Jay Yelas – Day 3
Saturday, March 27, 2010
> Day 1: 5, 8-07
> Day 2: 5, 8-00
> Day 3: 4, 6-12
> Total = 14, 23-03 (100th)
I had what I'd call the worst performance of my career in this tournament. I don't know how else to sum it up. And actually, today I did figure out how to get some good bites, but I couldn't even put them in the boat. I lost a couple of 3-pound fish. The first couple of days I never even had a bite over 2 pounds. Then today I got three good bites and lost all three. It was a frustrating and very disappointing performance.
I just have a lot of work to get back to the level that I've performed at before. It's something I have to work through, but better days lie ahead.
Jay Yelas – Day 2
Thursday, March 25, 2010
> Day 1: 5, 8-07
> Day 2: 5, 8-00
> Total = 10, 16-07 (89th)
I know they live in that creek I'm fishing – I just can't get them to bite. I've not had a 2-pound bite in the tournament yet, and it's just driving me crazy how they're being so elusive. I don's know what I'm doing wrong. I'm fishing everything I can think of to catch them, and in practice they bit.
That's just how this lake is – you get a couple of 3-pound bites each day and you're up there pretty good. But if you don't, you're looking at 8 pounds a day and stinking up the place. I've been fishing for good bites every way I know how. It's frustrating.
I've been fishing in the same creek the whole tournament, and the odds of fishing in there for 2 full days and not getting a 2-pounder is slim. Now I really have to hustle tomorrow and get a bunch of good fish and climb up. I know they're in there.
Jay Yelas – Practice
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
I felt my practice went pretty well. I mean, this is Lake Norman, so you have to keep everything in the proper context, but I had a decent practice. I didn't set the hook on a lot, but I caught some fish. It's such a fickle fishery that you don't want to catch too many good fish in practice. There's just not that many good bass in here. So I'll have to wait and see how big some of those bites I shook off were. But I have a hunch I'm in line for a pretty good tournament.
The lake's definitely a lot different than last year. In 2007, it was a really warm spring, so the tournament was post-spawn and I finished 2nd. The last 2 years, it was the same third week of April, but it was right in the middle of the spawn. This year, it's a month earlier and it was the coldest winter in like 20 years, so the fish are in the pre-spawn stage.
The water temps in practice started in the upper-50s to low-60s, then cooled to the mid-50s. It's supposed to get nice and warm back up, but I don't think we'll see any fish go on beds this week. It's just a good pre-spawn event, but I don't think the weights will be a whole lot different.
Historically here, for 4 days, it takes 46 to 50 pounds to win, and I still think that's going to be about the same. And I expect the weights to be similar to when BASS had a March event here in 2005 – if you catch 12 pounds a day for 4 days you'll be right there.
Even though it's pre-spawn, there are a lot of shallow fish, and some of the best bites I got were around docks. But this lake has changed over the years. It used to be all largemouths, then the spots got in about 10 years ago. It's evolving and on the verge of the spotted bass taking over and being the predominant fish in the lake. The spots are getting to be a bigger and bigger factor each year, and I think they'll play a larger role this week than they ever have in the past.
