Hobbs' post weigh-in moments: a fly on the wall

DULUTH, Georgia - What's it like to be Ron Hobbs, Jr. right now? For starters, he's learning how to sign autographs.

Just a few minutes after creeping into the Top 6 and earning the right to fish for $500,000 on the final day of the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup, Hobbs is approached by a 5-year-old boy wearing a white tournament jersey and packing a pen.

"Mister, are you fishing tomorrow?" the boy asks.

"Yes, I am," Hobbs replies.

"Then, can you sign my shirt?" the boy says, handing Hobbs his pen.

Hobbs obliges, smiling as he signs the front of the little boy's shirt. But just to remind everyone that he's still a fisherman, the little boy says "thank you" to Hobbs, and leaves him with this: "Mister, you smell like fish."

Hobbs reaction: "You're right, I do. That's because I caught a bunch of them this week."

Yes, he did. Exactly 15 of them weighing 35 pounds, 3 ounces, enough to push him into fifth place, 2 ounces ahead of Troy Morrow and a scant 9 ounces ahead of the last man to miss the cut, local Lake Lanier legend Tom Mann, Jr.

For now, his reward for catching those 15 fish, Hobbs is - even as I write this - learning about "CO2 blasts", "pyro", lasers, and how to walk onstage when he's introduced to a packed Gwinnett Center crowd tomorrow for the final-day weigh-in.

FLW Outdoors president Charlie Evans, an FLW stage director, another FLW production manager and FLW's special effects (pyro!) guy are laying out a series of detailed instructions on how the weigh-in will go, choreographing every step Hobbs, Brent Ehrler, Cody Meyer, Kevin Hawk and Morrow will take, from the second they're introduced (smoke, CO2 blasts, lasers, pyro) to the moment the Forrest Wood Cup champion is crowned (BIG pyro, lasers, more pyro and a little more pyro).

For a milkman from Orting, Hobbs looks pretty damn comfortable with it all. No small feat when the guy sitting directly across from him onstage is none other than Larry "The General" Nixon, one of the most successful, respected anglers of all time.

Hobbs' participation in the final day was in serious danger of evaporating in the final few minutes of today's weigh-in. His biggest fish of the day - a spotted bass that stretched 24 inches - died in his live well, costing Hobbs 8 precious ounces in penalty. Hobbs very briefly held the lead before Ehrler dropped 14-14 on the scale, and Meyer, Nixon and Hawk slipped past him with 11-5, 11-5 and 11-2, respectively. It wasn't until Jason Christie weighed in 8-0 and Gainseville local Jason Meninger registered 7-5 that Hobbs knew for sure he'd made the Final 6.

Ironically, for a guy who was born and raised in the "Coffee Capital of the World", Hobbs has been assigned the Folgers boat for Sunday.

I'll have MUCH much more later tonight. In the meantime, it's my pleasure to congratulate Ron Hobbs, Jr. on a feat that only a tiny handful of bass anglers have ever accomplished.

JS/NWWC