Reactions From Pros Who Secured A Berth

It's nice to have money in the bank, especially if you're a pro fisherman. But the account doesn't have to hold actual funds. A valuable asset in the tour world is a championship berth – and the best kind of berth is the one you get before the real season even begins.

On Saturday at Falcon Lake

in Texas, 30 pros achieved that goal when they won their respective brackets at the FLW Series East/West Fishoff. Under the format, the Top 30 pros from one Series division (Eastern or Western) fish against the Top 30 pros from the opposing division. Anglers are seeded by points finish. Each head-to-head winner earns a berth in the Cup.

Below are reactions from a few pros who won their brackets and are guaranteed a spot at Pittsburgh next August for the Cup.

Takahiro Omori

Former two-tour pro and Bassmaster Classic champion Takahiro Omori didn't have a good Bassmaster Elite Series season. He finished 68th in the points and well out of a Classic berth. But his redemption came in the FLW Series, where he finished 2nd in the Eastern points, then nearly doubled his opponent Sean Stafford's weight at the Fishoff to advance to the Cup.

Omori told BassFan that he felt pressure to make the Cup after such a rough BASS season. That's why he went straight to Falcon after the Clarks Hill Series finale to pre-fish before the lake went off-limits.

"This was my only chance to make the Cup," he said. "This made it a pretty good year. I work(ed) hard on this. I drove straight to Falcon and spent 6 days before the cutoff.

"And during the off-limits, I went to Mexico for the (Texas-Oklahoma) Shootout. It was only 50 miles from Falcon. Same type of lake. So I got used to those big fish and (I tried) to figure out a pattern."

> To catch his 13-fish, 65-10 total, Omori threw deep cranks and Carolina- and Texas-rigged a 6-inch Yamamoto Senko. He fished in 15 to 20 feet around sunken trees.

Ken Wick: Fourth Shot

This will be Star, Idaho pro Ken Wick's fourth Cup, and third in 3 years. He was frustrated after a 137th-place FLW Tour finish this year, he said, and had decided to stay west and forego the '09 Tour. But he's so stoked to be in the Cup he called the league yesterday and paid his Tour deposit for next year.

Also notable about Wick is although he won the Western points and was thus 1st seed, he drew a tough matchup against David Dudley.

"I was really worried about beating Dudley in that type of situation down there are Falcon," Wick said. "Luckily I found a honey hole. It didn't have a lot of big fish, but every fish was 5 pounds. So I milked it for 3 days and caught 75 pounds (to Dudley's 59)."

He added that he found the spot on the third day of practice. It was an old roadbed, which he discovered on Google Earth. He thinks the fish were getting ready to move up and spawn, and it was a staging area. "They wouldn't touch anything but a Carolina-rigged Berkley Power Hawg," he noted.

About the Cup, he said: "I'm excited. Pittsburgh's going to be very tough fishing, but it probably suits my style. I'm excited to go, and being already qualified – it takes a lot of heat off you next year.

"West Coast guys – they're contenders," he added. "They're always in the hunt for something. I'm ready. It's time. I can feel it. I think I'm going to have a really strong year (next) year."

Kevin Snider: First Trip

Elizabethtown, Ky. pro Kevin Snider will be a Tour rookie next year. Without sponsors, he's fighting a financial battle. But having the Cup berth in his pocket's a huge step forward.

"Oh man, it was a dream of mine – it's the goal I set out to do," he said of the Cup berth. "This was my first year doing the Series, and as far as my goal, I accomplished it.

"And it was a great experience," he added. "I had a great practice. It took me a couple of days to figure them out, but by the end of practice, I had six fish over 8, and one went over 10."

He was fishing open water with a Carolina-rigged Senko.

Greg Hackney

The Hack Attack won the Fishoff via his 15-fish, 109-06 total (a 7-plus-pound average).

For Hackney, a return to the Cup is very much a return to his roots. He started with FLW, and only began to fish BASS at the tour level in 2004.

In addition, he's one of only two anglers currently qualified for both the 2009 Cup and Classic (Mike Iaconelli's the other).

"It's really awesome," Hackney said of the win and Cup berth. "It's definitely by far the highlight of my year. My whole goal in fishing the Series was to make it back to the Cup. FLW is where I got my start – back when they were the Red Mans, through the All-American, the FLW Championship and winning FLW Angler of the Year – I feel it's like coming home."

He's a Triton pro, so he won't be eligible for the $500,000 Ranger bonus should he win the Cup, but that's not a big deal, he said. "I'm just really excited about making it. It's been a long time since I've been there, and I didn't realize how excited I'd be. It's just like making the Classic. It's a hard deal to do. And I'd forgot what it was like to make both.

"I thought this was one of my worst years, but in reality, it was one of my best. I'm just glad it's over, and there's no better way to top it off than by winning the Fishoff."

> The details of his winning pattern will be published tomorrow.

Tommy Biffle

This will be Biffle's first trip to the Cup since 2003. Especially notable for Biffle is in six Cup appearances, he's finished 2nd three times. (He qualified for seven Cups, but the 2001 Cup was canceled).

"I'm excited about it anytime I get to fish for that much money – I'm just not that excited about where it's at (Pittsburgh)," the Ranger pro said.

With 45-01 across the 3 days, he edged Jimmy Reese by more than 17 pounds at the Fishoff.

"I was just mainly making sure I caught them," Biffle noted. "I caught a few big fish in practice, but just one here, one there. You could catch a lot of them flipping trees, but you couldn't hardly get them out of the trees. So I kind of abandoned that. I caught a lot on a spinnerbait, and the rest Carolina-rigging a Gene Larew Biffl-O lizard."

> Unlike Hackney, Biffle didn't make the Classic this season. But like Hackney, Biffle fished the 2005 Classic at Pittsburgh. Hackney finished 42nd there, and Biffle 24th.

Zack Thompson

Zack Thompson of Orinda, Calif. fished as the 27th seed against Dave Lefebre. With an 80-pound catch, he cruised past Lefebre by more than 34 pounds.

Thompson, a 33-year-old contractor by day, has fished competitively in the West for several years (he won the 2004 Clear Lake Open), but the Cup will be his first championship, as he was never able to make the Classic through the Western Opens.

His Cup berth is also served with some redemption. He finished in the overall Top 10 at last year's Fishoff, but missed the Cup when his opponent Derek Remitz also scored high and edged him.

"I really made it a goal this year to make it to the Fishoff again, and it worked out at Falcon," Thompson said. "I don't know Dave Lefebre personally, but I know he's a really good angler. I just went to Falcon and fished my strengths and got on some good fish.

"Making the Cup is a really good accomplishment," he added. "And going to a place like Pittsburg – having a little bit of background with light line and finesse tactics might help out a little, whereas (Cups) in the past have been more like a southern deal with shallower, darker water."

> Thompson flipped at Falcon. "I kept that Fenwick Elite Tech Flippin' Stik in my hand with that Abu Garcia Revo, 65-pound Stren Sonic Braid and 1-ounce tungsten weight," he said. "I went to flipping shallow water and lost more fish than I caught, but I was able to land 80 pounds after 3 days. It was just unreal."