Lake Eufaula FLW Tour
Luke Clausen - Competition Recap
Saturday, May 18, 2013
> Day 1: 5, 15-11
> Day 2: 5, 11-10
> Total: 10, 27-05 (25th place)
It was just so random. I never knew how I was going to get a bite or where that bite was coming from. I caught seven keepers the first day and eight today, but I never caught anything of quality. Everything was the same size, about 2 to 2 1/4 pounds. I just couldn't catch any good ones.
I did the same stuff today that I did on day 1 and in the same places. I couldn't say I ever had anything figured out. It was just a junk-fishing deal. I caught two on beds today, one on a brush pile and one on a shad spawn, just junking around. It seems that tournaments that are this tough turn into that for me. I never figured out one particular pattern. I caught enough to make a little bit of money.
I never fished any deeper than 12 or 13 feet and in my opinion a lot of these fish aren't really that deep yet. Most of them aren't yet out to that last river drop. They're still on the edge hanging on. I'd say I caught about 80 percent of my fish on a Z-Man Fattyz Worm. I was catching fish still hanging around the spawning area. Some of them might've been fry-guarders or just hanging around or still on beds.
Jay Yelas – Competition Recap
Saturday, May 18, 2013
> Day 1: 4, 9-07
> Day 2: 2, 3-12
> Total: 6, 13-03 (115th place)
I bombed out in this tournament. I was kind of surprised after the last day of practice that I had. I thought I had a good bag. As it turned out, it was the wrong end of the lake. I just wasn't around any fish to speak of up there and wish I would've fished the other end of the lake.
I didn't see anybody that was fishing up where I was that did anything in the tournament. That happens sometimes in practice – you'll catch a big fish and it'll kind of lead you down the wrong path and that's what happened to me this week.
I had no other tournament fishermen around me so it's not like somebody got my spot. I didn't lose any fish. I just never got bit. When you don't get bit you figure you just weren't around them. I think all BassFans have tournaments like this from time to time and you try to learn something from it. All I can take away from it is where not to fish if we ever come back here.
Jay Yelas - Practice Recap
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
It picked up for me the last couple of days. I had a horrific day 1, a decent day Monday and a good day yesterday. I'm just going to go do what I was doing on day 3. I caught a 6-pounder and a couple other good ones so hopefully, it'll hold up.
The thing here is when you get around the fish they'll bite. You can go for hours without a bite and you start thinking you have the wrong bait or need to change presentations. The thing is there is a high volume of surface acres here with no fish. Because of that, I think the lake will fish small. When you find them, they're grouped up and guys will be fishing on top of each other.
I like my chances after what I found Tuesday. Sunday was one of the worst practice days I can remember having. I never handled a bass all day. I feel good that I was able to get something going.
The fish are a little behind like they are everywhere in the South. They're not all out on the main river like you'd think they would be. There are still fish on beds and guarding fry – not a lot, but there is still some of that. The good summer bite hasn't kicked in yet. Usually it takes them 2 or 3 weeks to want to start feeding after spawning and we're still in that post-spawn funk. I think the fishing will get better as the week goes by, though. It's supposed to warm up and it should make the fish a little more snappy. I think they have Florida-strain bass in here and they do not like dropping water temperatures. They're moody about that. Once it warms up, though, I think you'll see things like the topwater bite get good.
Luke Clausen - Practice Recap
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
I'd say things haven't really changed for me. I'm not catching many fish and not catching any with much size. It hasn't been real eventful. It's the kind of deal where I don't know where to I'm going to start or stop. I feel like I can catch some shallow and can catch some deep. I'm just real unsure of the quality I'm going to catch.
I don't know too many people who aren't concerned about catching a limit. It's going to be a junk-fishing bonanza. It seemed like whatever I picked up, it took about the same amount of time to get a bite. I'll probably catching them on several different baits tomorrow.
The few groups of deep fish that are out there are going to be jammed up with boat and if it's slick and sunny, it's going to be tough. That will eliminate a lot of easy fish and turn it into a grind. I know it will for me.
Jay Yelas - Day 1 Practice
Sunday, May 12, 2013
The fishing for me was horrifically bad. I didn't even catch a limit and I fished for 12 hours. That's a long time to fish and not catch much. I don't know what's going on in the part of the lake I fished today, but it was dreadful. Everything looked good. The water's a good color, there's a lot of habitat. I fished mostly shallow and some deep. I couldn't even get bit. It was crazy.
I'm going to a different end of the lake tomorrow and I'm hoping they'll be biting better there. The lake looks good and it's full with lots of shallow vegetation in the water. It's a little cooler, though, but it's supposed to warm later in the week.
Luke Clausen - Day 1 Practice
Sunday, May 12, 2013
I haven't been here in a while so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was alright, I guess. I caught some fish, but not the weight I'd need to catch during the tournament – nothing really great size-wise.
I don't feel like I discovered a whole lot, so it was pretty uneventful. I wish I felt like I learned a lot more. I really feel like I left the water today with what I came in with. It's a post-spawn deal with the water up high. There are a lot of fish up shallow and they key will be figuring out how many fish have moved out deep. I don't think we'll see a big influx of fish moving to the bank because I think there will be a lot more moving out.
