Kentucky Lake FLW Tour Major

Luke Clausen -- Competition Recap
Friday, June 8, 2012

> 39th (10, 28-07)

I based a lot of my optimism on my last day of practice. I caught about 18 pounds and I went back to those same areas and they didn’t produce near the same quality yesterday. Today, they didn’t produce near the same numbers or quality.

It was a bad read on my part because they were pulling some on Tuesday and they haven’t run water like they did. In hindsight, I should’ve fished new areas of the lake. I fished down near Paris because that’s my comfort zone here. I went as far south as Danville, but didn’t go as far as New Johnsonville. It seems like a lot of guys were catching them up North. It makes you appreciate how much we depend on current sometimes. I’ve never fished in this little current.

Luke Clausen - Practice Recap
Tuesday, June 5, 2012

It wasn’t real phenomenal. It’s been a lot tougher than the normal Kentucky Lake I know. I caught some better fish today, but I’m not catching incredible numbers. Catching five good ones might be a challenge. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’m about a 6 right now.

In hindsight, I probably should’ve spent more time down at New Johnsonville where there's some grass. I spent a day down there and now I’m wishing I would’ve spent more time. I might just wind up running down there anyway. There’s a high likelihood it could be won down there based on the weights recently. There is definitely a good number of big fish down there.

I haven’t been real impressed with the umbrella rig. I’ve caught several fish on it, but it hasn’t produced any better quality than anything else I’m using. It’s probably not something I’ll have on my deck, but I’ll have one in my rod box.

Jay Yelas - Practice Recap
Tuesday, June 5, 2012

I didn’t catch many big fish in practice. The 4-pound class was the biggest I found. I caught a lot of fish and several keepers each day, but I don’t think they were the quality a guy’s going to need to do well here.

I shook off a bunch of fish, so hopefully those were the big ones. I’m looking forward to the tournament. I think I stand a shot to do decent.

I’m going to fish shallow on Barkley. It worked for me last year and I don’t know why it won’t work for me again. It won’t be a true flipping bite, but it’ll be shallow stuff.

Crowding isn’t an issue for me. I haven’t seen but two other competitors the whole practice. That’s the neat thing about this lake. You can spread out and have a 5-mile area all to yourself. It’s one of the few places we go to where you can just get away and escape everyone.

Luke Clausen - Day 1 Practice
Sunday, June 3, 2012

There’s just not very much water here so it’s made it tough to fish deep. There are a lot of suspended fish right now and there are really not many options to fish shallow. I caught some fish, but I’m definitely disappointed with the weight I would’ve had.

I’ll try a different area of the lake tomorrow and see what develops and see what the weather brings. We’re supposed to get some rain tonight so maybe the little front and maybe them moving a little water will make things a little more predictable.

Jay Yelas - Day 1 Practice
Sunday, June 3, 2012

For me, it was a lot different than last year. The water’s down about 18 inches, maybe 2 feet, and everywhere I caught fish last year is high and dry. The shallow fishing sure won’t be what it was last year, but I think it was unusual to have the lake that high this time of year.

Today I fished Barkley and just looked around. I caught some fish, but nothing outstanding. The fishing seemed okay. I caught a decent bag, but nothing like what you’ll need to contend here.

There are just tons of shad and baitfish in here. This is one of the most fun places we go all year long. There are so many bass in here. There may be more bass per acre here than anywhere we go.

There’s some grass growing on Kentucky Lake so I’ll be over there tomorrow checking things out. That’s what's nice about having 3 days of practice -- you’re able to move around and check out different things.