Losers’ Picks: Beaver Lake

Welcome to the losers’ bracket of Pundits’ Picks. This is where we throw back into the water all the pundits who are culled from Punditville throughout the season. See, we still care about their picks and opinions, but they just don’t count.

Hot picks

The five losers also like Clark Wendlandt, who earned four picks, as well as Dean Rojas, also with four. Rick Clunn is next with three picks. David Dudley and Jim Eakins each came in with two apiece.

Of all 10 losers and active pundits combined, Wendlandt walked away with the most total picks – eight. Rojas was next with six, then Jim Eakins with five. Dudley had a total of four nods, and Clunn and Jackie Davis each earned three overall.

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Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop No. 4

Wal-Mart Open

Beaver Lake, Rogers, Ark.

March 31-April 3

Dave Washburn

Executive editor, FLW Outdoors

Previous tournament score (Old Hickory Lake): 718

1) Rick Clunn.

2) Clark Wendlandt.

3) Dean Rojas.

4) Dan Morehead.

5) Greg Hackney.

Jeff Schroeder

Editor, FLWOutdoors.com

Previous tournament score: 702

1) Jim Eakins. For a cold, deep-water, prespawn bass bite, what’s better than an Eakins jig? Except maybe a crankbait …

2) Rick Clunn. Which brings me to Clunn. His prowess at this lake not far from his Ozark home needs no repeating, but it is inescapable. That, combined with this year’s early prespawn fishing at Beaver Lake will have Clunn crankbaiting in War Eagle Creek like a man possessed. My only worry is that he’s coming in short on practice time since he’s at the BASS Santee Cooper tournament this weekend.

3) Dean Rojas. The standings leader, too, will be coming straight from Santee Cooper, but Rojas likes Beaver and he’s really only had one bad day the entire year in FLW events.

4) Alvin Shaw. Quietly, steadily, Shaw has been posting top-30 finishes all season long and now sits in fourth place in points. He’s equally steady at Beaver Lake, having finished in the top 40 there the last three years.

5) Clark Wendlandt. This year’s Wal-Mart Open won’t be the sight-fishing fest he’s used to at Beaver Lake, but Wendlandt has already won twice here. That, combined with his slew of top-10s, has made his name synonymous with this tournament. There’s no Wal-Mart Open watch list without Wendlandt.

David Dudley

FLW pro, Manteo, N.C.

Previous tournament score: 697

1) Aaron Martens. Also known as the drop-shot king, he has the confidence that is so important to a fisherman’s outcome at Beaver.

2) David Dudley. Last year I got on the strongest pattern here that I have ever had in a tournament, but fog killed me the second day. Hopefully, visibility willing, it will work again.

3) Clark Wendlandt. Again, he has the confidence here to do well. Plus, it could turn into a sight-fishing tournament if the weather does like it says.

4) Dean Rojas. I think he could catch one in a mud puddle this year. He is thinking smart out there.

5) Jim Eakins. This is a no-brainer. Wherever there are docks and rocks, he is a reliable bet with that jig of his.

Carl Svebek III

FLW pro, Siloam Springs, Ark.

Previous tournament score: 649

1) Mike Surman.

2) David Dudley.

3) Darrel Robertson.

4) Bobby Curtis.

5) Carl Svebek.

Editor’s note: Always a team player, you’ll notice that Svebek’s picks comprise the entire Team Castrol, of which he is a member.

Rob Newell

Contributing editor, FLW Outdoors

Previous tournament score: 528

1) Clark Wendlandt. Think the end of March is too early for a spawn on Beaver Lake? Could be, but the long-term forecast for Rogers, Ark., certainly does favor Wendlandt’s eagle eyes.

2) Rick Clunn. Clunn won the Wal-Mart Open several years ago when it was barely too early for a sustained spawn. While everyone else was running their trolling motors on high, Clunn was catching largemouths upriver on a crankbait. Things could shape up that way again.

3) Dave Lefebre. I’m a big believer in momentum in the fishing business, and Lefebre has got the big Mo’ on his side.

4) Jackie Davis. Davis is household name on Ozark impoundments.

5) Dean Rojas. Not only is he gunning for an FLW Tour AOY, but he also has a decent record at Beaver Lake.

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