Hawk's 14-12 Leads A Light Day 1, Christie Trails

Georgia's Lake Lanier doesn't have a slot limit – there's a 14-inch minimum. But day 1 at the Forrest Wood Cup was a lot like playing a slot machine: Run as many brushpiles as you can, drop your quarter in the water, and maybe you'll get lucky.

It's not quite that simple – a few pros figured out something a little different, like Cody Meyer, who's catching suspended fish, or Ott DeFoe, who's

running an aluminum tunnel-hull way up the river. But overall that's the gameplan. Some struck it rich, others emptied their pockets.

The day-1 leader is 31-year-old California pro Kevin Hawk, who taloned 14-12 after he suffered an 8-ounce fish-care penalty. He's working a deep milk-run as fast as he can, but fishing each spot slowly. His theory is to run tons of spots each day in search of better quality.

And what's especially interesting about Hawk is he's more of a local than many think. After he qualified for the Cup last year through the Western Series, he moved to Lanier and fished this year's FLW Tour as a co-angler.

A scant 4 ounces behind Hawk is Oklahoma pro Jason Christie, who's actually working somewhat of a different strategy. Christie's fishing deep, like Hawk is, but he's picking an area and spending much more time on it. That allowed him to learn more about how to catch the neutral fish, Christie said.

Next in line in 3rd is Florida pro JT Kenney, who's running banks in the morning, then moving to deep water. Kenney boxed a final weight of 14-06.

In 4th is California pro Cody Meyer, who was in contention to win last year's Pittsburgh Cup. As noted, Meyer's working suspended fish over 50 to 70 feet of water with a swimbait and a Jackall Crosstail Shad. He had an 8-ounce penalty and posted a final day-1 weight of 14-03.

And Tennessee pro Ott DeFoe, with 13-10, rounds out the Top 5. He's the oddball among the Top 10, in that he's running ultra-skinny water to reach the upper stretches of the river. The water dropped about 4 inches since the final practice day and DeFoe almost didn't make it there today – his hands were shaking when he finally came down off pad, he said.

The field cuts to the Top 30 after day 2, and the Top 6 after day 3. Total 4-day weight determines the winner. Here's a look at the current Top 10.

1. Kevin Hawk -- Ramona, Ca -- 5, 14-12
2. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, Ok -- 5, 14-08
3. JT Kenney -- Palm Bay, Fl -- 5, 14-06
4. Cody Meyer -- Grass Valley, Ca -- 5, 14-03
5. Ott DeFoe -- Knoxville, Tn -- 5, 13-10
6. Jason Meninger -- Gainesville, Ga -- 5, 13-03
7. Brian Travis -- Conover, Nc -- 5, 13-02
8. Larry Nixon -- Bee Branch, Ar -- 5, 12-10
9. Brent Ehrler -- Redlands, Ca -- 5, 12-09
10. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 5, 11-14

As expected for this spotted-bass fishery, standings are in increments of ounces, not pounds. As well, several noted worm-fishermen are represented in the Top 10.

Unexpected, perhaps, is the prevalence of young talent. The glaring exception is veteran and fan favorite Larry Nixon, as well as FLW Tour powerhouse David Dudley.

Local ace Jason Meninger sits in 6th, and has to be seen as the overall favorite at this point given his vast knowledge of the lake.

A few other standings notes:

> Five pros blanked today – Greg Bohannon, Mike Folkestad, Anthony Gagliardi, Tim Klinger and past Cup champion Scott Suggs. For Suggs, he's probably already thinking about redemption, because next year the Cup returns to Ouachita. That's his home lake and it's where he won it before.

> This is the second time Brian Travis has been near the top at a Forrest Wood Cup on a blueback herring lake. He was a contender at Murray in 2008, when he fished as reigning TBF National Champion.

> Tom Mann, Jr., one of the pre-tournament favorites, is 21st with 9-06.

> Anyone at 10 pounds or above today is still in strong position. The bite should dwindle and as little as 11 to 12 pounds a day could win.

> The dominant bite for the field has been deep, but there are some shallow fish being caught, especially in the mornings. And they're not just largemouths – there are some bruiser spots up on the bank.

Hawk's Last?

> Day 1: 5, 14-12

Hawk, like many of his peers, is struggling to secure finances to stay in the sport. He told BassFan that if he doesn't cash a big check at this event, it could be his last.

He's en route toward much more than that. He leads day 1 and is the man to beat for now.

"My goal is to go pro, and to win this would be amazing," Hawk said. "I'm in the situation now where this is probably my last tournament unless I do really well. I've got to get some more financing to keep it going for a little while."

The Western FLW Series qualifier put together a milk-run during practice, and moved through it as quickly as he could today. He's able to differentiate feeding fish from neutral or negative fish on his electronics, he said, and that determines how much time he'll sink into an individual spot. He described it as "fishing fast" when he's running from spot to spot, but "fishing slow" once he gets there.

"I think it's a matter of fishing enough spots to come across a few better fish," he noted. "That's the key. I feel good. I've got some confidence going now. Hopefully I can go out there and catch some more. I ran probably 35 or 40 spots today with a combination of a dropshot and a Fish Head Spin.

"I feel right at home here," he added. "This place sets up just like Southern California – deep finesse fishing – and I feel really comfortable."

2nd: Christie Surprised

> Day 1: 5, 14-08

After his "pitiful" practice, Christie would have been happy with 9 or 10 pounds. But he busted 14 1/2, which surprised him.

"I think one thing that made a difference today was in practice I was fishing fast – just trying to find stuff," he said. "Today I just kind of picked an area that seemed to have the most fish and I slowed down. Rather than pulling up on one place and then another, I put the trolling motor down and thoroughly fished.

"I learned a lot today. Whether I can catch them tomorrow, I don't know, but I learned some stuff that I think might help."

That learning involved which fish to target. While most of the field is running and gunning, looking to graph fish that are actively feeding, he's trying to catch the neutral or negative fish in the area he picks. He's graphed a lot more fish than he's caught, but he did catch some inactive fish, he said. And as the event wears on, that could become the difference-maker.

He fished deep the entire day.

"I went to probably 20 of my waypoints today. Those were pretty much the better ones. One mistake I made in practice was I marked a lot of waypoints just idling around, and I didn't mark how deep they were. Today I needed to be at a real certain depth, and I wish I'd marked that."

He added that he caught all his fish on a Yum Dinger, and that he purchased some rods prior to the event that have helped him. He bought Jeff Kriet spinning rods from Falcon, and today marked his first-ever tournament limit on spinning gear.

"Those rods set up right when you get one. They just feel good and I think that's real important."

3rd: Kenney Deep and Shallow

> Day 1: 5, 14-06

It's been a new type of year for Kenney. After spending most of his career fishing with the financial comfort of an FLW team, he's been without sponsorship this year.

But interestingly he's not stressed about that this week.

"Of course I want to win," he said. "That's the reason I do this. But I'm real laid back out there, knowing I'll get $7,000 (guaranteed). It doesn't look right, but I don't have any worries out there."

About his day, he said: "I was thinking I could probably catch 12 or 13 pounds. I'm just running banks and pockets in the morning – I won't say with what, but it's not brain surgery. Then I'm moving out deep. I caught some shallow and some deep. One was close to 4 pounds and another was 3 3/4. I culled probably five or six times."

He weighed two shallow fish (both spots) and three deep fish, and his big fish were split between shallow and deep.

"I fished half of what I considered my best waypoints," he noted. "I have probably 50 that I consider to be good. But you never know. I might pull up on one tomorrow that'll be on fire, but wasn't the day before. To me, it's all about hitting as many spots as you can. I'm making three or four casts on a deep spot and that's it."

He added that he's fishing a dropshot out deep with Gambler and Berkley worms.

4th: Meyer Working Suspenders

> Day 1: 5, 14-03

Meyer finished 3rd last year at Pittsburgh and he's right back in the hunt again.

About his suspended-fish attack plan, he said: "I grew up fishing Shasta and Oroville, and this lake is very, very similar. The fish suspend this time of year back home and here, and that's how I'm catching them. It's really similar. I'm catching them 20 to 25 feet down over 50 to 70 feet.

"I caught 10 keepers today and didn't miss any. My biggest was about 3 1/2."

Part of what he's doing, he said, is triggering non-feeding fish into eating.

And he did say today offered a little bit of redemption – he feels he let last year's Cup slip through his fingers.

"I think about it every day. But I don't know. It's hard to say if I'm on the winning fish. I didn't have a good practice at all. I shook off a lot, and set on only a couple, so I didn't know what I'd catch. I don't know if today was a fluke or if I can do it again."

His friend and Cup practice partner JR Wright (Truckee, Calif.) is leading the co-angler division with 12-05.

5th: DeFoe Running Up

> Day 1: 5, 13-10

FLW Outdoors rules prohibit jet-drives, but they don't prohibit tunnel-hulls with short-shaft outboards. That's what DeFoe's running – more specifically, a Tracker aluminum – and he's running way up through the skinny stuff to reach some river largemouths.

He got a little scared this morning when he saw the water level had dropped 4 inches, he said, but he still made it there and back.

"I definitely could be the victim of a water drop," he said. "It was the lowest I've seen it this morning. It might have been that low before the cutoff, I don't know. But it's the lowest it's been in the last few days. And those places – once I got through there today and I didn't tear anything up, I had to sit down for a few minutes just to calm down. You have to go through there on pad."

He characterized his day as "a good start" and he's "really happy" with it. The first fish he caught, which was on his fifth cast, was 3 1/2 pounds, so he feels he's around the right class of fish.

"But it was pretty close to 11:00 when I caught my next one," he added. "I was getting pretty worried there for a while. But the second fish I caught was a 3-pounder, so I had two really good ones. I kept picking around after that and was able to get my limit and culled once."

He said he didn't see anybody else up that far, and he expected to catch at least a few largemouths, but weighed all spots.

6th: Meninger Hunting, Pecking

> Day 1: 5, 13-03

Although Mann probably got the bulk of attention prior to the Cup, Meninger got his fair share too. The moment Meninger slipped into Cup qualification when his rookie Tour season concluded, he was pegged as one to beat.

The pressure finally got to him last night, he said.

"I probably got 4 hours of sleep last night. I was on edge. Nervous. You think all these bad thoughts – that it's going to be a bad day. I just tried to get my composure back. I got up this morning, got a few things together and had some coffee and tried to relax.

"Then I got out on the water and literally, the first hour I didn't have a keeper. Then I caught a keeper and loosened up and started to relax."

He has about 1,000 waypoints on the lake, but stayed away from all his best stuff during the official practice. So most of what he fished today, he hadn't worked since before the cutoff.

But he actually started on a secondary area that he did practice on. He thought he could catch a limit there, but he caught just that one keeper.

Then he went scrambling and ran his waypoints in the main-lake and that's how he finished his limit.

"I had all swimmers – they were all about the same size," he noted. "I think some of the places will replenish, and I plan to re-fish areas where I didn't get bit today.

"Really, there's no secrets here," he added. "All the pros got the best local help. There are a couple of nuances where you can change things up a little bit, but the reality is everyone knows the lake and how they should be catching fish.

"I'm catching one fish per spot – just hunting and pecking."

Additional Notes

Following are some additional notes from pros gathered at today's weigh-in.

7th: Brian Travis (5, 13-02)
"This really is like a flashback to Lake Murray. I found a little deal going on in practice and tried to duplicate it all over the lake, but I couldn't find it except in one little place. I didn't start there today – I started somewhere else and caught two, then went down the lake to the lower end and caught my biggest fish.

"I was bouncing between deep and shallow all day long and I'm not seeing anybody shallow. I caught my limit at about 1:00 and went looking for some more areas. I had two largemouths, but actually I'm catching spots where the largemouths should be. It's king of like fishing Lake Norman this time of year – you can catch spots really shallow."

8th: Larry Nixon (5, 12-10)
"Today was 100% different from practice. I had to totally relocate everything – it was like I knew nothing. At 10:00, I didn't have a bass. Finally when I caught one I kind of figured it out what they'd done to me and I stayed with it. I had to readjust again at about 2:00 and I caught my fifth one.

"It's my kind of fishing – it's what I like to do. I feel I can fish the electronics and learn as good as anybody in this sport. It's what I have confidence in. I'm old and wore out and really all I can do is stand on that front deck all day. I just can't sling stuff anymore – both my shoulders are bad.

"I'm just dying to win this tournament. I've always wanted to win the Cup. This one's eluded me. I've been in position and had the fish to win the darn thing three times. Mother Nature took them away twice, and I ran out of fish in the other. Hopefully I'll win it before I retire."

12th: Troy Morrow (5, 10-14)
"I spent a lot of time in pre-practice here and located over 500 offshore piles and rock ledges and stuff. I had a rating system for them and fished about a third of my best stuff today. It took all day today to get those. They were all spots and I had one that was probably about 4 pounds.

"I missed a good one shallow. I've got five or six shallow spots, so I'm mixing it up a little bit. I think that's what it takes."

15th: Dave Lefebre (5, 10-10)
"I'm where I expected to be if everything worked out right, so I'm way over where I expected to be. What I mean is, I planned on fishing really skinny water for largemouths. The water dropped 4 inches overnight and I gave up on that around 10:00. By 11:00 I had a limit of spots. All these guys in practice were saying they were catching 15 to 18 pounds, so I guess I'm really surprised.

"I think tomorrow I'll go shallow in the morning. I lost a 5-pounder this morning and I need a big bite."

17th: Clark Wendlandt (5, 10-03)
"I feel pretty good, but I thought I could do better than that. I don't know if I can catch a huge stringer by any means, but I think 10 pounds is real doable tomorrow and 12 or 14 could easily happen. I'd like a big bite, but I think average-wise I could probably go up to 11 pounds – maybe a little bit better."

21st: Tom Mann, Jr. (5, 9-06)
"Fishing's been tough all week. I didn't catch over 7 or 8 pounds each day of practice. As long as it stays hot I don't care how great a bass fishery is, it's going to be tough. The lake's pretty much static right now. They don't want to hold on any type of structure and I think most fish are suspended over deep trees. And I know when they do that they're literally impossible to catch.

"I'm having to fish seven or eight really good spots to get one bite. That's not good. I probably made 75 stops today, and every seven or eight stops I'd get a bite."

Notable

> Day 1 stats – 78 anglers, 27 limits, 10 fours, 14 threes, 14 twos, 8 ones, 5 zeroes.

> A number of pros noted they saw 5-pounders today. Anything over that is a rarity, but Jim Moynagh did catch a 10-pounder here in 1999 in an FLW Tour event. A number of folks asked Moynagh at the time if he was fishing a different lake. After today, Moynagh's 26th with 8-15.

> Jay Yelas is 29th with 8-11. For his day-1 report, click here to go On Tour With the BassFan Big Sticks.

Weather Forecast

> Fri., Aug. 6 - Scattered T-Storms - 93°/71°
- Wind: From the W at 7 mph

> Sat., Aug. 7 - Isolated T-Storms - 93°/72°
- Wind: From the NE at 5 mph

> Sun., Aug. 8 – Partly Cloudy - 90°/72°
- Wind: From the E at 6 mph

Day 1 Standings

1. Kevin Hawk -- Ramona, Ca -- 5, 14-12

2. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, Ok -- 5, 14-08

3. Jt Kenney -- Palm Bay, Fl -- 5, 14-06

4. Cody Meyer -- Grass Valley, Ca -- 5, 14-03

5. Ott Defoe -- Knoxville, Tn -- 5, 13-10

6. Jason Meninger -- Gainesville, Ga -- 5, 13-03

7. Brian Travis -- Conover, Nc -- 5, 13-02

8. Larry Nixon -- Bee Branch, Ar -- 5, 12-10

9. Brent Ehrler -- Redlands, Ca -- 5, 12-09

10. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 5, 11-14

11. Rusty Salewske -- Alpine, Ca -- 5, 11-08

12. Ronald Hobbs, Jr. -- Orting, Wa -- 5, 10-14

12. Troy Morrow -- Toccoa, Ga -- 5, 10-14

14. Thanh Le -- Lake Havasu City, Az -- 5, 10-11

15. Dave Lefebre -- Union City, Pa -- 5, 10-10

16. Jacob Powroznik -- Prince George, Va -- 5, 10-06

17. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, Tx -- 5, 10-03

18. Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, Nc -- 5, 9-11

19. Shinichi Fukae -- Palestine, Tx -- 5, 9-07

19. Wesley Strader -- Spring City, Tn -- 5, 9-07

21. Tom Mann Jr -- Buford, Ga -- 5, 9-06

21. David Walker -- Sevierville, Tn -- 5, 9-06

23. Ron Shuffield -- Bismarck, Ar -- 5, 9-01

24. David Fritts -- Lexington, Nc -- 4, 8-15

24. Keith Pace -- Monticello, Ar -- 4, 8-15

26. Jim Moynagh -- Carver, Mn -- 4, 8-14

27. Jay Keith -- Camden, Sc -- 5, 8-13

28. Tom Monsoor -- La Crosse, Wi -- 5, 8-12

29. Chad Grigsby -- Maple Grove, Mn -- 4, 8-11

29. Jay Yelas -- Corvallis, Or -- 5, 8-11

31. Keith Monson -- Burgin, Ky -- 5, 8-10

32. Randall Tharp -- Gardendale, Al -- 3, 8-08

33. George Cochran -- Hot Springs, Ar -- 4, 7-13

33. Andy Montgomery -- Blacksburg, Sc -- 3, 7-13

35. Dick Shaffer -- Rockford, Oh -- 4, 7-07

36. Luke Clausen -- Gainesville, Ga -- 4, 7-05

37. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, Tn -- 4, 7-03

38. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, Al -- 4, 6-06

39. John Devere -- Berea, Ky -- 4, 5-15

39. Justin Lucas -- Montevallo, Al -- 3, 5-15

39. Mike Reynolds -- Modesto, Ca -- 3, 5-15

42. Glenn Browne -- Ocala, Fl -- 3, 5-14

43. Rick Correa -- Sherwood, Or -- 3, 5-13

43. Chris Zaldain -- San Jose, Ca -- 2, 5-13

45. Randy Mcabee Jr -- Bakersfield, Ca -- 2, 5-09

46. Chris Baumgardner -- Gastonia, Nc -- 3, 5-06

47. Jonathan Newton -- Rogersville, Al -- 3, 5-03

48. Ishama Monroe -- Hughson, Ca -- 3, 5-01

49. Mark Rose -- Marion, Ar -- 3, 5-00

49. Ray Scheide -- Dover, Ar -- 3, 5-00

49. Jon Strelic -- El Cajon, Ca -- 2, 5-00

52. Robert Lee -- Angels Camp, Ca -- 2, 4-15

53. Brett Hite -- Phoenix, Az -- 3, 4-09

54. Jake Gipson -- Niceville, Fl -- 2, 4-06

55. Todd Auten -- Lake Wylie, Sc -- 2, 4-02

56. Terry Bolton -- Jonesboro, Ar -- 2, 4-01

57. Justin Kerr -- Simi Valley, Ca -- 3, 4-00

58. Keith Combs -- Del Rio, Tx -- 2, 3-15

58. Cameron Smith -- Dana Point, Ca -- 2, 3-15

58. Zack Thompson -- Orinda, Ca -- 3, 3-15

61. Clifford Pirch -- Payson, Az -- 2, 3-14

62. Brandon Coulter -- Knoxville, Tn -- 1, 3-13

62. Robert Robinson -- Mobile, Al -- 2, 3-13

62. Vic Vatalaro -- Kent, Oh -- 1, 3-13

65. Sean Minderman -- Spokane, Wa -- 2, 3-11

65. Greg Pugh -- Cullman, Al -- 1, 3-11

67. Ken Wick -- Star, Id -- 2, 3-04

68. Kyle Mabrey -- Mccalla, Al -- 2, 3-02

69. Chad Hulbert -- Gilroy, Ca -- 1, 2-10

70. Jason Cordiale -- Orinda, Ca -- 1, 2-09

71. Jason Reyes -- Huffman, Tx -- 1, 1-14

72. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 1, 1-07

72. Mike Wurm -- Hot Springs, Ar -- 1, 1-07

74. Greg Bohannan -- Rogers, Ar -- 0, 0-00

74. Mike Folkestad -- Orange, Ca -- 0, 0-00

74. Anthony Gagliardi -- Prosperity, Sc -- 0, 0-00

74. Tim Klinger -- Boulder City, Nv -- 0, 0-00

74. Scott Suggs -- Bryant, Ar -- 0, 0-00