The Leader in Pro Bass Fishing News!
Facebook Twitter

Lake Hartwell FLW Tour

Competition Recap
Friday, March 7, 2014

BassFan
Photo: BassFan

Jay Yelas

> Day 1: 5, 10-06
> Day 2: 5, 9-06
> Total = 10, 19-12 (55th place)

It was disappointing, for sure. I usually do better here, but I really struggled to find the big fish. I caught lots of fish, but I had to resort to a Senko and a shaky-head to do it. I couldn't catch them on the crankbait as well as I'd hoped to. There wasn't much of a flipping bite or anything like that so I had to scrounge around and catch what I could.

It's frustrating because I still don't know where I went wrong as far as quality. The weights really fell off (on day 2) and it was one of those deals where if I could've caught a couple big fish I could've made the cut. That just never materialized.

I don't have any regrets – the place I was in holds quality fish and I didn't have any pressure from other anglers and I didn't lose any. I'll just lick my wounds and hope to get them at Rayburn in a couple weeks.

I threw the 5-inch Senko on the shaky-head. I caught some nice fish in practice on the new Yamamoto Chikara 200 square-bill, but I didn't get any over 2 pounds in the tournament.

BassFan
Photo: Megabass USA

Luke Clausen

> Day 1: 5, 10-03
> Day 2: 5, 8-04
> Total = 10, 18-07 (68th place)

Going back and looking at tournaments like this where I didn't do as well as I'd hoped to, I always end up wishing I'd practiced differently. I think I felt like I knew too much abou this place and I thought the shallow bite was going to dissipate when it got cold, so I fished deeper. The problem was that most of those deep fish disappeared and I struggled to find them during the event.

I had a decent practice – I didn't set the world on fire, but I thought I could catch 13 to 15 pounds a day. My plan really just crumbled on me. A lot of places where I thought I had good schools pinned down, there were virtually none. I wish I'd been more versatile and fished some shallow stuff and figured out how to catch some up there. Overall, I'm pretty disappointed with my approach.


Practice Recap
Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Jay Yelas
I probably had more bites on my last practice day, but they weren't as big. All in all, though, I thought it was okay. I feel like I'm set up to have a good tournament if I can get a couple of breaks and catch a couple big ones.

I'm going to fish shallow and try to make that first cut because I think it'll get better with those 70-degree days coming on the weekend. We're supposed to get maybe an inch of rain tomorrow and that might muddy things up for Friday, but it should warm up for the weekend. I think I'll have a good opportunity there, but I've got to catch them on the first 2 days to make it to the last 2.

I had a real good practice at Okeechobee, but then my stuff got sprayed on the off day. If there's nobody out there spraying, I should be in for a decent tournament.

Luke Clausen
The last day of practice got better for me, but I'm still not real confident. I don't really feel like I have a solid chance to win – I feel like I'm just fishing for a check. That's not really the way you want to feel going into a tournament, but it's better than the alternative of having nothing at all.

I've got a long day tomorrow and I'll go out and try to build on what I've found so far. Maybe I can figure out a way to parlay into something better than what I'm on now.


Mid-Practice Report
Monday, March 3, 2014

BassFan
Photo: BassFan

Luke Clausen
It's cold and I think things might change quite a bit, but I'd say right now that it's a lot worse than the last two times I've been here. Getting bites isn't easy in terms of quantity or quality. Before it's been really easy to catch fish, but it's not that easy right now. I don't know if the weights will end up being that much less, but there might be a little more disparity between the Top 12 and the guys just trying to catch something.

When we got here it was warmer, but there still weren't that many fish up (shallow). There were some, but not as many as I'd anticipated – I thought there'd be a lot more around the banks. I've caught them as deep as 50 feet so far.

It didn't start getting cold today until 1 o'clock, so the big change is probably going to come tomorrow. That could tell how much the conditions are going to change things for better or for worse. I'm afraid it's going to stay about the same, but it may get worse. It's not real great right now.

BassFan
Photo: BassFan

Jay Yelas
The fishing's tougher than it usually is, but they're still biting if you do the right thing. This lake's got a lot fish. This might be a different tournament than the others we've had here because the fish are in a different stage. I think it's a little colder than it normally is by now and they're still doing their late-winter thing.

I did better today than I did yesterday – I got on a little pattern that was working – but I still need one more day to look around. The shallow fishing has been slow and I wouldn't be surprised if it was won deep because the fish just seem to be behind. There's so many deep fish in this lake that that'll probably be the ticket.

I think the weights might be down a little this time, but not too much. It's the same old Hartwell in a lot of ways. We've got 3 more days when the water temperature won't be rising, but by the weekend it might be coming up some.

Latest News

Video You May Like