Seven Arkansans, more than from any other state, will compete for the Forrest Wood Cup and $500,000 on Aug. 15-18 on the Red River at Shreveport.

The Forrest Wood Cup is the FLW Tour championship and features the best 46 anglers from the FLW Tour major and open divisions.

Jacob Wheeler of Indianapolis earned an automatic berth by winning the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup. Mark Daniels of Fairfield, Calif., qualified by winning The Bass Federation national championship, and Paul Clark of Monroe, La., earned a berth by winning the college national championship. David Dudley of Lynchburg, Tenn., qualified as FLW’s Angler of the Year, and Koby Krieger of Okeechobee, Fla., qualified as the 2012 EverStart Series champion.

Bee Branch’s Larry Nixon,The General, earned a berth as the 2012 Open Division champion. In four open tournaments in 2012, Nixon amassed 740 points and won $126,814 by catching 60 bass that weighed a total of 185 pounds, 13 ounces. He also finished seventh Monday in the FLW major finale on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tenn.

Stetson Blaylock of Benton had a phenomenal year to qualify for the cup. In six majors, Blaylock had two top-10 finishes and finished second in Angler of the Year points.He caught a total of 80 bass that weighed 228 pounds, 5 ounces to win $70,069.

Robbie Dodson of Harrison finished the season ranked 37th in FLW majors with 883 points. He caught a total of 129 pounds, 2 ounces to win $69,749. His best finish was third at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in Oklahoma in June, where he won $29,366. He also finished second in the 2012 Open Division.

Kerry Milner of Bono qualified for the Forrest Wood Cup by winning the BFL All-American. Fishing in the Arkie Division, which competes entirely in Arkansas, Milner logged two top-20 finishes as a boater in three one-day tournaments by catching 15 bass that weighed a total of 24 pounds, 2 ounces. He finished 37th in the division and won $875. That got him into the All-American on June 25-27 at Nickajack Lake in Tennessee, where he caught 24 bass that weighed 82-4. He won $120,000, making him, as an amateur, the state’s top money winner in the Cup.

Marion’s Mark Rose, a perennial fixture in the Cup, had one top-10 finish in six majors, but he had four top-50 finishes to place 13th in Angler of the Year points. He won a total of $55,316.

Ray Scheide of Dover is another perennial fixture in the Cup.

Reporters aren’t supposed to have favorites, but Scheide has earned my affection with, among other things, his unflappable good humor. BP sponsored him for many years. At the Beaver Lake tournament not long after BP’s infamous Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, I asked him if he caught his fish on a motor oil colored worm.

“We actually have been briefed to take questions like that,” he said with a wide grin, and then said nothing more about it.

Scheide finished the season ranked 24th in six majors. He finished 10th at the season opener at Lake Okeechobee in February, and he had three top-50 finishes. He caught 68 bass in competition that weighed a total of 166-2 to earn $48,149.

Rounding out the Arkansas contingent is Spencer Shuffield of Bismarck. His dad, Ron Shuffield, is one of the most successful anglers in history, with great accomplishments on the FLW and Bassmaster tours. Spencer’s accomplishments stand on their own. He finished 12th on the FLW Tour this year after six majors with 971 points. He had onetop-20 finish and three top-50 finishes. He caught a total of 169-6 to earn $49,430.

Like Stetson Blaylock, he is also a former FLW Tour co-angler champion. He won that title in 2011.

Next to Arkansas, Florida has the most anglers with six, followed by Alabama and California with four each. The California contingent includes Ishama Monroe, who also fishes the Bassmaster Elite Series, and Brent Ehrler. In seven Forrest Wood Cup appearances, Ehrler has finished in the top 10 three times. He won the 2006 Cup.

The field also will include Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla. He won two FLW majors this year and a Bassmaster Elite Series event. All of his success this this year has been in this part of the country, which makes him a favorite to win in Shreveport.

Sports, Pages 28 on 07/07/2013