Lake Okeechobee FLW Tour

Competition - Recap
Saturday, February 8, 2014

Jay Yelas

> Day 1: 5, 13-06
> Day 2: 5, 5-15
> Total = 10, 19-05 (149th place)

Friday was the maybe the toughest day I've ever had at Okeechobee. It was a grind. I thought I was going to have a real good tournament. Went to my best spot Thursday morning and realized they'd sprayed the mats, probably on the off day. The leaves were wilted and everything was brown.

It was pretty loaded with fish, but that was the biggest thing that hurt me this week. I had other areas and I ran around and tried to fish those, but they had other boats on them.

They must've sprayed herbicide on Wednesday because Monday was maybe the best day of practice I've ever had at Okeechobee. It was so easy it was like I was on a private farm pond, so I had real hopes coming into the tournament.

I fished the spot for a couple hours Thursday, but all we caught were 1 1/2-pounders. It's like they were leaving that area. I tried to fish around the mouth of the area near deeper, cleaner water, but they just weren't there.

Friday was one of those days. It's hard to believe that in a lake that has millions of bass in it I couldn't catch more than I did. It was just a bummer of a week. I had a good practice and high hopes and my best spot got sprayed. It's happened before to other guys, but I've never had it happen to me.

Luke Clausen

> Day 1: 5, 16-08
> Day 2: 5, 14-04
> Total = 10, 30-12 (42nd place)

In hindsight, I thought I was in an area where there were big ones and I went there to start on the first day, but the conditions weren't right so I had to scramble around to catch what I caught. I just didn't get any big bites other than a couple decent ones where I finished day 1.

I started there on day 2 and caught some fish, but nothing great. I probably should've run back to where I started day 1, but I didn't. I couldn't really get anything else going and the days get away from you pretty quick.

I fished some by myself and some around other boats. I got into an area on day 2 and I had nobody around me and then there was another spot that had some other boats, but then everybody left. I should've taken that as a sign that the fish weren't there but I tried to make something happen there. I think I fished a bit scared on day 2 because I was going after a big sack.

Practice – Recap
Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Jay Yelas
The more I fish in Florida the more I realize how little I understand Florida bass and what makes them do what they do and their migration habits. There are hardly any fish spawning and it's been 80 every day this week. There are a few on beds, but there should be a whole lot more. Because of that I don't think bed-fishing will be much of a factor.

The fishing has been good. I've talked to a lot of guys who are catching them good just fishing. I don't think the weights will be as good as 2011, but somewhere around 2012 or last year. To win, you'll need to have the best fishing of your life with a couple giants each day. There's no telling what it'll take to win. I think you'll see some huge bags.

It's all about area here. You can go into a lot of parts of the lake and grind, but when you get into a sweet spot, it's like being on a private farm pond. It's that easy.

There's always a flipping bite here, but it's better some years than others. There's a moving-bait bite and a swimbait bite so there's a lot of ways to catch them. The key is those giants. You need a 6- or 8-pounder every day to do well and several if you're going to contend for the win.

Luke Clausen
The last couple of days, I had one good day and one bad day. It's not like I caught a bunch of fish in any one place. It was really one here and one there and at the end of the day, I looked back and said, 'That would've been a pretty good stringer.' I didn't feel like I figured out a whole lot.

I think once the tournament starts and I beat around the areas where I caught one or two, hopefully it'll be better because we don't really spend a whole lot of time in those spots during practice. You just hope it's better once you spend some time in there during the tournament. That's when you learn what's really there.

Practice – Day 1
Monday, February 3, 2014

Jay Yelas
Everybody was anxious to get out on the lake. The weather's been pretty nice. It was a bit of a letdown that the fish weren't really getting with it like I'd hoped they would be. The tournament doesn't start for a few days and we're supposed to have highs in the 80s all week, so the bite is going to get better.

It was about like last year today. It wasn't anything outstanding. In 2011, we really killed them here, but the last 2 years, it's been off. I was going out looking for 2011, but it wasn't like that at all. We'll see what happens as the week progresses. The lake fished a lot like it did last year or 2012.

It remains to be seen what will transpire this week. The lake looks good. We're not supposed to get much wind this week so we should have a good tournament. It's exciting to be back on the water and get the season rolling.

The lake seemed kind of sleepy today. I didn't see any gators and none of the big fish are spawning. It was kind of slow on the Big O.

Luke Clausen
Yesterday was nothing spectacular. I caught a dozen or 15 fish all day and can't say I learned a lot. It seemed like everything I did, I would think to myself why am I doing this? I am thinking that things will change drastically over the next few days of this warming trend so what is going on now may not be so relevant. I am going to keep plugging away but I think when we launch Thursday it will be a different lake.