, however, the quality pre-spawn fish he'd been catching from rocky ledges in 12 to 15 feet of water were nowhere to be found.
"I think the sunshine that day must've sent them scampering off to the timber or something," he said. "The first 2 days I'd been getting my biggest ones in the last 2 or 3 hours of the day.
"After day 2 I really thought I had a good opportunity to win it. I'd caught a 5-pounder the first day and two 4s the second day and I'd lost a good one each day. But on the third day they were just gone."
Nonetheless, he notched his best finish in 4 years and made a big leap to 63rd in the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings. If he performs well in the second half of the season, he could qualify for the Cup (which will be held this year at Arkansas' Lake Ouachita) for the first time since 2011.
"I've done so terrible the last 3 years, but I've had some things going on other than fishing," he said. "I'm in a position now where I can focus more on fishing and I'd really like to get a chance to fish at Ouachita."
The Big Bite Lookback, which focuses on the angler who's first out of the final cut at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great folks at Big Bite Baits.
