COLUMN
FOR THE RECORD
COLIN
MOORE
R
egardless of whether you consid-
er him a hero or a heel, Lt. Col.
George Armstrong Custer came
up with a gem when he noted that “it’s
not how many times you get knocked
down that count; it’s how many times
you get back up.”
Of course, there was that one time
along the Little Bighorn River when
Custer couldn’t get back up, but that’s
another story. His timeless maxim is
applicable to anyone with a hard row to
hoe, including pro fishermen, who have
to learn to take a licking and keep on
ticking if they plan to stick around for
very long.
At the Forrest Wood Cup in August,
a couple of prime examples stood out:
Clark Reehm and Mark Rose. On the
tournament’s first day, Rose had 1-8,
which put him dead last in the field of
53 anglers. Reehm was in 44th place,
with a pair of bass that weighed 4-14.
When you’re that far down, it’s tempting
to give up and go home – mentally, if
not physically – as the confetti flutters
down on somebody else.
That’s not how the big boys operate,
however. On the second day, Rose
returned with 14-3 to finish 36th.
Reehm ended his tournament with a
limit that weighed 15-11 and bumped
14
Down, But Not Out
him up to 23rd. It didn’t make any differ-
ence in the money they got, but it made
a big difference in their self-respect.
FLW history is replete with such
comebacks – some of them much more
dramatic. There was Brandon McMillan
at the Potomac River this year, going
from an opening-round 126th to sixth in
the final standings; Clark Wendlandt at
Beaver Lake in 2009, starting in 100th
place and winding up in third.
Remember the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup,
when Jacob Wheeler went from 40th
place on day one to runner-up on day
four and bumped his guaranteed earn-
ings from $10,000 to a cool $75,000 in
the process? Or how about the Costa
FLW Series Central Division tournament
on Kentucky Lake in May 1999 that Bill
McDonald of Greenwood, Ind., won? He
went from 115th place on the first day
with a single bass that weighed 2 1/2
pounds to first in the fourth and final
round. It still ranks as the greatest rally
for a Costa angler in the series’ history.
Rose and Reehm provided a couple
of other examples at the Cup. Put them
in separate rooms and ask them how
they rebounded there, and it’s as if they
were both reading from the same script.
“Herring fisheries are my weakest.
After 18 years of doing this, I still think
bluebacks are just crazy,” opines Rose.
“So instead of chasing them around I
chose to go upriver and spend most of
my practice up there. I found a really
good cranking hole upriver where I
thought I could do well – maybe 12 to 13
pounds a day. It was the best thing I had
going. The first day I returned to that
hole, and I never caught a fish. I still don’t
understand what happened to them.
Clark Reehm
FLWFISHING.COM I NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2017