Beaver FLW Tour (Walmart Open)

Jay Yelas – Practice
Thursday, May 14, 2009

The water's clear this year, but there's still a large section of the upper part of the lake and river that's orange mud, like last year. The mud's just not as far down the lake, even though the water's at the same height.

I think the fish are right in the middle of the spawn, so that's a little different than past years. The fish were a little more post-spawn those years. There are some fish coming onto beds, but I'm not sight-fishing.

It's just the same old Beaver Lake – 12 pounds a day will probably make the Top 10. I had a couple days in practice where I caught that, and a couple of days where I didn't. I'm going to fish a little clear water – do a little swimbaiting – and a little dirty water with flipping and stuff. If you can get five keeper largemouths a day here, which is tough to do, you generally have a good shot at making the cut.

When I finished 2nd a few years ago, I caught all my fish off one dock. That spot's no good anymore. The lake's been flooded the past 2 years, so that spot hasn't been the same. Last year I finished 13th here, so I generally have a pretty good handle on it – I understand the lake pretty well and I'm usually competitive. I feel like I should be on them pretty good tomorrow – it should be my best tournament of the Tour so far this year. That's not saying much, seeing as how I've finished, but I should get back in the saddle tomorrow.