HOT SPRINGS -- Burned out from a lifetime of nonstop bass fishing, Clent Davis of Montevallo, Ala., sold all of his equipment in 2017 and quit the sport.
Friends talked him into returning, and he reaped the reward Sunday by winning the Forrest Wood Cup and $300,000 at Lake Ouachita.
FORREST WOOD CUP
Lake Ouachita
Day 3
NAME; HOMETOWN; FISH; WT;TOTAL WT; MONEY
Clent Davis; Montevallo, Ala.; 5; 17-13; 36-13; $300,000
James Niggemeyer; Van, Texas; 5; 8-11; 29-9; $60,000
Justin Atkins; Florence, Ala.; 5; 9-12; 28-12; $50,000
Nick LeBrun; Bossier City, La.; 4; 5-11; 28-6; $37,500
Jason Lambert; Michie, Tenn.; 5; 7-12; 27-15; $30,000
Zack Birge; Blanchard, Okla.; 5; 6-7; 26-13; $24,000
Wes Logan; Springville, Ala.; 1; 1-12; 25-9; $23,000
John Cox; Debary, Fla.; 4; 4-9; 24-7; $22,000
Brandon Cobb; Greenwood, S.C.; 2; 3-15; 23-1; $21,000
Bradford Beavers; Summerville, S.C.; 1; 1-3; 20-8; $20,000
Davis was the first angler in Forrest Wood Cup history to come from 10th place to win the tournament. He made the 10-angler cut by just one ounce Saturday and started the championship round with 19 pounds. Because the fishing was so difficult for all anglers during the first two rounds, he trailed the leader, Wes Logan of Springville, Ala., by only 4 pounds, 13 ounces.
The final round was the toughest, and Davis was the only angler to catch more than 10 pounds. His final limit of five bass weighed 17-13, the heaviest of the tournament, to give him a three-day cumulative weight of 36-13.
"I just wanted one more day," Davis said. "Today I went out and had fun. I was in 10th place, so just go out and have fun fishing. That's what it's supposed to be."
Davis targeted deep brush piles in depths of 22 feet to 30 feet, a pattern he learned from Scott Suggs of Bryant, who won the 2007 Forrest Wood Cup at Lake Ouachita. Davis said he caught all of his fish on 12-inch, plum/apple colored Mister Twister Meg Buzz Worm.
As a co-angler in the 2011 FLW Tour event, Davis was paired with Suggs for a day, and he remembered what he saw.
"That was my first-ever tournament as a co-angler, and I drew the man himself, Scott Suggs," Davis said. "I netted his fish all day, and I learned a lot. I didn't know where his spots were because he ran me in circles all around this lake, but I remembered the pattern."
John Cox, winner of the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup, finished eighth and won $22,000. He said that despite its vast size, Lake Ouachita fishes small.
Davis agreed and said there are basically three ways to win a tournament on Lake Ouachita. You can fish the banks, you can fish for schooling fish, or fish deep brush and timber.
An avid fisherman since he was a small child, Davis said the pace of tournament fishing exhausted him. He fished local jackpot tournaments when he wasn't on tour, so he was never home with his family.
After failing to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series after two years on that tour, Davis said he was finished mentally and emotionally.
"I had taken all the fun out of fishing," Davis said. "I sold it all. I sold every fishing piece I had. My garage was bare. I was ready to go to work for the power company.
"My friends would come over, and I'd say don't ask me about fishing. We can talk about hunting or Alabama football, but that's all."
Bill Taylor, FLW's former tournament director, encouraged Davis to fish the FLW Tour, and by Christmas, he said he felt the itch to compete.
"It's been a good year all the way through except for when I broke my hand in the second tournament of the year," Davis said. "I was ripping a Yo-Zuri bait out some grass and broke my hand. I'm probably the only angler to ever do that."
Despite barely making the championship cut, Davis said he felt no pressure in the final round.
"I didn't care, man," Davis said. "It's been an awesome year. You're in the 'Cup.' I fish to feed my family and to have fun, and we were getting paid no matter what, so I went out and had fun. There's no pressure except what you put on yourself."
Logan, one of few anglers to improve his weight from the first round to the second round, caught only one bass Sunday. It weighed 1-12.
James Niggemeyer, who also did not qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2017, finished second with a three-day cumulative weight of 29-9 to win $60,000. He caught five bass Sunday that weighed 8-11.
Sports on 08/13/2018