11 12
MATT BECKER
18 LB 15 OZ (9) DAVID DUDLEY
18 LB 6 OZ (10)
By Curtis Niedermier
a
PHOTO BY JODY WHITE
54
t 9:30 the second morning, it looked as if Matt Becker
was angling toward a top-10 finish in his first Cup.
The Rookie of the Year was riding a confidence high with
three fish weighing about 7 pounds in the box and seven
hours still to fish.
Then Ouachita jettisoned his prospects with a six-hour
drought.
A brief moment of hope occurred that afternoon
when he spotted two 3-pounders cruising in the Blakely
area. Becker hooked one on a Zoom Super Fluke Jr. but
broke it off, then amazingly caught the other on a
Whopper Plopper.
“I told my marshal that should not have happened.
That never happens,” Becker says. “You shouldn’t be able
to get one of them to bite, let alone both of them.”
Becker never got another bite, and with only four
keepers he missed the cut by an ounce. His strategy was
to chase schoolers in the morning with the Fluke Jr.
rigged with a 2/0 Roboworm ReBarb hook and a nail
weight in the belly. The rest of the day he fished the
Plopper up shallow.
By Justin Onslow
D
PHOTO BY FLW
udley missed the cut and a chance to fish on
Championship Sunday by less than a pound, despite
totaling limits of 9 pounds, 3 ounces on each of the first
two days of the Cup. Though consistency was generally
rewarded at Ouachita this year, Dudley’s lack of big kick-
ers ultimately sank his Cup hopes.
FLW’s all-time money winner with 20 Cup appear-
ances, Dudley knows a thing or two about adapting to
the conditions, especially in the heat of August in
Arkansas. He split his time fairly evenly fishing both deep
and shallow, catching four of his keepers in shallow water
and the other six out deep on various structures, brush
piles and contour changes.
The Virginia pro loves to throw crankbaits, and the
O.S.P. Blitz Max was his plug of choice up shallow. He also
employed a drop-shot rigged with a 6-inch Roboworm
Straight Tail Worm in the M.M. III color to slow down his
presentation while targeting suspended fish.
FlWFISHING.COm I Fall 2018