If asked to name the only angler who's logged Top-3 finishes in each of the past two Forrest Wood Cups, even the most diehard BassFan might take a while to come up with the name Cody Meyer. The 28-year-old Californian, who recently completed his second season as a tour pro, was the runner-up at Lake Lanier last year and the 3rd-place finisher at the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh in 2009.



f the trend he's established to this point continues, he'll hoist the big silver chalice next weekend in Hot Springs, Ark. He'd naturally love for that to happen, but he's under no inclination that his placement is predestined to improve one more slot – or that there's even any guarantee he won't finish at the bottom of the heap.

"This one definitely doesn't set up as well for me as the last two did, but I'm still really excited about it," he said. "The one thing that could help me is it's summertime, and for me that means a lot of fish should be suspended. I love fishing for suspended fish."

He got in a couple of pre-practice days immediately after last month's regular-season finale at Pickwick and was at least somewhat encouraged by what he found.

"I did see quite a few in the tops of trees, so I'll really pursue that. To do well, I think I'm going to have to do something along those lines. The best chance for me will probably be to find a topwater pattern in the morning, and then focus on deeper structure and definitely some of the suspended fish, and then maybe find some bream beds to fill it out.

"I think any of those could win if you found the right stuff, but I think my best chance is to have a couple of different things going. If I have to go and start flipping grass, I don't think I'll do too well."

Steps Up his Game

Meyer's Cup finishes in 2009 and '10 are easily his best placements in tour-level events. After 2 seasons on FLW's top circuit, his best regular-season showings are a pair of 15ths (one at Ouachita) last year and his recent 16th at Pickwick.

He thinks he excels in the Cup because it annually features a tough mid-summer bite. That's something he's accustomed to as his home water, Lake Oroville in northern California, can be stingy at just about any time of the year.

"You do focus harder (for championship events) and I like tournaments where you have to try to finesse some bites," he said. "Pittsburgh and Lanier were both like that – it wasn't easy to go out and even catch five. I like that style of fishing. Looking back at Lanier, (winner) Kevin Hawk and I were the only two who had five every day."

He caught some suspended fish in the Tour event at Ouachita last year, including a 7-pounder. That tournament took place in May.

"That was post-spawn and the bite was really good. I have a clue about what I need to look for, but I'm sure it's going to be a heck of a lot different this time. It might end up not being really tough, but I think in the middle of the summer, it usually is."

Nothing Great This Year

Meyer ended up 15th in this year's Angler of the Year (AOY) race after a 43rd-place finish in his rookie season. He didn't make any Top 10s, but he didn't have any major bombs, either (his worst outing was an 83rd at the Red River).

His final standing earned him the Tour's last berth in the Toyota Texas Bass Classic, and he's excited about that.

"I was happy with the year," he said. "I made four checks (out of six Majors) and in the other two, I had chances to be right there.

"I had opportunities to catch them in every tournament, but I just never found anything that was good enough to win. I would've liked to have made a check in every one, but I was pretty consistent and I'll take it."

Notable

> Meyer started the year at No. 201 in the BassFan World Rankings, but had made a 118-place jump to 83rd by the time it was over.

> He was a double-qualifier for this year's Cup, having finished as the runner-up in the 2010 Western FLW Series points.