Quick Bites: Wal-Mart Open, FLW Tour Beaver Lake – Day 3
Yelas maintains overall lead, co-angler title decided by ounces and Beaver Lake bests most of the field for a third consecutive day
2007 Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Rogers, Ark.
Semifinals, Saturday
Yelas continues his charge … Although bass-fishing icon Jay Yelas has a Bassmaster Classic title, a Wal-Mart FLW Tour Angler-of-the-Year crown and three consecutive top-10 finishes on the FLW Tour in 2007 already under his belt, somehow the resident of Tyler, Texas, has never pulled off a tournament victory at an FLW Tour event in his 20-year career. However, the way things are going this week, that could all change tomorrow. Using a catch of 11 pounds, 13 ounces, Yelas stormed into the overall lead, out-fishing his next closest rival by nearly 2 1/2 pounds. “I finished second at the FLW Tour event at Lake Norman last month and that was my highest-ever finish on the tour,” said Yelas. “You always want to get better and better as time goes by so I’d love to finally win one of these things. My plan tomorrow is to go back to the spot where I’ve caught the bulk of my fish all week and do the same thing. And hopefully, I’ll get that win.” In addition to taking the overall lead at the Beaver Lake event heading into Sunday’s finals, Yelas also took over the top spot in the points race for the 2007 Land O’ Lakes Angler-of-the-Year award on the FLW Tour, the same award he won back in 2002. In addition, Yelas also has the distinction of becoming the first angler of the season to be leading the AOY points race and an overall FLW Tour event on the same day.
Dueling docks … Day-one leader Andy Montgomery and Jay Yelas have both had tremendous success sharing an area of community docks all week. With each angler targeting docks on their respective side of the lake each day, both anglers managed a top-10 finish. However, that doesn’t mean that all docks were created equal. “I’m on one side and Jay is on the other side,” said Montgomery. “All of the big fish swam under my docks the first day and all of the big fish swam under his docks the next two days. I want to win, but beating Jay is going to be tough. I’d hear a fish splash and turn around to catch it and it would already be on Jay’s line.” However, Yelas said that Sunday just might bring a change in fortune. “The first day the good fish were on Andy’s side and the next two days they were on my side,” said Yelas. “So, who knows whose side they’re going to be on tomorrow? Andy could definitely come back with a big bag (in the finals).”
The Phil Mickelson of bass fishing? … While Yelas holds the overall lead heading into tomorrow’s finals, Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., remains hot on his heels with a total catch of 9 pounds, 6 ounces. However, with 35 top-10 finishes at FLW Outdoors events, including five tournament titles (two Stren Series victories and three BFL first-place finishes), Morgan has yet to pull out an FLW Tour title. “I’ve got 35 top-10s but I’ve never won an FLW Tour event. I kind of feel like Phil Mickelson did back a few years ago,” said Morgan. “But this is pretty exciting. I’m finally within striking distance going into the final day. I know I’ll make some good decisions tomorrow. Overall, I feel very confident.”
Beaver Lake 3, anglers 0 … For the third straight day the majority of the field failed to figure out a consistent pattern on Beaver Lake. And for a third straight day, the overall weights plummeted. Today, seven out of 10 pros could muster no more than 6 pounds and only one pro, Jay Yelas, managed to break the 10-pound barrier. Only four pros caught limits. “You’ve either got to trick the fish into biting during the first hour or get some wind,” said pro Ray Schiede of the difficulties in catching bass on Beaver this week. “Otherwise, they are really tough to catch.”
Co-angler finals one for the ages … While the pro weigh-in was the most anticipated event of the afternoon, the co-anglers made sure to put on a show for the crowd that won’t be forgotten anytime soon. After J.R. Grubb of Hamburg, Ark., weighed in a seemingly dominating catch of 11 pounds, 13 ounces, Chris Koester of Rogers, Ark., stepped up to the scales as the only angler remaining with any chance to defeat him. One by one Koester began weighing in his five-fish limit. And with each passing fish, Koester’s total crept closer and closer to Grubb’s limit. Finally, Koester weigh in his final fish. The crowd went silent. Tournament host Charlie Evans gave a dramatic pause before revealing the weight as it was clear that it was going to be close – very close. Finally, Evans shouted out Koester’s total … 11 pounds, 11 ounces. Grubb immediately raised both arms in victory as Koester’s head shot back in disappointment. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” said Grubb. “It’s just unreal. It’s awesome. I’m just so glad my family – my mom, my day, my wife and kids – could be here to see it.” In the end, Grubb walked away with his first-ever FLW Tour title as well as a cash prize of $30,000.
Two ounces and a pound of frustration … To get so close only to lose out on a tournament title by a mere 2 ounces is obviously a tough one to take. But for Chris Koester, that’s exactly the hand he was dealt in today’s co-angler finals. “It was such a rollercoaster type of day for me,” he said. “I fished with Jay this morning and caught four fish but I couldn’t get that fifth one. And I knew that since it was an early morning bite, I might not catch another fish all day. And that’s pretty much what happened. But then, with 10 minutes left in the tournament, I caught my two biggest fish. That’s when I really thought I had it won because nobody had an 11 pound stringer all week. Then, to lose by 2 ounces, that was tough. It should have been over but somebody had the day of his life as well. Honestly, I don’t get excited with moral victories. I really wanted to win.”
Quick numbers:
1: Total number of limits caught over 10 pounds by the pros in today’s competition.
2: Total number of limits caught over 10 pounds by the co-anglers in today’s competition.
2: Total number of ounces separating top-two finishers in the co-angler finals.
59-14: Total weight in pounds and ounces caught by pros during third day of competition.
30: The number of dollars in thousands won by J.R. Grubb in today’s co-angler finals.
35: Total number of top-10 career FLW Outdoors finishes for second place pro Andy Morgan.
2 – 7: Weight in pounds and ounces of Jay Yelas’ lead heading into the finals.
Sound bites:
“I’ve been doing this for 20 years now and you realize that over the course of your career there are times when the tide goes out and when the tide comes in. Recently, the tide has been coming in for me.” – FLW Tour pro Jay Yelas speaking of his current hot streak where he’s posted three consecutive top-10 finishes on the FLW Tour and grabbed the overall points lead in the 2007 FLW Tour AOY race.
“It means so much to me to be wearing these National Guard colors and being in the top 10. I fell a little short today, but because of these (National Guard) guys, I’m not going to give up.” – FLW Tour pro Chad Morgenthaler talking about finding some fishing inspiration from the National Guard.
“I’m from the old school of fishing. I’m going to give my co-angler a fair shot no matter what is at stake.” – FLW Tour pro Alfred Williams commenting on providing his co-angler with quality water to fish despite the fact that $200,000 is at stake in the Pro Division for a first-place finish.
“This morning it seemed like if I was going one way, the fish were going the other way.” – FLW Tour pro Jacob Powroznik coming up with a partial explanation for his 6-pound stringer in today’s competition.
“I had a blast today. I didn’t even care that I lost some fish. I made a top-10 and my wife is here to see it. I’ve got the greatest job in the world.” – FLW Tour pro Ray Scheide on the excitement of fishing in the finals of the Wal-Mart Open.
“I’ve been dreaming about this moment ever since I was a kid. To win this, I just couldn’t imagine what that would be like.” – First year FLW Tour pro J.R. Beehler attempting to explain the joys of making the finals while fighting back tears at the same time.
“It was tough out there today. I really only had one fish in the boat at 10 a.m. But I’m going to be ready to go tomorrow. This tournament is wide open.” – FLW Tour pro Glenn Browne showing off his unbridled enthusiasm for the start of tomorrow’s events.
“We got to talking and I realized that I’d fished with him 10 years ago when he was just a little boy. Now, he’s my pro.” – FLW Tour co-angler James Green recounting his on-the-boat revelation that he had today when he realized that pro Jacob Powroznik looked a little familiar.
“This is the nicest weigh-in place I’ve ever seen.” – FLW Tour co-angler Arch Cornett remarking that he was a little awestruck by lights, cameras and general quality of the co-angler weigh-in venue.
“I came here five years ago and fell in love with the lake and the town. Then I went back home and said to my wife, `We’re moving here.'” – FLW Tour co-angler Chris Koester talking about his dramatic relocation from North Carolina to Rogers, Ark.
Quick notes
The televised version of this week’s FLW tournament at Beaver Lake can be seen on July 1 (part one) and July 8 (part two) at 11 a.m. Eastern Time on Fox Sports Net.