Auten leads top 10 pros into finals on Lake Champlain
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Although Jay Yelas didn’t have a banner day on the water, when all was said and done, his 12-pound, 5-ounce catch was still good enough to wrest the 2002 FLW Angler of the Year title away from legendary angler Kevin VanDam. Yelas, who found himself 28 points behind VanDam in the race for the title coming into the Lake Champlain tournament, mounted a late charge in yesterday’s competition, and ultimately put himself in the driver’s seat – needing only a 16th-place finish in today’s weigh-in to win the title. In the end, Yelas came through with a 10th-place finish to earn the prestigious award as well as a berth in the final round of competition.
Yelas, who received a standing ovation for his effort, said he was still in a state of disbelief.
“I didn’t think I had a chance to win the title so I was able to relax for at least the first two days. It was Kevin VanDam’s title to win or lose,” said Yelas. “I considered myself a real longshot coming into this tournament, but Kevin just happened to stumble. Usually, Kevin fishes better as a tournament goes along. I guess it was just my turn to win this. I’ve had a lot of fun this week. It feels great.”
However, Yelas acknowledged that his nerves finally started to get to him today.
“I had all of the pressure in the world on me today,” he said. “I really had a tough day, and I honestly didn’t think I was going to make the cut. I thought I choked. The wind was blowing like crazy, and I didn’t have a fish for the first couple of hours. It was a grind all day long.”
But like all great anglers, he never gave up.
“I only had about 10 pounds of fish in the boat with about 5 minutes to go,” he said. “Then I threw out this tube and caught my biggest fish of the day. That saved me. Talk about perseverance.”
Whether it was perseverance, expert fishing knowledge or a relentless desire to be the best, the end result was the same – Jay Yelas is now the 2002 Angler of the Year.
Auten heads into finals in first place
With household names like Rick Clunn, Dean Rojas, David Dudley, Scott Martin, Jay Yelas and Tommy Biffle qualifying for finals, bass-fishing novices could be excused for asking one simple question: Who the heck is Todd Auten? Well, as it turns out, Auten is a relatively unknown angler fishing in his first FLW tournament in five years. Oh, and by the way, he’s also now leading the $1 million FLW Tour event on Lake Champlain.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. I know all of these guys are the best, but it feels really good to be here right now,” said Auten. “If I finish in first place or 10th place, I’ll be happy. I’m building a house right now, so every penny counts. I was just hoping I’d make the cut.”
Now that he has become one of the most unlikely FLW finalists in recent memory, Auten said he has nothing to lose in tomorrow’s competition.
“I’m just going to do everything I know how to do tomorrow,” said Auten, a resident of Lake Wylie, S.C. “I haven’t been saving any of my fish, so I’m just going to fish everything as hard as I can for the rest of the tournament. I’m probably going to move around a lot. I have some spots in the north and the south of the lake. But the key is whether or not I can get the big bites.”
Auten said that he has been fishing jerkbaits near rocky banks with sandy bottoms in about 4 to 5 feet of water to land the majority of his catch.
“I think I can catch a good limit tomorrow, but we’ll have to see,” he said.
Newby nabs second place
Sam Newby of Pocola, Okla., used a 16-pound, 4-ounce catch to claim the second qualifying position heading into tomorrow’s finals.
“This is awesome,” said Newby. “This is the first time I’ve ever fished north of Missouri. I’ve just had the greatest time.”
Newby, who was in contention for the Angler-of-the-Year title until late this season, said he has been targeting a combination of smallmouth and largemouth bass throughout the four-day tournament.
“I’ve got one area where I’ve caught all of my good fish out of this entire week,” he said. “Basically, I’ve been fishing for smallmouth early in the morning, and then around 10 a.m., I start going after largemouth bass. My spot is good enough that it doesn’t matter if the wind blows or not. But if my spot doesn’t hold up tomorrow, I have another place where I can run to, where I know there are at least two fish that weigh about 5 pounds each.”
Newby, who is using jigs and jerkbaits to land his catch, said he has nothing to lose in tomorrow’s competition.
“I’m just going to go out there and go fishing tomorrow,” he said. “There’s no pressure.”
Best of the rest
Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., finished the day in third place after recording a 15-pound, 15-ounce catch. And he couldn’t have been happier.
“It’s been more than two years since I last made the finals, so it feels pretty good to be here. It was getting to the point that I didn’t think I’d ever get here again,” he said. “But I have to be honest, now that I’m here, I’m not going to be happy with 10th place. I need to do well tomorrow to have this be a successful tournament for me.”
Dean Rojas of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., finished the day in fourth place with a catch of 15 pounds, 7 ounces.
“It’s been a really good week,” said Rojas. “I found some good spots today, and I feel pretty comfortable. It’s going to be very, very interesting to see what happens tomorrow.”
Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., finished the day in fifth place with a catch of 14 pounds, 11 ounces.
Rounding out the top 10 finalists were Mark Hardin (sixth) of Canton, Ga., with a catch of 13 pounds, 13 ounces; Rick Clunn (seventh) of Ava, Mo., with a catch of 13 pounds, 12 ounces; David Dudley (eighth) of Manteo, N.C., with a catch of 13 pounds, 12 ounces; Scott Martin (ninth) of Clewiston, Fla., with a catch of 13 pounds, 7 ounces; and Jay Yelas (10th) of Tyler, Texas, with a catch of 12 pounds, 5 ounces.
Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 5:30 a.m. at Mooney Bay Marina, located at 15 Mooney Bay, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Related links:
Quick Bites: Forrest Wood Open, Day 3
Photos
Results
Results of day-three pairings
Press release