FLW Tour Recap: Beaver Lake
Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes team pro Dave Lefebre provides an inside look at the latest FLW Tour event in Rogers, Ark.
(Editor’s note: Veteran bass pro Dave Lefebre has agreed to take time to share his insights into each FLW Tour event of the 2013 season. After every event, Lefebre will give his thoughts on tournament strategy, winning techniques and other behind-the-scenes stories/information that is compelling to our readers. The following blog represents his third installment of the season. Lefebre ultimately finished the Beaver Lake event in 44th place with a two-day total of 22 pounds and walked away with $10,000 in winnings.)
Remember way, way back two years ago, before we were allowed to throw 13 or 25 baits at a time …
Ask me how many lures were attached to my line during the Beaver Lake event and it would be quite easy to respond – as I wouldn’t have to dig my harness out and count everything before answering you. You see, I used a single Storm Wiggle Wart all day on day one and incorporated a Yamamoto 5-inch cut-tail worm into the mix on day two. Call me old-school I guess, but I’m faced with the challenge of trying to stay alive doing it the old-fashioned way, you know.
My Wiggle Wart was not old-fashioned; it was a brand new one out of the box, which now it looks like it went through World War II. I managed to hang on to it throughout the three-day practice and the two tournament days I fished … lucky me. I’ve proven to myself over the last few tournaments (Beaver and Table Rock Lake) that the new ones run just as good as the old high-dollar ones. And, consequently, I will most likely never waste my money on eBay again. I used a Phantom Green one, and scraping the orange paint from the bill was my only modification to it. I’d estimate that I caught over 100 fish on that one bait in the five days; it was a whole lot of fun.
I had 22 pounds even after day two and finished not in the top 10 as I typically would have in years passed, but all the way down in 44th, just barely earning a $10K check. The umbrella rig has, without question, made it impossible to compete at a high level with any other conventional prespawn tactics or bait. Truthfully, I’m saddened by this, but remain hopeful that the sport I’ve loved for so long will soon come back to its original design – one rod, one lure. Prespawn used to be my absolute favorite time to fish, but now I can’t wait for it to be over. On the bright side, after my Okeechobee train wreck (102nd), I’m right back in the hunt; and the multi-lure harnesses are going to be less of a factor heading into the second half of the season.
Staging areas were the key at Beaver Lake this year as the fish were hot and ready to spawn. As a matter of fact, had we not had the major cold front pass through the day before the tournament, Beaver Lake would have been a full-fledged sight-fishing derby instead. But as it turned out, it was all about umbrella rigs. So there is really not that much to talk about in this particular Tour recap. Bluff ends, pea-gravel points, ditches and smaller pockets were all prime types of places being fished. The very few guys who utilized something other than an umbrella rig (and who still managed to get a check) mainly caught their fish on or near secondary points in the larger creeks. However, one guy I spoke to fished the main lake with a single little swimbait and did well. The guys in the creeks caught them on finesse worms, jigs, or on a jerkbait. But again, they could not hold a candle to those fishing in the same creeks slinging nine- to 13-hooked rigs all day.
Some say the sport is evolving and is changed forever. But I’m still hoping this whole deal will become nothing more than giant asterisk in annals of pro tournament history.
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