Tuning In With Fish Key To Clausen's Win

In just his second year as a tour-level angler, and his first year on the FLW Tour, Spokane, Wash.'s Luke Clausen scored the biggest payday anyone can get in bass fishing today. The $500,000 n cold hard cash that came with his FLW Tour Championship victory at Alabama's Logan Martin Lake is equivalent to about 10 years of tour expenses (less than that after taxes). Talk about financial security.

There's no doubt he earned his win, by beating a stable of fellow "young guns," wily vets and some of the world's best. Not only did he have some tough competition and serious mental pressure, he also had overcome a fickle bite and changing conditions. Here's how he did it.

Practice

In the first half of his 5-day practice, he targeted largemouths. Like most anglers, he thought they would be heavier than the lake's spotted bass, although in Alabama's Coosa River the spots are more like "spotzillas" when they're full grown.

He found a few largemouths, and then went looking for spots – and it was a good thing he did, as every day he targeted them he caught limits weighing in the neighborhood of 17 pounds.

"I was getting only 5-6 bites a day," he said, but they were heavier than the largemouths he found. "My practice was pretty good. Even though the bites were scattered and inconsistent, on 3 days when I (went after spots), I had that same kind of weight. I came into the tournament confident, but I thought that if I was catching them, so was everyone else."

Competition

Day 1: 5, 14-04 (best of the day)
Day 2: 5, 11-15 (10, 26-03, advanced past Shad Schenck's 18-02)
Day 3: 5, 14-03 (advanced to final day past Greg Hackney's 9-05)
Day 4: 5, 14-10

First Bracket

Clausen faced a last year's 5th-place finisher, Indiana's Shad Schenck, in the first bracket. Both anglers dealt well with the rising water and lack of current, and both started off hot. Clausen was hotter as he bagged the day's biggest limit (14-04). Schenck didn't give him much room, though, bringing in 13-14 to trail by only 6 ounces.

Heading out that day, Clausen was excited because he had his strong practice days in his mind. But when his catch fell short by several pounds from his practice weights, he got concerned.
"I was disappointed coming back to the weigh-in," he said. "Then when it was done and I was leading, I thought maybe (14 pounds) wasn't so bad after all." Good observation, as only 11 of 48 anglers weighed in double digits on day 1. And on a day when limits where precious, he caught 25 keepers to cull up to his 14-04.

On day 2 he faced overcast conditions that changed how the fish were positioned on the docks he was fishing. "Every day I found different kinds of dock situations," he said. "I had to fish new water for half of each day. I was fortunate to catch a couple fish early each day and get tuned in for the day."

That day he deeper docks, but he used the same G. Loomis dropshot rod and light line combination that worked the first day. "I wasn't dropshotting, but the rod was imperative to cast the light weight," he said. The jigheads he was using weighed just 1/8- and 1/16-ounce.

Early in the day he skipped a finesse worm way behind the docks into 2-3 feet of water. The bass would hit it on the fall. "Later on I would target the heart of the dock," he said. "That's where some serious battles took place on 8-pound line."

By the end of day 2 he'd culled through close to 20 keepers and netted an 11-15 limit, while Schenck crashed and burned with only 4-04. The result was that Schenck had 18-02 and Clausen had 26-03, which sent him to the second round of the bracket format.

In a sign of things to come, only nine anglers managed 20 pounds or better in total weight in the first round, and Clausen's sack was the heaviest.

Second Bracket

For the 1-day head-to-head match-up on Friday, Clausen faced the Hack Attack. Greg Hackney had squeaked by the first cut on a tiebreaker, but he was the best angler on both tours this year and everyone knew what he was capable of, including Clausen.

Also, Hackney's weights had improved from day 1 to day 2 while Clausen's had decreased. Last but not least, they had both been fishing the same general area on the first 2 days, so were on about the same quality of fish.

That day Clausen hit some of his better docks, including one that ended up producing four 3-pounders (two on one day) during the tournament. He again used the finesse worm, targeting docks in pockets and points adjacent to or just off the main lake.

"I fished mostly down the lake, but hit some places a couple miles up from the launch," he said. "I caught less fish on day 3, maybe 15, and was really worried that I would be a victim of the Hack Attack."

As he did all week, he spent the last half of the day fishing new water as he got tuned in to what kind of dock the fish would bite on. By understanding the movement of the fish, he ended the day with a limit of 14-03, the biggest of the day, and bested Hackney's 9-05 by a healthy 4-14.

Final Round

After surviving a 2-day tournament against Schenck and a 1-day tournament against Hackney, Clausen had just one more day to go. But this time he had to beat 11 anglers instead of just one. And that $500,000 was hanging out there to crank up the pressure even more. Was he nervous?

"I was a mess," he said. "I couldn't fish – my casting was horrible." It took him a couple of hours and some fish in the livewell to settle down. "I just stayed in good areas, and there was usually one dock in each section that I'd catch 3-4 fish off of every day. I just kept an open mind."

As he shook off the jitters and started listening to the fish again, he went to work putting together another successful day. He found that fish would bite on docks in the backs of cuts early and late, and midday they were more active on docks on the sides of points. He felt the deeper water on the steeper sides of the points was what drew the fish to them when the sun was high.

Whatever the reason, he was able to follow the fish and caught 10 keepers the last day, less than half the number he was able to catch earlier in the week. But it was enough. His 14-10 bested Scott Martin's 14-04 by a scant 6 ounces in a tense round-robin weigh-in that kept everyone, especially Clausen, on the edge of their seats.

He was understandably emotional about his win, and impressed with all the zeros following that big 5 on his check. "The $500,000 is awesome, but as cool as anything is that I led start to finish and won," he said. "I really understood (the fish) and found new places every day. It was incredible."

Notable

> Winning gear: 6' 10" G. Loomis DSR822 medium-power extra-fast-action dropshot rod, spinning reel (brand not revealed), 6- and 8-pound Sunline fluorocarbon, 1/8- and 1/16-ounce round jigheads, prototype Reaction Innovations finesse worm in green pumpkin.

> Main factor in his success – "I'd catch a few early and get tuned in for the day. I really understood the fish and just kept an open mind."