Top 5 Patterns from Beaver Lake Day 2
How the top 5 are getting the job done on Beaver
Darrel Robertson may be leading the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Jack Link’s on Beaver Lake, but he was not the only one who raced to the front of the leaderboard with a big catch today.
Scott Canterbury and Matt Arey both gained some serious ground with big catches today as well. Here is a look at how some of the new names in the top five moved up.
2. Quaker State pro Scott Canterbury – Springville, Ala. – 31-1 (10)
Just one ounce behind Robertson is Canterbury, who sacked up 18 pounds, 3 ounces today to jump from 32nd to second.
Canterbury is a runner and gunner – a junk fishing extraordinaire. He says Beaver Lake used to be his worst lake on the FLW Tour and now it’s one of his favorite, simply because he has learned to never attach any kind of value to any fish that he catches.
“You have got to fish the conditions on this lake from day to day,” Canterbury says. “You have to keep moving until you run into them where they’re moving up and that’s what happened today – I hit a little patch of them.
“I’ve fished all over this lake the last two days – up the rivers, down the lake – everywhere,” he continues. “I have not caught a fish where I caught a fish in practice. I’m running new water every day. The fishing is so random.”
Though Canterbury is running helter-skelter across the lake, he says he has narrowed his rods down to two or three specific lures.
“I’m mostly pitching and flipping at high speeds,” he says. “I’ve got the trolling motor on high and I’m just going. I’ve caught maybe three off the bed that I sight-fished, but other than that, it’s just about covering water.”
3. Quaker State pro Jimmy Houston – Cookson, Okla. – 30-0 (10)
Jimmy Houston kept his spinnerbait blades spinning for a 12-pound, 3-ounce catch today that put him in third.
Houston revealed that one single area has produce seven of his 10 keepers over the last two days – perhaps the most consistent single area among the other leaders who are all moving around quite a bit.
“I’m not so much worried about running out of fish – I think they’re moving into the area,” Houston says. “What I am worried about is that the water is clearing. When the tournament started, the water was the perfect color for a spinnerbait. But now it’s starting to clear pretty fast in the backs of the pockets and I’m having to move out towards the river to stay in the more stained water. But the more I move out towards the river, the more I lose some of my prime cover.”
4. Quaker State pro Matt Arey – Shelby, N.C. – 29-14 (10)
Could Matt Arey possibly make it three in a row?
Arey has won the last two FLW Tour events on Beaver Lake and today he put himself in prime position to make it three by bringing in a 17-pound, 8-ounce limit to push himself to fourth.
It’s undeniable that Arey has an inherent knack for Beaver Lake. What many on Tour consider to be the toughest lake on the schedule, Arey considers to be his briar patch. And when Arey says he fishing in way that he has fished here before to do well, it really doesn’t mean much since he has done well with so many techniques on Beaver Lake over the years.
One thing Arey really understands conceptually about Beaver Lake is fishing pressure and the timing and rotation of his fishing efforts.
“I’m intentionally trying to time my rotations with the fishing pressure I’m seeing develop out there,” Arey says. “Some of it is timing – how long a place has been fished – and some of it is how a place is being fished. Both of those factors come into play when deciding whether to stop or whether to move on.”
5. Keystone Light pro Jeff Sprague – Point, Texas – 28-8 (10)
After sacking up 15 pounds, 6 ounces on day one, Jeff Sprague moved into the top five with a 13-pound, 2-ounce catch today.
Sprague says his primary areas are changing rapidly due to clearing water.
“I’m staying with my areas because I believe the fish are still moving into them,” Sprague says. “The water clarity is changing and that’s causing the fish to change. They can see what they’re doing a lot better now. But I made a bait change today and I think it could be the ticket the next couple of days. I caught some on it today, but I also missed a lot on it as well. I’m looking forward to tomorrow to see if the I can catch a few more on it.”
Day 2 video interviews