By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

Nine of the 10 finalists at this year's Forrest Wood Cup could be considered household names among BassFans and those who follow the sport closely. There were three former Cup winners, three two-tour pros, two former Anglers of the Year (including a local favorite) and a perennial Cup contender.

And Michael Wooley.

The Collierville, Tenn., native was one of only three FLW Tour rookies to qualify for the Cup at Lake Murray and the only one to advance to the final round, so he was the de facto wild card of the group. He held up well, ultimately finishing 8th despite weighing a limit just once over the course of the 4 days in Columbia, S.C.

It was an experience he'll never forget and one he hopes to make part of his annual routine as a Tour pro.

"It was an awesome experience," he said. "It left me speechless and I couldn't believe that what I'd found held up. There was enough there to keep me going and I just took it one day at a time.

"It's huge for momentum. Now that I got a taste of the Cup, I want to be right there and have a shot at it again."

Tough Road

Wooley's journey to the Cup was much like that of other pros. He paid his dues in the BFL and Rayovac circuits before opting to make the move to the FLW Tour in 2014.

His mom, Laura, passed away from cancer 2 years ago and left Wooley enough money to make his Tour dream a reality.

"She fished a little, but she always enjoyed watching me at the weigh-ins," he said.

Wooley got started in tournament fishing with his dad when he was 7. When he turned 16, he jumped into the BFL program and kept going from there.

"I worked my way up ever since," he said. "I'd been waiting to make the move. It was definitely something I've always wanted to do. I've always wanted to make a career out of it.

"My main goal was to qualify for the Cup," he added. "I figured if I could do that, it would give me a chance to continue fishing. I was also hoping to make a Top 10 either at Pickwick or Kentucky Lake since those were my best chances."

He pre-fished every Tour venue before it went off limits just to familiarize himself with what would be mostly new water.

"It helped me out a lot," he said. "I figured if I wasn't doing it, somebody else was."

His rookie season started with a 29th-place finish at Lake Okeechobee, a respectable result at such a vast and ever-changing fishery. From there, he took 66th at Lake Hartwell to give him two money finishes to start the year.

"I was familiar with Okeechobee, but I did not have a good track record there," he said. "I spent time down there before off-limits and started off good."

Still, he used both as learning tools.

"I made bad decisions at both of those tournaments," he said. "That's part of fishing, though. I knew I needed to make better decisions."

Consecutive 98th-place outcomes at Sam Rayburn Reservoir and Beaver Lake knocked him down to 65th in the points standings and left him with no room for error at the final two tournaments.

"I felt like I'd lost the season when I left Beaver," he said. "I thought I was in too deep of a whole to get back into it. I came back home and fished a couple small events on Kentucky Lake and made the Top 10 in the Rayovac there. That helped get my mind right."

Comfort Zone

Knowing he needed two Top-40 or better finishes to close out the season if his Cup hopes were to be realized, the schedule lined up perfectly with Wooley's strengths. It also helped that Pickwick and Kentucky Lake rank among his favorite bodies of water and he has a wealth of experience on both. Still, he felt an uneasiness heading to Pickwick.

"It was scary, I'll be honest," he said. "I knew it had a tendency to fish small, but I'd found two new spots that I hadn't fished previously. I knew where all of the obvious spots were, but I went looking for something nobody else could find and it got me through all 4 days. I never caught giant bags, but I caught a couple good bags."

Those good bags, including a 23-10 effort on day 2, helped him notch a 7th-place finish and moved him up 27 spots to 38th in the points race.

He went to Kentucky Lake as one of the Cup "bubble boys" and he figured a Top-30 result would send him to Murray in August. He was pretty much right as a 28th-place effort got him up to 30th in points.

"I fished well on day 1 there, but I got spun out on day 2," he said. "I wanted to make the Cup so bad it messed with my head. I was worried about that all day."