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Grand Lake FLW Tour

Jay Yelas - Practice Recap
Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Jay Yelas
Photo: Jay Yelas

The water crested yesterday and dropped 6 inches overnight, but we got a bunch of rain this morning so it might come back up a bit. The fishing's been good, but it's changing all the time. I had a decent stringer the first day in the upper teens, but the mud got there on day 2 and I couldn’t get bit there. I caught a bag in the low teens, but that turned to mud yesterday so I had to find another spot and I fully expect that to be blown out by tomorrow.

Every day's been different. Practice at tournaments like these sometimes aren't worth a hill of beans because the mud is moving down the lake, but that said, the fishing is good. You just have to find new places to catch them every day. The lake is shrinking as more mud comes down the lake so it's going to fish really small. We're going to have a lot of crowding issues, but I think it'll take 14 (pounds) a day to get a check. You're just going to have to fish by the seat of your pants.

I fished all over the place except for extreme lower portion of the lake and the only place I couldn't catch them was in the chocolate mud where it looks like a field you can plow instead of water. It's a fun lake, though. For the adverse conditions, if you can get around them, they'll still bite. Flipping shallow is working and there are some deep fish going. The emphasis will be on those 4- and 5-pounders because everyone's going to be catching 2 1/2- to 3-pounders.

Luke Clausen - Practice Recap
Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Megabass
Photo: Megabass

I've been hunting for new stuff every day. I didn't set the hook on many fish in practice and shook a lot off. On Monday, I got a lot of bites, but not nearly as many yesterday. I completely understand that it'll change every day and I'm going to keep bobbing and weaving and do my thing and hope for the best. I think a lot of fish will be caught, but the key will be getting those two, three or four 4-pounders a day. Those 4-pound bites are going to go a long way because I think a lot of 2- to 2 1/2-pounders will be caught.

I caught fish doing a little of everything, but nothing worked much better than the next. As the water continues to drop, some places will get dirtier and some bushes will drop out. It's just going to be a fishing-the-moment type of situation. The problem is the lake's getting smaller and it's going to be hard to get on some places, let alone fish them.

I'm not all that scared of fishing in the mud. I've gotten bit in there, but it seems like you have to fish the stuff that's changing, whether it's just starting to get dirty or is starting to clear up. The current's been pretty consistent the whole time and I don't see that stopping any time soon. That'll help. Where the current will play a role is in those creeks where there's an elevation change.


Jay Yelas - Day 1 Practice
Monday, June 3, 2013

The lake's on a sharp rise. The lake came up about a foot today. The forecast I've seen is for it to crest tomorrow (Monday) and start dropping and it'll keep falling all through the tournament. That makes for an interesting practice because the conditions are almost guaranteed to be different in that regard. I had a decent day today. I caught some fish, but not very many big ones.

It was a good start, better than my first day of practice at (Eufaula). There's a lot of stuff going on right now. You have 3 to 4 feet of water in the willows and fish down the lake that are out deeper on brush piles and all the docks. There's all kinds of habitat in this lake, but there is no grass. I haven't been here in 20 years. I fished three Bassmaster events here in the early 90s so it's fun to come back. It looks the same in a lot of ways, but it's a lot more developed than it used to be.

The water temperature's about 71 and chocolate mud on the upper third of the lake above the (Sailboat) bridge, but it's cleared up down toward the dam. There's a lot of current running right now. It was a late spawn this year, but we have a lot of vacillating conditions so that'll be the challenge this week – staying up with the fish and changing throughout the week.


Luke Clausen - Day 1 Practice
Sunday, June 2, 2013

FLW/David Brown
Photo: FLW/David Brown

The lake's full. I'd say it's about 2 to 2 1/2 feet past full so it's not totally flooded. They're pushing a lot of current right now, but the question is what's above us and whether it'll get here tomorrow or in a few days or next week.

I don't know if I feel great about anything today. I caught fish doing a few things. I came to Grand Lake with the impression that it's full of 3-pounders. Maybe it is, but I didn't catch any today. I caught some fish, none of the quality I'm looking for. I covered a lot of water today and fished all the way to the dam. I caught them everywhere in between, but again nothing of any size.

It's a weird situation right now with the high, dirty water and the post-spawn. I don't really know what to think of it. I caught them in dirty and clean water, but everything was 2 to 2 1/2 pounds. I just couldn't catch any 4s with any kind of consistency. I'm going to go up the river tomorrow, but from what I can tell there are going to be a lot of 12-pound limits here.

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