Day-2 Struggles Hampered Long's Cup Run

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

Any way he looks at it, it hurts.

Three more ounces at Lake Chickamauga. Another 2-pounder on day 2 at either Beaver Lake or Grand Lake.

Brent Long has replayed the scenarios a zillion times in his head since the FLW Tour season wrapped up at Chickamauga last month. Regardless of how many ways he breaks it down, though, the result remains the same. The North Carolina pro, owner of two career Tour victories, missed out on qualifying for his first Forrest Wood Cup by 3 points.

He was well inside the points cutoff in 27th place when the schedule shifted to Grand Lake in early June, but a season-worst 113th-place result there knocked him back to 46th heading to Chickamauga for the season finale. Thinking a Top-50 finish would boost him back into a Cup berth, he finished 45th, but still came up short – 3 ounces short.

"I was very disappointed," he said. "I knew going into Chick, a top 40 or 50 would get me in, but then everybody that I didn't need to pass me passed me and everybody ahead of me that I thought wouldn't move up moved up."

Casey Martin, the winner at Chickamauga, rallied from 54th place in points to 38th and made the Cup, finishing two slots ahead of Long.

"I didn't think about him passing me," Long said. "It just takes one or two. That makes a big difference."

He said he'll be in Shreveport/Bossier City, La., for the Cup to help promote his sponsors and if another qualifier, for some reason, has to withdraw, Long would take his spot seeing that he was the first one below the cut line.

It's the second straight year of heartache for Long, who went into the Lake Champlain Tour Major last year inside the cut only to have mechanical problems derail him on day 2.

Focus On Five

Another difference-maker in Long's season was the 3 days he failed to bring a limit to the scale, which usually dooms any hopes of qualifying for the championship. He was a fish short at Beaver and Grand and only had two fish on day 2 at Lake Eufaula. That's five fish total that could've saved his season.

"It was at some of the tournaments where I thought I could catch them," he said. "Some days, time gets away from you. I probably could've picked up a spinning rod and thrown a shaky-head to catch a couple, but I didn't think I had to.

"In practice, you work on it and decide what you're going to do and how you're going to do it. You have to change with the conditions. Sometimes, there's a missed fish or lost fish that cost you and other times you stick with things too long. I've always told people that tournament fishing is 10 percent skill and 90 percent decisions and it's the decisions that usually make the outcome, good or bad."

Needless to say, he says his experience this season may trigger a change in his thought process on the water going forward. Rather than have tunnel vision toward victory, he knows there will be days where he needs to recognize that bringing a limit to the stage is more important.

"I'm going to change my thinking going ahead," he said. "I've won two and I know I can win. Maybe I've gotten to where I fish to win more than fishing for points. I know now how important five fish is. No matter what, getting five each day will make a difference in the long run. Instead of practicing to win, I need to prepare to catch five a day."

Grand Goner

Long's biggest worries heading into the season were the events at Lake Okeechobee and Beaver Lake, but he came through those with Top-40 results.

When Grand Lake came around on the schedule and he started practice, his confidence went through the roof as 20-pound bags were the norm.

"With the high, dirty water, I figured it'd be won flipping and that's what I like to do," he said. "I had more confidence going into that event than I've ever had before. I knew I could catch 20 pounds a day just flipping shallow because that's what I did in practice."

Once the event began, the same quality he was seeing in practice wasn't there.

"I don't know what happened," he said. "Maybe I was overconfident. I think it was a case of I thought I could catch them over there and if they weren't biting, it was okay because I had a spot over here where I could catch them. Then if I didn't catch them there, I'd just run over here and catch them. Time just got away from me and I didn't adjust.

"It was almost too easy in practice. I don't know why they didn't bite in the tournament like they did in practice."

He caught 12-12 on day 1 and knew he'd need close to 18 on day 2 to get in the money. He went after big fish and came in with four for 9 pounds even.

"It was one of those days where another fish would've made a difference," he said.

Notable

> Last October, Long, who works as a building contractor, and friend Robert Stiltner opened the Lake Norman Bait & Tackle store in Mooresville, N.C., not far from the shores of Lake Norman. It's a 1,200-square-foot tackle shop that stocks tournament-quality tackle and live bait. The next phase is to build up the store's website and create an e-commerce site. "I've had thoughts about doing it just because there wasn't a good tackle shop in our area," he said. "The last one closed about 10 years ago and a buddy of mine was looking to do something different."