By BassFan Staff
David Dudley stood on stage at the John Q. Hammons Center this afternoon with every eye in the arena trained on him and for a few moments, the Beaver Lake bass in the black bag on the table in front of him didn’t matter one bit. The bright lights and strobes and cameras -- none of them mattered.
The show stopped.
Because the man from Lynchburg, Va., one of five kids himself and father of five, was hurting.
He eloquently told the assembled crowd, the vast majority of whom were total strangers, that his 95-year-old grandmother Grace Dudley, could be drawing her final breaths at any moment in a Virginia hospital, that she hadn’t eaten or drank anything in 9 days because her body was rejecting IV fluids. He held his emotions together, but he was clearly shaken.
Then, the show resumed.
Dudley later talked about his lack of interest in anything other than winning when it comes to competition, especially on the water. And as Dudley has done in the past, he delivered in dramatic fashion, weighing a stout 16-09 limit to finish with 54-07 and claim his fourth FLW Tour title.
“This win ranks at the top of all of them,” he said, “for the simple fact that my grandmother has survived 9 days without food or water because I really believe she thought I was going to win. I asked her to pray for me and she’s still alive. How she did it, I don’t know. This is number one of all-time.”
Andy Morgan caught 17-08 today to finish 2nd with 53-15, clinching his seventh career Top-5 finish in a Tour Major. Luke Clausen, the day-2 leader who launched in 2nd place today, wound up 3rd thanks to a 12-00 limit that gave him 53-09.
A 10-08 limit pushed day-3 leader Scott Canterbury down to 4th with 52-13 while Glenn Browne remained steady, catching 12-14 to close with 51-14 in 5th.
Here's a look at the final totals for the 10 pros who competed today:
1. David Dudley: 54-07
2. Andy Morgan: 53-15
3. Luke Clausen: 53-09
4. Scott Canterbury: 52-13
5. Glenn Browne: 51-14
6. Jay Yelas: 50-05
7. Charlie Evans: 46-10
8. Jacob Powroznik: 45-14
9. Kelley Jaye: 40-02
10. Brad Rightnour: 38-12
The gameplan for a lot of anglers at Beaver was simple: There were no gameplans. A number of pros said that memories of previous Beaver tournaments made it hard to commit to new water and techniques this week, but the conditions dictated exactly that. The fish were so scattered earlier in the week that limits could be had doing any number of things from flipping and cranking to throwing finesse worms and spinnerbaits.
And while the fishing world will never forget the coming out party for the Alabama Rig at last year’s Lake Guntersville FLW Tour Open, the last two FLW Tour Majors – both held at Ozark Mountain lakes on the White River system – have served notice that the umbrella rig is here to stay. Among the Top 5, all but Browne caught a significant amount of their weigh fish on some variation of the umbrella rig.
If anything, this week proved that future events at Beaver won’t be the dinkfests seen in the past. After several years of high-water conditions, it appears a series of healthy spawns have replenished the largemouth population to the point that limits of largemouths were almost the norm this week. And with the number of 14-inch fish that were caught this week, several anglers remarked the future certainly looks bright.
Dudley's win pushed him into 7th place in the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings, but the top spot now belongs to Jason Christie, who finished 21st, giving him 549 points at the halfway mark of the Tour Major schedule. On the strength of his finish this week, Jacob Powroznik moved up to 2nd with 529 points, one more than Troy Morrow, who sits 3rd. Anthony Gagliardi, the leader coming into Beaver Lake, dropped to 11th, while Dan Morehead plummeted from 2nd to 35th.
The Tour will take a 3-week break before the next Major is held at the Potomac River on May 17-20. Clausen won the Tour Open event held there last year with a weight of 69-14.
Afternoon Flurry Carried Dudley To Win
> Day 4: 5, 16-09 (20, 54-07)
Dudley, whose last Tour Major win came in 2008 at Fort Loudon & Tellico Lakes, last spoke with his grandmother the day before he left for practice at Beaver, and he knows she was with him in spirit on the water.
“She’s an inspiration,” he said. “She’s a fighter. Her fight to stay alive for 9 days knowing she could’ve given up inspired me to come back for this win.”
And some comeback it was.
He started the day 4 1/2 pounds behind Canterbury, but had made steady jumps up the leaderboard each day. By 1 p.m. today, he had a solid box of fish in the 13-pound range, including a largemouth that nearly knocked him out of his boat.
Andy Morgan's 17-08 bag was the best of day, but it wasn't enough to overtake Dudley.
The fish took his wacky worm and wrapped itself around the limb of a tree a couple feet below the surface. Dudley attempted to net the fish, but was fearful he’d hit the hook and break the fish off. So he dropped his rod, tossed aside his hat and sunglasses, grabbed the line and went head and shoulders under water off the bow. He was able to snap the limb off and cradle the fish into the boat.
“I only had four fish in the boat at the time,” he said. “When that one bit, it felt pretty good and it was. The only option was to break the limb off to get the fish freed. I just went down as far as I could to break that limb off and I got her.”
Over the next 2 hours, he went on a remarkable flurry and culled all but one fish to get to his victory-clinching weight.
“It was one of the best runs I’ve ever been on in my life,” he said. “Every choice I made was a good one.”
He wound up weighing one fish caught on the umbrella rig while the other four were caught via the wacky rig. He now has two straight Top-10s at Beaver, a lake he’s always been high on.
“My perception of Beaver has always been positive,” he said. “I’ve always bragged on this lake. Everyone wants to go to big-fish lakes like Falcon. I love Beaver. You get lots of bites. It’s fun. Fishing, to me, is about tricking a bass into biting. Whether it’s a 10-inch bass or a 12-pounder, my thrill is still the same. I enjoy tricking bass. You get a lot of bites here. This is a great lake.”
Full details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be published soon.
2nd: Morgan Connected On Big Ones
> Day 4: 5, 17-08 (20, 53-15)
Morgan can empathize with what Dudley is going through. His grandmother passed away last November during the Guntersville FLW Tour Open.
“I know what that feels like,” he said. “It does hit home, that’s for sure.”
While he’s no stranger to fishing the final day (he now has 21 career Top-10s in FLW Tour events), he still wanted badly to register his second win at Beaver.
“You’re always disappointed when you fall a little short, but it’s bass fishing,” he said. “You lose more than you win, that’s for sure. You get used to disappointment, but when you get that close and don’t have that many opportunities to win events, it does leave a little bit of a sour taste in your mouth.”
The difference for him today was that he simply got a couple big bites while throwing an umbrella rig.
“After Canterbury caught (almost) 20 pounds yesterday, I was wondering why I wasn’t getting any big bites,” he said. “I was catching at least three limits in a day, why couldn’t I catch a couple 5-pounders?
“I covered as much water as I could and worked the conditions and it worked out.”
4th: Canterbury Couldn’t Entice Big Ones
> Day 4: 5, 10-08 (20, 52-13)
The fishing this week played to Canterbury’s strengths -- junk fishing, covering loads of water.
“It’s the way I grew up fishing,” he said.
If only some of his fish hadn’t moved on him overnight, he may have been able to lock down his first career Tour win.
“I caught almost 20 yesterday so I tried to do the same thing today,” he said. “I ran some new water and tried to make it happen. I bet I caught 30 fish, but I never got the right bites. I had a couple that didn’t commit and couple that bit right at the boat. I did everything I could do and tried as hard as I could. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
He had an early limit, but other competitors fishing the same general area weren’t seeing results and either left or changed their approach. He stayed, hopeful he’d run into a couple more big bites again.
Switching to a topwater program this afternoon was crucial for Glenn Browne.
“I tried to mix it up as much as I could,” he added. “I was catching fish off of transition banks and I thought I was doing pretty good. The fish had just moved a little bit and the water had cleared up where I was fishing. I tried to stick with how I caught those big ones yesterday, but I couldn’t make it happen today.”
5th: Morning Slow For Browne
> Day 4: 5, 12-14 (20, 51-14)
Other than a lost fish on day 2 that he thinks may have moved him up a spot in the standings, Brown will gladly take the 5th-place finish and AOY points that go along with it. He now sits in 6th in the points, just 26 points back of Christie.
“I’m a little disappointed,” he said. “I’m happy I finished 5th. It’s a great finish. You’d never think you’d come in with 13 pounds on Beaver and lose ground. That’s just unheard of. I knew it was a long shot to win. I had to have a spectacular day. All in all, it was a good tournament.”
He had a terrible morning and by noon still had no fish in the boat. He ran to some new water and changed to a topwater bait and lit them up in the afternoon.
“Once I changed I really started catching them because I was struggling bad around 11:30 or noon,” he added.
6th: Yelas Bummed
> Day 4: 5, 14-00 (20, 50-05)
Jay Yelas never dropped below 7th in the standings this week, but he just couldn’t mine the bites that would’ve pushed him closer to the top.
“It was frustrating to be 4 pounds away when it was all said and done,” he said.
He spent his day throwing a Heddon Super Spook and caugh 30 fish, including 10 keepers.
He now has two 6th-place finishes sandwiched around a 66th at Table Rock in the three Tour Majors, good enough for 5th in the AOY standings.
“I haven’t thought about it,” he said. “I take it one day at a time. I don’t think about that stuff until the last tournament of the year. Right now, I’m just focused on getting ready for the Potomac.”
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 10 anglers, 8 limits, 1 four, 1 two.
> Yelas checked in with his tournament recap. To check out the BassFan Big Stick's thoughts on his Top-10 finish, click here.
Final Standings
1. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 12-05 (5) -- 11-12 (5) -- 13-13 (5) -- 16-09 (5) -- 54-07 (20) -- $125,000
2. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, Tn -- 11-03 (5) -- 13-09 (5) -- 11-11 (5) -- 17-08 (5) -- 53-15 (20) -- $35,000
3. Luke Clausen -- Spokane, Wa -- 13-09 (5) -- 13-11 (5) -- 14-05 (5) -- 12-00 (5) -- 53-09 (20) -- $30,000
4. Scott Canterbury -- Springville, Al -- 14-05 (5) -- 8-05 (5) -- 19-11 (5) -- 10-08 (5) -- 52-13 (20) -- $25,000
5. Glenn Browne -- Ocala, Fl -- 14-08 (5) -- 11-09 (5) -- 12-15 (5) -- 12-14 (5) -- 51-14 (20) -- $20,000
6. Jay Yelas -- Corvallis, Or -- 14-03 (5) -- 12-02 (5) -- 10-00 (5) -- 14-00 (5) -- 50-05 (20) -- $17,000
7. Charlie Evans -- Gilbertsville, Ky -- 12-12 (5) -- 12-08 (5) -- 10-03 (5) -- 11-03 (5) -- 46-10 (20) -- $16,000
8. Jacob Powroznik -- Prince George, Va -- 14-11 (5) -- 9-02 (5) -- 10-09 (5) -- 11-08 (5) -- 45-14 (20) -- $15,000
9. Kelley Jaye -- Dadeville, Al -- 10-05 (5) -- 14-15 (5) -- 10-04 (5) -- 4-10 (4) -- 40-02 (19) -- $14,000
10. Brad Rightnour -- Mingoville, Pa -- 12-04 (5) -- 12-13 (5) -- 9-07 (5) -- 4-04 (2) -- 38-12 (17) -- $13,000
