The Walmart Open at Beaver Lake was sort of like a marathon – most of the top finishers hit "the wall" this morning when their primary stuff just up and died, and they had to run (and fish) on guts alone in search of five keepers.
Ray Scheide flipped all week, but his bite changed every day. He caught 'em in bushes one day, "viney stuff" another day, willows yet another day, and somewhere else today.
He relocated fish in submerged trees in 8 to 10 feet of water this morning, then struck out in search of new areas to run the pattern. It wasn't easy – he said he averaged a keeper bite every hour and a half – but he slowly pieced together a 12-pound limit.
He lost several good fish yesterday and weighed just 9 pounds. On any other day, his 12-pound follow-up wouldn't have been enough. But Jason Christie – who led day 3
– left a giant door open today when he limped in with three keeper largemouths, which bumped him back to 4th. Scheide waltzed right through those doors and won the 2009 FLW Tour Walmart Open.
It marked Scheide's first tour-level win since his debut tournament at the Okeechobee FLW Tour in 2004. His $200,000 1st-place prize also marked the biggest payday of his career.
Mark Rose threatened for the win as Christie faded, but Rose's lack of a good spotted bass – something he'd gotten each morning – left him with 8-13 for the day and he ended 1-04 behind Scheide.
Clark Wendlandt made a big move today and improved from 10th to finish 3rd. On day 2 Wendlandt weighed the big bag of the event (15-04) and nearly replicated that today with 14-12. His undoing came yesterday, when the bait vacated his post-spawn points and he weighed four fish for 5 pounds. A limit yesterday might have given him enough to touch Scheide's final 21-01 weight.
Former TTT regular and Tour sophomore Keith Combs caught 10-10 today and improved four spots to finish 5th.
And Jay Yelas, who'd been on a solid largemouth bite up the river, just ran out of fish. He weighed 8-01 today (his bag included a few spots) and slipped one spot to finish 6th.
Scheide certainly showed that flipping can win on Beaver when the water's high, although several within the Top 10 were on a similar pattern. The difference, however, was Scheide's ability to change, and his move to the deeper trees today was critical.
Christie also flipped trees, but he worked one general area, whereas Scheide ran fresh water today.
And Rose's high finish proved that the shad spawn can produce difference-making spots, although it's often a fragile and unreliable bite that's subject to the elements (the wind hurt his morning bite today, for example).
And Wendlandt'd heroics are notable in that he dedicated himself to a post-spawn bite while so many others focused on spawning fish.
Scheide Shocked
In the final moments of the weigh-in, Christie had three fish on the scales and needed just one more largemouth to pass Scheide.
Christie reached into his bag, flopped it around for a minute, pulled it out and shook Scheide's hand.
Nobody seemed more surprised than Scheide.
"I was shocked – totally shocked," Scheide said. "I'm still in shock. I should have had 13 or 14 pounds yesterday, and I didn't think I could dig out of that hole. I just never thought that everybody would slip. And when Clark started (the weigh-in) with that big bag, I was thinking everybody did better today.
"I still can't believe Jason didn't catch them. He caught them all week. I guess these wins just jump up and bite you."
Ray Scheide says he was in shock when he won, and he's still in shock – he just can't believe Jason Christie didn't catch them today.
Scheide said this was the "biggest" win of his career – bigger than Okeechobee in his rookie Tour season – largely because he set himself The goal this season of win-or-bust. He elected not to focus on making the Forrest Wood Cup, and to instead gamble everything and hunt a win.
That mentality stung him at Norman when he finished 117th, but it paid off today.
"If it meant taking some risks and bombing one – I just wanted to win one," he said. "I guess I'll have to come up with a new goal now."
About his day today, he said: "It was a keeper bite every hour and a half. Once I got my first two bites, I figured out what they were on. I had to find the right area, then fish 30 of the trees in there to get bit. I ended up getting five keeper bites today and I caught every one.
"I moved back up in the points race (from 67th to 32nd)," he added. "This is a contract year for me – my sponsorships are up – and even though I've made several championships, the economic times are kind of tough and I need to keep performing. You need some bright moments. Hopefully this will solidify me."
He noted too that they money's a big help. He and his wife Michelle closed the storefront portion of their business this year and moved the remainder into their home. "We're fine, but this is a tremendous boost to our income," he said.
His primary flipping bait was a Berkley Chigger Craw. The full details of his winning pattern, plus pattern information for the other top finishers, will be posted soon.
2nd: Rose Okay With Finish
"You can't ever be upset with 2nd-place," Rose said. "I'll take 2nd in every tournament I fish. But I'd have loved to have won. I've never won a Tour event, and I've finished everywhere else inside the Top 10 you can. But Ray had a great day today, and I didn't. I'm not upset at all. I'm really not."
Rose worked a shad-spawn area he fished last year – the same spot Mark Pack fished last year when he won. Rose finished 40th last year, but said what made the difference this year was he stuck with the spot a little longer each morning and was able to catch quality spotted bass that helped his bag.
Rose says he's happy with 2nd – he'll take that finish every time – but he's also disappointed he didn't win.
After that, he went to flipping.
"I had a 2 1/2-pound smallmouth today, but every day I'd been having a couple of good fish (from that morning spot), or one big kicker. I'd been catching a limit of spots each morning, then culling two or three out flipping. But the wind just really defeated me today. I was catching the bigger (morning) fish on a topwater, and the wind really messed me up.
"It's like a two-edged sword," he added. "I'd have liked to win, but I'm happy with 2nd place."
3rd: Wendlandt Had Great Day
"It was close," Wendlandt said of his whopping 14-12 limit. "I'll tell you what – I had a great day. There was bait in my area. I saw a lot of shad there today, and I think that was the main key. It feels pretty good."
About his four-fish day yesterday, he said: "I may have made a few bad decisions toward the end of the day. I think if I stayed in the area I was fishing I probably would have caught another fish or two that might have been the difference. But you can't look back like that. It was a pretty darn good week."
As noted, he worked a full post-spawn bite, which turned out to be strong 2 of the 4 days. "All those guys flipping largemouths weren't getting that many bites either," he said. "And you either had to fish for largemouths or fish for spots. You couldn't really do both. Even Ray said he only got five keeper bites today, and Jason only had three. I think that's part of the nature of fishing for largemouths on Beaver Lake – it's hard to catch 15-inchers, even on a really good day."
4th: Christie Mixed
It's not often a pro carries a 2-pound lead into the final day at a tough fishery like Beaver. It's even less often that a Tour sophomore does it.
Christie just couldn't get the bites today to close it.
"I feel good about the finish," he said. "But you know, I'm disappointed too. But as I said last night, I was going to fish my way for largemouths today and if I get the bites, great. If I don't, I don't.
Clark Wendlandt had bait in his post-spawn area today, and he said that made all the difference.
"I could have left at 12:00 or 1:00 today and went and caught two Kentuckies, but if I did that, I would have been beat by ounces. I stayed with my gameplan. So it's a disappointment, but still, I'm satisfied with the way I fished. I fished the way I needed to to win. Ray won it that way. He was just fortunate enough today to get the big bites, and I wasn't.
"I was one big bite away from winning. All you can ask for is a chance. I had a chance – it just wasn't my day today."
6th: Yelas Ran Out
"I don't have any regrets," Yelas said. "I fished a good tournament. I just didn't have enough up that river to do any better than I did. It's really hard on Beaver to win up the river. I think it's only happened once – I think Rick Clunn won up there in 1999 at the Walmart Open.
"There just aren't that many bass up there. I thought I might get a few more good ones today, but I only got one keeper bite. I messed around near takeoff and caught some release fish – four little spotted bass – then went up the river and caught one 2 1/2-pounder."
Yelas also noted that, for this first time since he arrived, the water dropped a little overnight. He was catching fish in ultra-skinny water with a Berkley Gripper Flipping jig, but the skinny water was not only skinnier today – it was clearer too.
"I fished a little deeper but never could find then. It was just a tough deal."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 10 anglers, 6 limits (2 fewer than yesterday), 2 fours, 2 threes.
> Two years ago Yelas was the man to beat on day 4 at Beaver, but he only weighed three fish the final day. He said he remembered that feeling as he watched Christie weigh in today.
> Gabe Bolivar, who flipped, said of his 7th-place finish: "I'm happy. I did everything I could to catch them. Today I felt like the area I was fishing was out of fish, so I went to another area I hadn't fished since the second day of practice."
> Brent Ehrler, who finished 10th, still leads the FLW Tour Angler of the Year race. To view the updated standings, click here.
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Ray Scheide -- Dover, Ar -- 5, 8-13 -- 5, 12-04 -- 10, 21-01 -- $150,000 + $50,000
2. Mark Rose -- Marion, Ar -- 5, 11-00 -- 5, 8-13 -- 10, 19-13 -- $55,000
3. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, Tx -- 4, 5-00 -- 5, 14-12 -- 9, 19-12 -- $45,000
4. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, Ok -- 5, 12-15 -- 3, 5-12 -- 8, 18-11 -- $35,000
5. Keith Combs -- Del Rio, Tx -- 5, 6-04 -- 5, 10-10 -- 10, 16-14 -- $30,000
6. Jay Yelas -- Corvallis, Or -- 3, 8-03 -- 5, 8-01 -- 8, 16-04 -- $28,000
7. Gabe Bolivar -- Ramona, Ca -- 5, 9-15 -- 3, 6-02 -- 8, 16-01 -- $26,000
8. Glenn Browne -- Ocala, Fl -- 5, 7-03 -- 4, 6-07 -- 9, 13-10 -- $24,000
9. Rob Kilby -- Hot Springs, Ar -- 5, 6-07 -- 5, 6-15 -- 10, 13-06 -- $22,000
10. Brent Ehrler -- Redlands, Ca -- 5, 7-01 -- 3, 5-02 -- 8, 12-03 -- $20,000
