Arkansas Sportsman

Hot Springs welcomes 2015 Forrest Wood Cup

The Forrest Wood Cup is returning to Lake Ouachita in 2015, and just about everybody is happy about it.

Kathy Fennel, the FLW's president of operations, said three previous trips to the Hot Springs area made it an easy decision to return to Lake Ouachita, which also hosted the event in 2007 and 2011.

"The bass fishing community in Arkansas has always welcomed FLW with open arms," Fennel said.

As has the city of Hot Springs, which will host an outdoor expo and all the weigh-ins at Bank of the Ozarks Arena, which was previously known as Summit Arena.

It's probably the smallest venue to host the Forrest Wood Cup, but of all the Cups I've covered, the Hot Springs crowds were the loudest and most energetic.

"We know the 2015 Cup will be greeted with the same enthusiasm and hospitality that FLW has become accustomed to," said Steve Arrison, CEO of Visit Hot Springs.

It will be the fourth time that FLW has held its championship in Hot Springs.

George Cochran won at Lake Hamilton in 2005, then Scott Suggs of Bryant won at Lake Ouachita in 2007 and Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., won at Lake Ouachita in 2011.

The 2005 tournament was the most memorable. There was a buzz in the air the entire event. A young girl named Steffi Ledbetter sang the national anthem every night, and each time she lit up the crowd. . She had perfect pitch, and she nailed every note. At the end, she topped it off with a three-octave arpeggio that sent the capacity crowd of 7,500 into raptures.

Cochran was in control by the end of the third round, and it was his tournament to lose. The final weigh-in had the atmosphere of a coronation, and when Cochran won the place went wild.

In 2007, FLW changed the name from the FLW Championship to the Forrest Wood Cup and made bass fishing history by paying $1 million to the winner of a tournament.

That's the kind of money Ray Scott envisioned when he held the first modern bass tournament at Beaver Lake in 1967. Who would have dreamed it would be Scott's rival organization to reach that plateau 40 years later?

Scott Suggs won the 2007 Cup just 30 minutes from his hometown of Bryant to become the first winner of a single tournament to win $1 million. The event had the same electric atmosphere as the 2005 event, and Suggs, overcome with emotion, held the crowds in thrall.

Nashville recording artist Tracy Byrd performed before the weigh-in. That was the best show since Little Texas at the 1992 Red Man Golden Blend Diamond Invitational at Tuscaloosa, Ala., and was topped only by the Rodney Atkins' performance at this year's Wal-mart Open at Rogers.

FLW and Hot Springs are a potent combination. It's good to have them coming back.

BAYOU METO CLEANUP

Speaking of George Cochran, the retired three-time world champion will hold his fourth annual Bayou Meto WMA Cleanup from 8 a.m. to noon Aug. 30, starting at the Mulberry Access and the Long Bell Turnaround.

There will be a fish fry afterward at Cochran's hunting cabin.

Cochran organizes the cleanup with Roger Milligan, who formerly managed Bayou Meto Wildlife Management Area for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Cochran said he expects the cleanup to be light because there is a lot less trash on the WMA compared to the first cleanup in 2011. He said he believes it is because sportsmen who participate in the cleanup have established a new ethic for the area.

Last year I teamed with Milligan, Jess Essex of DeWitt, Steve Filipek, Talmon Prier and Jimmy Jackson to clean litter from the Mulberry, Cox Cypress and Tipton accesses. We worked way past noon and picked up a lot of trash. Essex and Filipek threw stories back and forth like fastballs such that we lost track of time. Cochran's crappie fillets and French fries were outstanding.

More information on the cleanup is available by calling Cochran at (501) 282-5344 or Milligan at (870) 377-2160.

Sports on 08/17/2014

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