By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor


After a 12th-place finish at the Lake St. Clair FLW Tour in June clinched him a spot in the Forrest Wood Cup, Wes Logan went home to Alabama and logged a 5th-place finish in a BFL at Neely Henry Lake in mid-July. He then won a couple local tournaments before coming to Hot Springs, Ark., for the Cup.

Momentum has been on Logan’s side for a while now and he’s in position to punctuate this run in a pretty significant way on Sunday.

Logan’s 12-04 limit today at Lake Ouachita was the heaviest stringer on day 2 and it catapulted him into the lead entering the final day as the field at the Cup has been reduced to 10 anglers.

“St. Clair was a good experience,” he said. “I gained some confidence about decision-making and carried it through to here. Fishing is 90 percent mental and when you’re confident, you make better decisions.”

His two-day total of 23-13 has him more than a pound ahead of his closest challenger as the weights at an already-stingy Ouachita fell off sharply.

“I’ve been very fortunate,” he said. “It’s not been a lucky deal, but things have gone my way. I haven’t lost any fish. I just have my head down and am grinding, but we’re all doing that. I’ve just gotten better than average bites.”

Nick LeBrun, the reigning BFL All-American winner, held onto the No. 2 slot on the leaderboard despite weighing only three fish. His 9-06 bag was anchored by a 6-plus pounder and he’ll carry a 22-11 total into the final day. James Niggemeyer, a veteran pro competing in his first Cup, improved two spots to 3rd with four fish for 8-12, giving him 20-14 overall.

Zack Birge slipped one spot to 4th with 20-06 after catching a limit for 7-05. Jason Lambert hit double digits for the second straight day (he and Logan are the only ones to do that) and moved up four places to 5th with 20-03 after sacking 10-03.

Here's a look at the 10 anglers who will compete on Sunday, with deficit margin from Logan indicated by red numbers in parentheses:

1. Wes Logan: 23-13
2. Nick LeBrun: 22-11 (1-02)
3. James Niggemeyer: 20-14 (2-15)
4. Zack Birge: 20-06 (3-07)
5. Jason Lambert: 20-03 (3-10)
6. John Cox: 19-14 (3-15)
7. Bradford Beavers: 19-05 (4-08)
8. Brandon Cobb: 19-02 (4-11)
9. Justin Atkins: 19-00 (4-13)
10. Clent Davis: 19-00 (4-13)

Brandon Cobb locked up his fourth straight top-10 finish in the Cup after catching 10-11 to jump nine places to 8th with 19-02. Clent Davis matched his day-1 total of 9-08 and improved two spots to 10th with 19-00.

Day-1 leader Alex Davis weighed one for 2-05 today and finished 16th. He wasn’t alone in his struggles as Ouachita seemed to toughen amid the August heat. After 33 limits crossed the stage at Bank of the Ozarks Arena on Friday, just 21 were registered today. Just five bags of 10 or more pounds were caught today compared to nine on day 1. Cory Johnston also slipped out of the top 10 after sacking three for 5-13 to finish 13th.

While some are incorporating deeper water into their strategies, the shallow topwater approach appears to be the dominant program so far. Covering water and hoping to collide with a wolfpack while probing the bank has produced the vast majority of weight for at least half of the 10 finalists.

The mercury is expected to climb toward 90 degrees again Sunday with a chance of an afternoon thunderstorm. That’s notable because prior to the conclusion of practice on Wednesday, a severe storm pushed across the lake and several anglers reported the fishing activity picked up significantly in the hour or so before the storm hit.

Logan Mixing Deep, Shallow

> Day 2: 5, 12-04 (10, 23-13)

Logan didn’t make up his mind where he was going to make his first cast today until after blast-off and when he did, he worked in reverse of how he fished on Friday. He opted to start today where he finished day 1 and finish where he started day 1.

“When we blasted off I didn’t know where to go,” he said. “I started shallow on a place where I had seen a fish shoot out at my bait in practice and I caught it on the third cast. That makes you feel good.”

He wound up making casts at 50 different waypoints today. So far, he has two places that have produced multiple fish. After notching a 4 1/4-pound kicker Friday, his best fish today was a 3-pounder supplemented by four 2-plus pounders. He’s tallied about 10 bites each day.

He’s split his tournament so far time-wise between shallow spots and deeper areas.

“Shallow stuff seemed better Friday and the deeper stuff was better today,” he said. “It just depends on when you hit something.”

As far as how his nerves will hold up going out as the leader on day 3, he doesn’t anticipate it being a big issue.

“I don’t get nervous anymore,” he said. “On day 1, I felt anxious and got mad at myself for that because I’m not supposed to get anxious anymore. I feel like it’s just fishing and I’m just trying to catch a fish. I try to block all the other stuff out and focus on catching fish.”



FLW
Photo: FLW

Nick LeBrun held onto 2nd, thanks to this behemoth.

2nd: Big One Keeps LeBrun’s Hopes Alive

> Day 2: 3, 9-06 (8, 22-11)

LeBrun put a positive spin on his day despite coming in two fish short of a limit and incurring a 4-ounce penalty for a dead fish for the second straight day. The Louisiana angler said he made the most of his chances except for one schooler he lost late in the day.

“It was a tough day and a grind, but so many amazing things happened,” he said. “Yeah, I only caught three fish and things didn’t go as planned, but catching the big one up chasing shad and the other one I saw, it was absolutely wild.”

His first keeper – a 13 1/2-inch spotted bass – bit a swimbait around 9:30 a.m. and he went until roughly 12:30 before he got another bite. That’s when he was fishing a grass hump he’d been flipping. He opted to tie on a Whopper Plopper and within a couple minutes, he noticed a big fish up shallow chasing shad.

“I said, ‘Is that really a bass,’” he said. “I trolled over like 10 yards and fired my bait out there and she smoked it.”

It turned out to be a 6-pounder that saved his day and possibly his tournament. He added another topwater fish around 3:30 and that was it.

“Things were just different today,” he said. “I went to my early spot and it was just off. It was a lot brighter anda lot hotter. The fish that were in the pads, I had two wake a bait – both were good-sized fish – but we had lower light on Friday and I don’t have enough experience to know where not to go under those conditions.”

His afternoon was a little scrambly as he committed an hour to fishing some pads and lost a small one.

“I went to my worm stuff and caught a 12-incher,” he said. “I fished and fished it and felt like I was running out of time because there are only so many ways to get bit consistently and that’s an afternoon program. I knew I didn’t have time for a limit, but I had time for one more good one and it ended up working out.”

4th: Birge Thinks 15 Pounds Is Possible

> Day 2: 5, 7-05 (10, 20-06)

The difference for Birge this week compared to the 2015 Cup boils down to him capitalizing on his chances this time around.

“I’m doing a lot of the same stuff I did in ’15, but I didn’t execute then,” he said. “I had the right bites. Brad (Knight) would’ve still won, but I’d have been a lot closer.”

The quality fish aren’t as plentiful this time around either and that’s making it more challenging, he said. The schooling fish he’d been targeting didn’t cooperate today and an area that harbored several nice fish that he saw Friday was a ghost town. He relied on topwater baits again today.

“I just ran new water and managed to get five,” he said.

He’s still encouraged about his prospects for the final day despite facing nearly a 3 1/2-pound deficit.

“Just to have the opportunity to get back out there means a lot,” he said. “Tomorrow is a new day just like today was. There’s a possibility to catch 15 and win this thing. I think 15 (pounds) is possible. I saw that Friday, but they just didn’t eat it. Then I saw 12 pounds swim by today in one group.”

5th: Lambert Might Switch It Up

> Day 2: 5, 10-03 (10, 20-03)

Lambert has a decision to make for the final day: Go back to the area where he’s been catching some better fish deep in the morning or change it up and sample the shallow water he’s been targeting in the afternoon. Either way, he’s pumped to be in the mix for the win.

“All can you ask for is a chance,” he said. “I’m not a guy that says he’d rather be in 2nd. I’d rather be in the lead all the time.”

His bag today consisted of four fish caught on a dropshot in one of the major feeder creek arms on the western end of the lake and his fifth came shallow late in the day.

“I’ve been starting way up the creek and it seems to be okay in the morning, but by 11 or 12 they vanish,” he said. “The highlight was just staying focused. It was super slow. It was just a physical grind because of the heat and a mental grind because the fish weren’t biting.”

Today, he hung around until 2 before shifting his focus to some shallow fish.

“A 2 1/2 is the biggest I’ve caught in the creek so far,” he said. “For the most part, it’s offshore electronics fishing. You turn around and try to catch ‘em. Shallow is just power-fishing, going down the bank throwing a topwater.”

He thinks having won a couple Tour events in his career will help him manage the emotions of being a contender on the final day of the Cup.

“What winning does is proves that you can win, so for sure I think it helps,” he added.

FLW
Photo: FLW

Zack Birge says he's executed better this week compared to the 2015 Cup.

6th: Cox Chasing Wolfpacks

> Day 2: 4, 8-11 (9, 19-14)

Cox kept his hopes of becoming the first two-time Cup winner alive today with an 8-11 limit that was anchored by a 4-pounder.

“Anybody in the top 10 has a chance to win,” he said “You just have run into the right fish cruising down the bank.”

He said the mental grind was particularly challenging to overcome today.

“Today, I felt like every bait I had wouldn’t catch anything,” he said.

He changed areas of the lake, stopped to refuel his boat and got back to fishing.

“It was like I hit the reset button,” Cox added.

After that, he kept targeting pockets, regardless if he’d gotten bites in them before.

“You have to fish them because they look good,” he said. “I went into pockets I’d not been in and caught fish.”

He said the fish are not behaving like other fish that travel in packs sometimes.

“Usually, wolfpacks will do laps around the creek and zig-zag around,” he said. “These fish don’t do that. They’re in the pocket and then it’s like they move on, but when they’re there you can get two or three bites.”

Tomorrow, he’ll stick with the same plan and continue to sling a topwater bait. He had several fish eat a worm, but couldn’t get a good hookset in them.

“I’m just going to try to run into them,” he said. “That’s how someone will win – they’ll run into a wolfpack. There are big ones out there now. They just don’t want to eat.”

7th: Long Lull for Beavers

> Day 2: 5, 7-15 (8, 19-05)

Bradford Beavers knows what it’s like to just miss out on the making the final day of the Cup. He finished 11th last year at Lake Murray in his home state of South Carolina.

“I was afraid I’d be 11th again this year,” he said.

Fear no more, Bradford. After catching his fifth fish at 4:40 today, he locked up a spot among the finalists and will be 4 1/2 pounds behind Logan when Sunday’s action gets started.

He caught two quick keepers shallow this morning and hoped that was a sign of things to come.

“I thought it’d be a good day, then I went six hours without a fish,” he said.

He caught No. 3 around 2:30. Another hour passed before No. 4 before finishing his limit just prior to checking in. The final three keepers all came out deep.

“When I was going through that lull, I was wondering how anybody else was catching anything,” he said. “I was fishing beautiful water, but couldn’t get anything going. I started to think that if I could get a limit and catch the smallest fish possible, maybe 6 or 7 pounds would be barely enough.”

8th: Cobb Going Shallow Again

> Day 2: 5, 10-11 (10, 19-02)

Cobb believes the shallow bite hasn’t been as consistent this week as it was during the 2015 Cup because there’s a lack of grass in those areas this time around. Still, he was able to cobble together the second-best bag of the day by mixing up topwaters and even throwing a yellow floating worm.

“There’s not much of a pattern to it and I expected that when I committed shallow,” he said. “I knew some fish were deep, but I’m not concerned with them. After practice, the shallow stuff seemed more random and I think that’s because we had more grass last time. Now, you just have to cover miles of water and get 5 to 8 bites on a good day.”

He didn’t recycle any stretches from day 1 today and isn’t sure what he’s going to throw at tomorrow.

“I wish I could say I know what I’m looking for but I don’t,” he said.

He thinks the fish are around the bank to make a charge up the leaderboard.

“There are more 2 1/2s than little ones and 2 1/2s are little ones,” he said. “If you had a fortunate day, you could catch a big bag. I just need to land everything and keep moving.”

A buzzbait and Zoon Horny Toad have been his most effective tools and today he used a floating worm as a follow-up bait for fish that waked behind his buzzbait.

FLW
Photo: FLW

Clent Davis can only move up tomorrow during the final round.

9th: Atkins Started Quick

> Day 2: 5, 9-02 (10, 19-00)

Atkins was boat No. 1 today so that give him early dibs on an area he had to share with Lambert and Mark Rose on Friday. He took full advantage of getting there first, but lost a good one later in the day that could’ve bumped his weight possibly past the 10-pound mark.

“It was better today because I got on them quicker and fished freer,” he said.

He’s got his presentations narrowed down to a trio of options, essentially, depending on how the fish are set up.

“I feel like I’ll get the bites,” he said. “I just need to put them in the boat. All you can ask for is a chance to win. I’m trailing by almost 4 pounds. That’s a bite. If I land everything today, I’m right there.”

Despite having a lot more competitors in the area than there were on day 1, he’s confident there are still plenty of bass in that area to justify heading back there Sunday.

“There are still thousands of them,” he said. “There are a couple creek channel swings in there and there’s a little bit of current in there, plus the water is a little dirtier. It’s typical Tennessee River fishing with that current washing across places. It took me about 10 minutes to find those schools because I knew where to look once I figured out what they were doing.”

10th: Davis Thrilled to Make It

> Day 2: 5, 9-08 (10, 19-00)

In the hallway outside the Bank of the Ozarks Arena media room, Clent Davis had the Cup leaderboard open on his phone and as the final anglers made their way on stage, he was convinced he was going to get passed by enough to knock him out of the top 10.

When David Dudley’s day-2 weight put him two spots behind Davis, Davis could be heard shouting, “I made it!” over the din of the arena noise.

“It feels good,” he said. “It’s a good ending to the year no matter where it falls (tomorrow).”

It wasn’t the best day in term of execution, though, but he was able to overcome some early mishaps to weigh a second straight 9 1/2-pound limit. All of his fish have been caught out of deep water (25-foot range).

“This has been the most God-awful tournament as far as losing fish,” he said. “They’re just not biting right. Every good one has jumped off or jumped off at the boat.”

To start today, he went back to an area he considered his best stuff, but by 9 a.m. all he had was the frustration of losing three that he figured would’ve weighed 10 pounds had he gotten them in the boat.

“I was ready to leave and go home at that point,” he said. “I recovered and got back at it, though. The crazy thing is I can catch 15 and still win.”

Notable

> Day 2 stats – 56 anglers, 21 limits (12 fewer than yesterday), 13 fours, 7 threes, 8 two, 3 ones, 2 zeroes (1 less than yesterday).

> Logan’s 23-13 is the lowest day-2 leader weight of the four Cups at Ouachita by a good margin. The day-2 leader weight in 2007 was 28-01. In 2015, it was 31-01 and in 2011 it was 31-07.

Weather Forecast

> Sun., Aug. 12 – Overcast - 89°/72°
- Wind: Light and variable

Day 2 Standings

1. Wes Logan -- Springville, Al -- 11--9 (5) -- 12--4 (5) -- 23--13 (10)

2. Nick Lebrun -- Bossier City, La -- 13--5 (5) -- 9--6 (3) -- 22--11 (8)

3. James Niggemeyer -- Van, Tx -- 12--2 (5) -- 8--12 (4) -- 20--14 (9)

4. Zack Birge -- Blanchard, Ok -- 13--1 (5) -- 7--5 (5) -- 20--6 (10)

5. Jason Lambert -- Michie, Tn -- 10--0 (5) -- 10--3 (5) -- 20--3 (10)

6. John Cox -- Debary, Fl -- 11--3 (5) -- 8--11 (4) -- 19--14 (9)

7. Bradford Beavers -- Summerville, SC -- 11--6 (3) -- 7--15 (5) -- 19--5 (8)

8. Brandon Cobb -- Greenwood, SC -- 8--7 (5) -- 10--11 (5) -- 19--2 (10)

9. Justin Atkins -- Florence, Al -- 9--14 (5) -- 9--2 (5) -- 19--0 (10)

10. Clent Davis -- Montevallo, Al -- 9--8 (5) -- 9--8 (5) -- 19--0 (10)

The following anglers missed the cut and will not compete on day 3.

11. Matt Becker -- Finleyville, Pa -- 8--7 (5) -- 10--8 (4) -- 18--15 (9) -- $15,000

12. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 9--3 (5) -- 9--3 (5) -- 18--6 (10) -- $15,000

13. Cory Johnston -- Cavan, On -- 12--8 (5) -- 5--13 (3) -- 18--5 (8) -- $15,000

14. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, Mn -- 7--1 (5) -- 10--3 (5) -- 17--4 (10) -- $15,000

15. Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, NC -- 9--0 (5) -- 7--13 (5) -- 16--13 (10) -- $15,000

16. Alex Davis -- Albertville, Al -- 13--10 (5) -- 2--5 (1) -- 15--15 (6) -- $15,000

17. Cody Meyer -- Auburn, Ca -- 7--9 (5) -- 8--5 (5) -- 15--14 (10) -- $15,000

18. Chad Foster -- Pequot Lakes, Mn -- 8--2 (5) -- 7--7 (5) -- 15--9 (10) -- $15,000

19. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 8--12 (5) -- 6--9 (4) -- 15--5 (9) -- $15,000

20. Shane Lehew -- Catawba, NC -- 8--1 (5) -- 6--14 (4) -- 14--15 (9) -- $15,000

21. Jeff Gustafson -- Keewatin, On -- 7--13 (5) -- 7--2 (5) -- 14--15 (10) -- $10,000

22. Todd Castledine -- Nacogdoches, Tx -- 7--9 (5) -- 7--1 (4) -- 14--10 (9) -- $10,000

23. Jordan Osborne -- Longview, Tx -- 7--10 (5) -- 6--10 (4) -- 14--4 (9) -- $10,000

24. Austin Wilson -- Citrus Heights, Ca -- 9--8 (5) -- 4--11 (3) -- 14--3 (8) -- $10,000

25. Mark Rose -- Wynne, Ar -- 7--2 (5) -- 6--15 (5) -- 14--1 (10) -- $10,000

26. Tim Fox -- Meridian, Ms -- 8--1 (5) -- 5--14 (4) -- 13--15 (9) -- $10,000

27. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 7--0 (5) -- 6--14 (4) -- 13--14 (9) -- $10,000

28. Joseph Webster -- Winfield, Al -- 7--4 (5) -- 5--14 (5) -- 13--2 (10) -- $10,000

29. Sheldon Collings -- Grove, Ok -- 9--10 (5) -- 3--6 (2) -- 13--0 (7) -- $10,000

30. Jared McMillan -- Belle Glade, Fl -- 8--1 (5) -- 4--12 (3) -- 12--13 (8) -- $10,000

31. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, Tn -- 3--13 (2) -- 8--14 (5) -- 12--11 (7) -- $10,000

32. David Williams -- Maiden, NC -- 8--0 (5) -- 4--2 (4) -- 12--2 (9) -- $10,000

33. Scott Canterbury -- Odenville, Al -- 4--2 (3) -- 8--0 (3) -- 12--2 (6) -- $10,000

34. Matthew Stefan -- Junction City, Wi -- 7--4 (5) -- 4--12 (2) -- 12--0 (7) -- $10,000

35. Hunter Freeman -- Monroe, La -- 5--2 (3) -- 6--9 (5) -- 11--11 (8) -- $10,000

36. Michael Neal -- Dayton, Tn -- 3--15 (3) -- 7--9 (5) -- 11--8 (8) -- $10,000

37. Bill Chapman -- Salt Rock, WV -- 8--0 (5) -- 3--6 (3) -- 11--6 (8) -- $10,000

38. Jeff Sprague -- Point, Tx -- 4--4 (3) -- 6--10 (4) -- 10--14 (7) -- $10,000

39. John Soukup -- Agra, Ok -- 4--0 (3) -- 6--13 (5) -- 10--13 (8) -- $10,000

40. Scott Dobson -- Clarkston, Mi -- 6--15 (4) -- 3--12 (2) -- 10--11 (6) -- $10,000

41. Andrew Upshaw -- Tulsa, Ok -- 4--11 (3) -- 6--0 (5) -- 10--11 (8) -- $10,000

42. Chris Johnston -- Peterborough, On -- 2--2 (1) -- 7--15 (4) -- 10--1 (5) -- $10,000

43. Cody Hahner -- Wausau, Wi -- 8--4 (2) -- 1--12 (1) -- 10--0 (3) -- $10,000

44. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, Tx -- 0--0 (0) -- 8--15 (5) -- 8--15 (5) -- $10,000

45. Tyler Stewart -- West Monroe, La -- 7--2 (5) -- 1--6 (1) -- 8--8 (6) -- $10,000

46. Braxton Setzer -- Montgomery, Al -- 3--8 (3) -- 4--11 (2) -- 8--3 (5) -- $10,000

47. Johnny McCombs -- Morris, Al -- 1--6 (1) -- 6--2 (4) -- 7--8 (5) -- $10,000

48. Michael Matthee -- Centurion, Gp -- 1--3 (1) -- 5--12 (3) -- 6--15 (4) -- $10,000

49. Chad Grigsby -- Maple Grove, Mn -- 6--0 (3) -- 0--0 (0) -- 6--0 (3) -- $10,000

50. Jason Abram -- Piney Flats, Tn -- 3--12 (3) -- 2--3 (2) -- 5--15 (5) -- $10,000

51. Brandon McMillan -- Clewiston, Fl -- 1--15 (1) -- 3--3 (2) -- 5--2 (3) -- $10,000

52. Greg Bohannan -- Bentonville, Ar -- 1--4 (1) -- 3--6 (2) -- 4--10 (3) -- $10,000

53. Jt Kenney -- Palm Bay, Fl -- 1--8 (1) -- 2--1 (2) -- 3--9 (3) -- $10,000

54. Todd Hollowell -- Fishers, In -- 1--3 (1) -- 1--4 (1) -- 2--7 (2) -- $10,000

55. Randy Haynes -- Ripley, Ms -- 0--0 (0) -- 0--0 (0) -- 0--0 (0) -- $10,000

55. Larry Stoafer -- Leavenworth, Ks -- 0--0 (0) -- 0--0 (0) -- 0--0 (0) -- $10,000