Once again, a Western angler loots a huge sum of money from the bass-fishing rich Southeast region. We’ve seen this before. Dating back to 2004, a Western pro has won three out of the last five Forrest Wood Cups. While that doesn’t sound overly impressive on the surface, consider that the vast majority of Forrest Wood Cup qualifiers reside east of the Mississippi River.

Moreover, Forrest Wood Cup venues are predominantly Southeast fisheries – from Logan Martin Lake in Birmingham, Ala., to Lake Ouachita and Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Ark., to Lake Murray in Columbia, S.C.

Other than region, what do Michael Bennett, Brent Ehrler and Luke Clausen have in common? They are all young, fearless and immensely talented. Some traditional FLW Tour powerhouses have quietly mumbled the words “sissy” and “fluke” when the topic of a Western movement is brought up.

But it is time to call a spade a spade. No matter how light their line may be or how sissy their drop-shots and finesse worms are, these boys can catch them. Remember that when making your Forrest Wood Cup picks in 2009.