Beaver Lake FLW Tour

Jay Yelas

> Day 1: 5, 9-09
> Day 2: 5, 9-02
> Total = 10, 18-11 (52nd place)

I grinded away – it was tough here at Beaver this week. I caught 9 pounds each day and I fished a different area today than I did yesterday. I caught five keepers each day.

This is such a tough lake and you can't go back to where you were the day before because there usually aren't any more fish – there's just so few in this pond. Today I had a limit in a couple hours and I had a 5 o'clock weigh-in, and I fished the rest of the day and never caught another keeper. That just blew my mind.

I caught all my fish in 1 to 2 feet of water from buck brush pitching a Yamamoto Flappin' Hog on a Kistler flipping stick with a Team Lew's Lite baitcaster. I was covering as much water as I could. On day 1 I did catch a couple of topwater fish on a (Zara) Spook. I never did look for any on beds and that might've helped me a little bit if I had. Most of the good fish I heard about were caught off beds and it's really, really hard to catch one over 2 1/2 pounds here just fishing.

I haven't made the (Top 20) cut here the last three times and I've kind of lost track of exactly what to do. I've caught enough to get in the money each time, but not enough to get to where I want to be. That's a little frustrating, but Beaver's real frustrating for a lot of guys.

I survived and got a check, and now it's time to go home and watch some more softball.

Luke Clausen

> Day 1: 5, 12-09
> Day 2: 5, 10-02
> Total = 10, 22-12 (22nd place)

If you'd told me going in that I was going to finish where I did, I'd have been all right with it because my practice wasn't all that great, but it's tough to come that close to the cut and not make it.

Day 1 was a good day of catching fish – I caught about 20 keeper largemouths plus some spots – but there just wasn't a lot of size. Most of them were 15 1/2 inches.

I was flipping and pitching an worm and a jig as deep as 20 feet to all the way up on the beds. I fished from 10 miles down to 5 miles up from Prairie Creek and I caught a few off the beds, but mostly I just kept running new water and fishing everything that looked good. I caught some on a Megabass Vision 110 (jerkbait) and a shaky-head with a Z-Man ZinkerZ worm.

Everywhere I went I caught fish, but quality was the biggest problem.

> Day 1: I didn't fish the whole day because I got here a little later after the (Alabama River Bassmaster Southern Open), but the water looks a little bit clearer than normal. There's a tremendous amount of fish up (to spawn), but I haven't seen any of the good ones.

I saw a lot of non-keepers – 12-inch fish – and just a couple decent ones. I've seen both spotted bass and largemouths, but no smallmouths yet. They must be around somewhere. Sight-fishing will definitely play a big role.

I caught some just fishing, but they were the same size as the ones I've been seeing. I maybe could've had 9 pounds.

I even saw them on beds right next to the ramp. The deal will be figuring out where to find the better ones and then getting to them first.

> Practice recap – My practice was unimpressive and I'm not real excited about things. I caught some good ones, but they were pretty random and I don't think I've got a lot going on with it. I don't have super-high hopes, but we'll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow.

There's a lot of bed-fish, but the quality's hard to come by with those. Some guys think a lot of the fish are done spawning and some think they haven't come yet. Judging by the lack of females, I'm thinking it hasn't happened.

The spotted bass here are normally a dime a dozen. I've caught some, but (the quality specimens) aren't nearly as prevalent.

It's going to be all about the decisions guys make tomorrow. We had pretty good conditions in practice and it didn't show us many fish. We'll have to see how much things change with the overcast skies and the front and it getting a little cooler. Nobody really knows.

> Practice recap – It's a little slower than I thought it would be as far as catching quality fish – the big ones are as hard to come by as I've seen at Beaver in a long time. I only got one bite over 2 pounds in 2 days, and that was like a 2 1/2-pounder. I caught a lot of fish, but the big ones were pretty scarce.

I think a guy who can catch a limit of largemouths with a kicker each day will be right there in the hunt. There are so many fish on beds that sight-fishing might be a pretty big factor. I haven't been looking on beds, I've just been fishing. The water's up and there's lots of cover and you can flip and pitch a lot of stuff. There's not a topwater bite yet and the crankbait bite's not really on. I think it's going to be more of a Senko/soft-plastic deal.

You might have to go through a lot of fish to get a few of the right size. I haven't figured out a technique that I can use to specifically target big fish. I'll probably have to catch a pile of little ones and hope I get some keepers mixed in.

It's not hard to catch 9 pounds a day, and 12 a day will probably make the cut. It's typical Beaver in that regard – the big ones make all the difference. It'll happen for some guys, but it'll probably be random. You've just got to go fishing.

I've been more excited for tournaments in the past for this one, that's for sure. It's going to be a grind and you have to just hope you make the right cast to catch a 5-pounder.

The weights have been creeping up here the last several years, but those events were more in the pre-spawn. This one's right in the middle of the spawn and no one seems to be able to find the big ones. It won't take 15 pounds a day to win.