Wendlandt, Morehead Top Watch List For Beaver

What do you have to do to catch a decent bag in this pond? That's what many of the pros are scratching their heads about on Beaver Lake this week.

Practice has been tough the last few days. Fish were biting a crankbait and jerkbait well a week ago, but that kind of shut down on Saturday with the cold front. Now they'll hit a shaky-head finesse worm, but the active fish are mostly spots and mostly small. Four skinny spots will need a 3- or 4-pound companion to reach the 10-pound limit mark that most anglers believe will be needed each day to make the Top 10 cut.

Last year Dan Morehead made it look easy, sacking double-digit limits every day. He took the lead on day 3 and the win the next day, relying almost exclusively on a crankbait. Most of the top finishers used a mix of crankbaits, jerkbaits and worms. Crankbaits early, and jigs or worms later, was the one-two combination that cashed a lot of checks.

Not Like Last Year – Yet

Local pro Carl Svebek did well on Friday with a crankbait, but "it's been downhill since," he said. "I caught several 3-pounders on Friday and a spot about 2 1/2-pounds, so I had about an 11-12 pound limit. That's pretty good here," he noted, "but it's a tough bite now for largemouth. You can get a limit of spots fairly easily, but they don't weigh but 5 1/2 pounds."

Svebek isn't the only one struggling. "Last year they caught them pretty good, and the lake looks real similar to last year," Clark Wendlandt said. "I caught them pretty good a couple of days so far (out of 4), but there's no rhyme or reason to it. That's bad in a tournament, since you can't count on them. I don't know how to catch those big largemouths right now. If it doesn't fish tougher than last year (for everybody), then I'm in big trouble."

Second-year Tennessee pro Russ Moran was in 1st on days 1-2 last year, and slipped to 3rd on day 3 and finished in 3rd. This year he was struggling along with everybody else – until today. "Up until today I didn't feel real good, but today I got some good bites," he said. "I think the fish are behind where they were last year, but I think today they started to come up. The crankbait pattern hasn't been paying off, but I got some pretty good fish on a jig and shaky-head worm this afternoon."

> Practice has been so inconsistent that Wendlandt noted: "The guys who just came in from (the Bassmaster event in) South Carolina might actually have an advantage, just going fishing."

History Not Helpful

In the financial world, past performance is not a guarantee of future results. The same is true in bass fishing. This is the seventh time the FLW tour has made a stop at Beaver, so some of the better-producing areas are fairly well known. The difference is that the last 2 years the Tour has arrived at Beaver earlier than in years past.

Svebek lives nearby and has done well before, but is puzzled right now. "I was talking to Clark Wendlandt and Mike Surman, and we thought it would be a no-brainer – just crank the points. But the fish are proving us wrong.

"I don't think experience will help me a lot, except maybe (knowing) some areas. I know they live there, but I just haven't figured out how to make them bite," he said. "Most of the times I've done well it's been later in the year, fishing shallow with a Gambler Sweebo worm, but the water is too cold now."

Moran thinks that experience on highland reservoirs will be helpful. "It makes a lot of difference," he said. "I have confidence fishing deep, clear, rocky places like this."

He checked upriver and it looks good, but he saw a lot of boats and didn’t get many bites. "I feel better in the middle of the lake, where I did well last year. Not the exact spots, but the general area. I got a 3 1/2-pound smallmouth today and I'll make a stop (on that spot) tomorrow. I think some good fish will be caught."

Key Factors and Techniques

The low and cold water combined with a cold front seems to be shutting down the largemouth bite. That's trouble for anyone who'd planned to rely on last year's crankbait pattern. "I don't know what to do for a decent largemouths except cranking, but that's just me," Svebek said. "Last year I got them on a Wiggle Wart and a Shad Rap, but not now. The deepwater jerkbait might be a good way to catch them, but I'm not a real expert at that. I'll probably try a crankbait early and cover a lot of water. If that doesn't work I'll resort to the shaky-head worm to try to salvage something."

Wendlandt is in the same boat, noting that "you'll have to be ready to change with the conditions and the fish. It will be a different deal every day. I'm not sure yet if it will turn into a crankbait deal or not. But I think some of the guys will have a chance to do well on spots and smallmouth, fishing deep. I just have that feeling."

Regardless of the technique used, Moran feels that wind is extremely important to doing well. "For some reason in this place you need a north wind," he noted. "The worst thing would be if we had a mirror pond." He agrees with the others that "in spring you just have to fish by the seat of your pants. You can't just put the trolling motor down and go to whacking on them."

A few other notable items:

> Another thing that may be affecting the bite is that the lake is receiving a lot of pressure and is crowded.

> Svebek: "It's not a problem to get a limit of spots. I'm getting 25-30 bites a day but less than half will measure." He said there's no way to target bigger spots, though, since the 2-pounders are mixed in with the dinks.

> Wendlandt: "The fish were real pre-spawn last year. This year it's warmer and they're more spread out."

So the crankbait bite was on, then off, and now it may be turning on again. The shaky-head finesse worm and finesse jig bites seem to be working, but not many big fish are falling for it. Bites are cheap, but only half are keepers, and fish over 3 pounds are rare. So far no one is admitting to knowing what to do to catch the bigger fish reliably. Sounds just like Beaver.

Top 10 To Watch

With that to go on, here are BassFan's Top 10 to Watch at this event (in no particular order):

1) Shinichi Fukae – Excellent dropshot fisherman in deeper water, and has shown talent for skinny-water fishing in the first two FLW Tour events. Expect him to work on rebuilding his momentum after a stall at Old Hickory. Currently 2nd in the BassFan.com Rookie of the Year Race race.

2) Aaron Martens – As a master of deep dropshotting and a great sight fisherman (sounds like a morning-afternoon routine), he should be able to round them up. He was 5th here last year too. But will 2 1/2 days of practice be enough for a guy who likes 5 or more?

3) Dan Morehead – Won here last year and finished 2nd at last week's Central EverStart so has some momentum, though limited practice time.

4) Tom Monsoor – It might be time for the Swimming Jig he developed and which worked so well at Atchafalaya to rack up a few pre-spawn roamers.

5) Russ Moran – Was 3rd here last year, and led the first 2 days. Said he feels like the fish are turning on and he knows how to catch some.

6) Dean Rojas – Leading the FLW points and was 5th here the last time he fished Beaver (2002), but also had limited practice time thanks to doing well at last week's Santee Cooper Bassmaster.

7) Clark Wendlandt – Likes the lake and why not? He's won here twice, and has had two other Top 10s. He'll figure out what to do.

8) Greg Hackney – On fire, three Top 10s (four Top 20s) in the last three events he fished, 6th in the FLW points and ranked 4th in the world.

9) Kelly Jordon – On a roll after winning the Bassmaster Santee-Cooper event on Sunday and is the best angler in the world again. Had less than 2 days practice here, but is a great "seat of the pants" fisherman.

10) Carl Svebek – Two Top 10s here and considers Beaver to be his home lake. Did well last year in similar conditions, and is 19th in the FLW AOY points.

Others To Watch

> Glenn Browne – A rookie, but fishing well. He's leading the BassFan Rookie of the Year Race and is 2nd in the FLW points.

> Mark Pack – Has a 6th and a 4th here, and just won the Central EverStart on Pickwick/Wilson, giving him some momentum and confidence. Maybe the Carolina rig will work for him at Beaver too.

> David Fritts – Robbed at Eufaula (hit spot was poached by locals), has a shot at another good finish here. Also good with a jig, so there's that one-two combination.

> Rick Clunn – A crankbait tournament? Count him in. He placed 7th last year.

> Troy Eakins – Likes a jig bite in a low-weight tournament.

> David Walker – Seems to be dialed in on Beaver, with a Top 10, two Top 20s, and no less than a 59th place finish over 6 events here. He's also 12th in the FLW points.

> Randy Blaukat – Comfortable fishing an Ozarks lake, and fishing well at 16th in the FLW AOY points.

> Dave Lefebre – Won the Old Hickory event convincingly, and is 3rd in the FLW AOY points.

> Andre Moore – Won here when the sight-fishing bite was on in 2002.

> Western guys – Beaver is deep, clear and tough. Sounds like a western lake.

Notable

> Find out what Larry Nixon has been doing (and Rick Clunn too) by clicking here to go On Tour With Larry Nixon/Stratos Boats.

> John Murray, Paul Elias and Bill McDonald all have a little something found that they'll try tomorrow. Click here to go On Tour With the BassFan Army reps (including co-angler Chris Koester) to read about it.

> Bassmaster Angler of the Year Gerald Swindle has fished the FLW Tour, but so far hasn't this year. Too bad. It would be nice to see his seat-of-the-pants fishing style on Beaver.

> Weigh-in starts today at 3 p.m. CST at the Prairie Creek Marina.