Andy Montgomery was driving the 15 hours from Palatka, Fla., to Lufkin, Texas, Sunday, halfway through a six-tournament marathon that he hopes will land him in the Forrest Wood Cup on South Carolina’s famed bass factory, Lake Murray, this August.

“I’m fishing six tournaments in six weeks. I just finished fishing three and am on my way to the next three,” Montgomery said.

He is also trying to fish his way into the 2015 Bassmaster Classic on South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell next February, but the lure of fishing the FLW Championship just a couple of hours drive from his home in Blacksburg, S.C., was too much to turn down, Montgomery said.

Besides, he added, he kind of has a score to settle with the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Murray.

“The last time the Cup was on Lake Murray in 2008 I finished 13^th. I felt like I had a really good chance to win it, but I just did not get the big bites I needed the second day of the tournament,” he said. “I caught a lot of keepers, but just did not get that big bite. But my co-angler won the tournament and he got several big bites, so I know I was around the fish to win it.”

So he was headed to Sam Rayburn Lake in his quest for the Cup on Lake Murray and from there he will drive north this weekend to Table Rock Lake in Missouri to try to boost his chances for qualifying for the Lake Hartwell Bassmaster Classic next February. Montgomery, who is riding a wave of success in B.A.S.S. so far this year – 11^th on Lake Seminole two weeks ago and 25^th on the St. John’s River last week – hopes Table Rock is more kind to him this time than it has been in the past.

“I have had some really good practices on Table Rock, but that lake has been a thorn in my side. I just could not get them in the boat in a tournament,” he said. “The lake changes from day to day. I’d have almost too good a practice and get locked in on certain ares or things and it would change, so I’ve got to have an open mind every day of the tournament this time.”

His best outing on Table Rock was in a PAA tournament last September when he placed 45^th. His record in two FLW tournaments on the lake was forgettable.

“It’s a clear lake and the wind means everything there. If the wind changes directions it will really mess you up. The fish move a lot, too. When they come up they move pretty fast and you just have to stay with them.”

Montgomery said the tournament probably will be won by cranking a Wiggle Wart or throwing a jerkbait.

“There is every type of rock there, so you are always fishing some type of rocky bank. You have to figure out what type of rock the fish are on.”

Adding to the mystery of the bass fishery in the lake is the exceptionally cold winter, he said.

“It’s been cold and there was a lot snow, which means there is a lot of snow run-off that makes the lake really cold. Everything seems to be behind this year.”

Six tournaments in six weeks. “It’s been rough,” Montgomery said, “but that’s just part of the deal.”

 

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Table Rock Lake

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