Pro Picks: Beaver Lake

Tournament site

Welcome back to Beaver Lake. This deep, clear, scenic impoundment in the Arkansas Ozarks has been the site of the annual Wal-Mart Open for nine years straight. It’s familiar territory on tour, and the biggest question each year is, sight-fishing or not? This year, apparently not. The water’s still too cold for the spawn, so expect the pros with strong prespawn patterns to do well. Jigs and finesse baits often play a key role – as has been the case for the winners the last few years – and we might see a strong crankbait contender or two this year. And keep your eye on those who excel at catching spotted bass, which is always a factor at Beaver. Whatever the case, there are definitely patterns of success exhibited by certain pros at this lake, so a glance at past results here won’t hurt your picks.

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Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop No. 4
Wal-Mart Open
Beaver Lake, Rogers, Ark.
April 5-8

Clark Wendlandt FLW pro Cedar Park, Texas Record: 3-0 Points: 2,259	VS.	Dave Lefebre FLW pro Erie, Pa. Record: 2-1 Points: 1,716
1) JASON KILPATRICK. Jason has a great command of fishing Beaver in the prespawn. He has made at least two top-10s, and I expect him to do well this week. 2) ANTHONY GAGLIARDI. Anthony is a great fisherman and has momentum on his side. I believe he is leading the Angler of the Year race, and at this point I really expect him to win it. 3) SHINICHI FUKAE. He is proving that two years ago was no fluke. I really like him this week. 4) CHRIS MCCALL. Chris is fishing better than he ever has, and he just won the Stren Series event at Sam Rayburn. Momentum is definitely on his side, and to top it off he loves Beaver. 5) CLARK WENDLANDT. This has got to be my favorite tournament lake.		1) SHINICHI FUKAE. One of the best on this type of reservoir. He has done well here in the past, and I think the big prespawn spots will show Shin some love again. 2) VIC VATALARO. My Northern Love pick is back. I started off the year by picking the Vic-ster No. 1 at Okeechobee. After having a couple of bad ones, I look for him to pick it back up on Beaver. This place really suits his style. 3) RANDY BLAUKAT. When I think of Beaver Lake, I think of spinning rods and little crankbaits. When I look at spinning rods and little crankbaits, I see Randy Blaukat. Plus, I think he might have caught a fish or two here before. 4) DION HIBDON. Dion has done well here in recent years. He knows how to bring in a monster sack of largemouth and catch those little spotted freaks, too. I think we will see a big bag on day one from him. 5) CLARK WENDLANDT. Could there possibly be 20 fish spawning in Beaver this week? If so, Clark will find them and surge back into the top 10 where he belongs. If not, he’ll catch ‘em anyway – as long as Rob Newell gives back his lucky old crankbait. (For the love of God, Newell, give the man his bait back.)

David Dudley FLW pro Lynchburg, Va. Record: 2-1 Points: 1,893	VS.	Carl Svebek FLW pro Siloam Springs, Ark. Record: 1-2 Points: 1,785
1) DARREL ROBERTSON. Not only has he fished this lake all his life, but his confidence is unbelievably high. I think that, with the lake being low, he will tap into his memory banks and know exactly where to go. 2) CARL SVEBEK III. Since moving to Arkansas, he has fished this lake enough to make the right decisions at the right time. Also, since there is no sight-fishing going on, his height won’t hurt him. 3) ART BERRY. This is my dark horse. I know from fishing out West that he has a lot of experience fishing clear water with light line, so this should be right up his alley. Don’t let me down, Swimbait King. 4) SHINICHI FUKAE. I know I sound like a broken record, but I will pick him as long as he is doing well. 5) MARK DAVIS. This man we all know just flat-out catches them. With him being from Arkansas, he will know what to do and where to go to find his schools of fish.		1) ROB KILBY. Coming off a good finish at Pickwick, I feel he will carry it on to Beaver. He has always been real consistent at Beaver and I look for him to have a good tournament. 2) LUKE CLAUSEN. I feel he is one to watch at Beaver. I would imagine he is hungry again, and I look for him to have a top finish. 3) LARRY NIXON. You can never count him out. I am sure he is ready for this one. 4) ANDRE MOORE. A two-time winner at Beaver, I’m sure he will be ready to gun for No. 3. This is water that he is very confident on, and he will be ready. 5) GEORGE COCHRAN. He has done it all. I am sure he has done his homework and will be ready for Beaver. Look for him to bring consistent bags in each day.

Art Berry FLW pro Hemet, Calif. Record: 1-2 Points: 1,712	VS.	Randy Blaukat FLW pro Lamar, Mo. Record: 0-3 Points: 1,626
1) DARREL ROBERTSON. After losing the winning fish here last year, he’s back for revenge. No more Heartbreak Hotel. 2) CLARK WENDLANDT. He’s won more money on Beaver then most will win in a lifetime, and he’s due. 3) ART BERRY. This is one of my favorite lakes: clear water, California-style fishing. And rumor has it they might bite the swimbait. 4) JEREMIAH KINDY. The Kindy Man can. He’s a strong, upcoming pro who definitely knows this lake and has been fishing great all year. He should finish real strong here. 5) TOM MANN JR. A world-class spotted-bass fisherman at a spotted-bass lake. Can you smell what the Mann is cooking?		1) CECIL KINGSLEY. Cecil has made top 10s before at Beaver, and he loves to throw a Carolina rig. With the low water, this is going to be a top technique. Cecil has also done well in regional events there, and his wife Teresa will be helping him practice. 2) JIM MOYNAGH. Jim is another angler who has had good success on Beaver, and is a good deep-jig fisherman. I look for him to be throwing his rock jig and catching some big spots. 3) RANDY BLAUKAT. I’ve got the flow going some now, and I look forward to the low water at Beaver. I think this tournament will be won deep with finesse, and I will have a lot of practice looking for those types of fish. 4) KAREN SAVIK. Karen is on her way to being the first female angler to qualify for the tour championship. I feel she is on a confidence roll, and I think the female touch may be the ticket on the spooky Beaver bass. 5) GUIDO HIBDON. I feel Guido is on the verge of a win or very high finish. He has been fishing fairly consistently, and no doubt will be throwing his little homemade jigs here, which will bring him five chunks each day.

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