Day One belongs to Tharp

Thursday’s leader Russell Sharp needed a mudboat to get to his fishing hole, but once he fought through the shallows, he found a good spot!

Shreveport — Day one of the Forrest Wood Cup on the Red River belonged to Russell Tharp of Port St. Joe, FL. He landed five fish weighing 18 pounds, 8 ounces.  But Tharp can’t start making room on his trophy wall just yet. Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N. C., was just one bite of shiner behind  with five fish weighing 18-7. Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, ARK, was third with 13-4.

Local fisherman and ULM champ Paul Clark of Monroe had a tough day, landing three small fish weighing 3-8. While he was fishing in the pro division, former ULM partner Brett Preuett of Colfax was fishing the co-angler division. He landed three fish weighing 3-8, too. While Clark was disappointed, he’s still got time to battle back into the tournament with a good day Friday. At least he’s ahead of Jimmy Houston, who caught two fish at 2-2.

The tournament begins each day with a 7 a.m. takeoff from the Red River South Marina. It ends at the 5 p.m. weigh-in at CenturyLink Center.  The field will be cut after Friday to the Top 20 anglers based on cumulative weight from the first two days. After Saturday’s fishing, only the top 10 will live to fish another day of the tournament on Sunday for the $500,000 grandprize. Total weight for all four days determines the winner. If you’ve never seen a big-time bass championship and outdoor show like this, don’t miss this opportunity. For complete details about what to do at the tournament, check out:

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/bassfishing/flw/tournament/2013/6949/forrest-wood-cup-event-schedule/