Quest For Cup Berths
Double-Qualifiers Should Give Lots Of Others A Shot

Monday, May 07, 2007

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Jeff Schroeder David Walker will likely need to move up a few places in the FLW Tour points standings to claim a berth in the Forrest Wood Cup.

FLW Tour anglers formerly had to finish among the Top 48 on the final regular-season points list to qualify for the season-ending championship event. Under the revamped Forrest Wood Cup format instituted for this year – which did away with the bracketed setup and brought in anglers from four other trails – eight of those spots were taken away.

But with three of the six regular-season tournaments in the books, it appears that the list of Cup entrants who get in via the Tour will go considerably deeper than 40th place. No fewer than 12 of the current Top 40 are already in by virtue of their performance on the 2006 FLW Series, and a couple of anglers said they've been told (although there's been no confirmation from the organization) that FLW Outdoors will go down the Tour points list to fill out the Cup field of 81 pros.

When everything is tallied up after the Detroit River event in mid-July, there might be anglers who ended up in the 50s making plans to compete at Arkansas' Lake Ouachita on the first weekend of August. And they won't have to worry about who they're pitted against in the first round.

A Chance to Double Up

Here's a list of the anglers currently among the Top 40 in the FLW Tour Angler of the Year (AOY) race who've already nailed down Cup slots by finishing 30th or better in the 2006 Series. The number before their name indicates their position in the Tour points, and the one in parentheses is where they finished in last year's Series.

3. Darrel Robertson (12th)
6. Shinichi Fukae (10th)
7. Dave Lefebre (1st)
8. Jay Yelas (8th)
9. Luke Clausen (2nd)
10. Andy Morgan (4th)
13. Mark Davis (23rd)
19. David Dudley (3rd)
33. Anthony Gagliardi (19th)
34. Rob Kilby (18th)
37. Jacob Powroznik (9th)
39. Tim Johnson (27th)

Four other Tour anglers gained Cup slots by winning their divisions at last year's Stren Championship. They are Ricky Scott (currently 116th in the Tour points), J.T. Kenney (44th), Ott Defoe (46th) and Stacey King (160th, but fished only one event due to recent heart surgery).

Kenney will become a triple-qualifier for the Cup if he moves up four places on the Tour list – he was 24th in the '06 Series points.

Here are some other Series qualifiers who could get inside the Top 40 in the Tour points with a good outing at the upcoming Wal-Mart Open (Beaver FLW).

50. Todd Auten (21st)
51. Dion Hibdon (28th)
56. Tommy Martin (29th)
61. Koby Kreiger (13th)
66. Jack Wade (22nd)

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Rob Newell Matt Herren is having an off year on the FLW Tour, but his place in the championship event is secure.

Might Need their Hall Pass

Other Tour anglers are having less-than-stellar seasons, but performed well enough on the '06 Series that they don't have to worry about making big moves to get into the Top 40 over the final three events – they can use their Series Top 30 exemption to get into the Cup. Here's that list, with respective '06 Series points finishes in parentheses.

73. Clark Wendlandt (5th)
77. Mike Surman (14th)
81. Matt Herren (25th)
85. Danny Pierce (26th)
87. Sean Hoernke (20th)
90. George Cochran (30th)
93. Terry Baksay (6th)
110. Gary Yamamoto (7th)
123. Chris Elliott (15th)
143. Guido Hibdon (17th)
149. Curt Lytle (11th)

Wendlandt is a two-time AOY and Herren is a perennial contender for that honor, but they have three finishes of 100th or worse between them this year. Hoernke is a true fence-swinger who could make a big move in just one event, and New Englander Baksay's position should improve as the weather warms and the Tour moves north.

Veterans Cochran, Yamamoto and the elder Hibdon have struggled this year, but their track records suggest that late spring and early summer could be better for them as well. Lytle, who always fares better after the spawn, has fished only two of the three tournaments thus far – he missed the opener at Travis due to an injury incurred while working on his boat.

Some Work Left to Do

That brings us to the anglers who don't have a Series or Stren exemption and are on the bubble for Cup berths. The following are ranked 35th to 55th in the points, and either must stay close to their current positions or move up a bit to fish at Ouachita.

35. Larry Nixon
36. Jim Moynagh
38. Jerry Green
40. Woo Daves
41. Katsutoshi Furasawa
42. John Devere
43. Brett Hite
45. Marcel Veenstra
47. Michael Murhpy
48. Randy Blaukat
49. Dwayne Horton
52 Jason Abram
53. Bobby Curtis
54. David Walker
55. Harmon Davis

Nixon, who won the last event at Norman, and Moynagh (6th at Norman) are both superb at catching deep fish, and they're unlikely to fall far during the Tour's post-spawn portion. Daves and Blaukat are also versatile veterans who aren't afraid to go deep, and westerner Hite is brilliant with a dropshot rig.

Walker could use another streak like the one he put together late last spring – three consecutive finishes among the Top 11 (Tour and Series combined).

Notable

> FLW Outdoors has not stated publicly that double qualifiers will be compensated for by going down the Tour points list, but Scott Suggs said he and Dan Morehead approached tournament director Bill Taylor with that question and were assured that would be the case. The organization did not respond to a message from BassFan seeking official clarification.

> Californian Rusty Salewske was 16th in the '06 Series. He's the only member from the Top 30 on that circuit who's not fishing this year's Tour – he's competing in the Western Series. Fellow Californian Jason Borofka, the highest-finishing westerner at the '06 Stren Championship, was also eligible for the Tour, but he's focusing on the Western Series as well.

> Dave Andrews of Massachusetts has qualified for the Cup as the winner of the recent The Bass Federation (TBF) National Championship. North Carolina's Roger Pope and Virginia's Dennie Gilbert, the 1st- and 2nd-place finishers at the first of two Ranger Owners Championship Series events, are also in. The other two Ranger Owners qualifiers will be determined after this month's tournament at Table Rock Lake.