Red River FLW Tour Major

Jay Yelas – Competition
Friday, May 20, 2011

> Day 1: 4, 7-04
> Day 2: 5, 8-02 (9, 15-06)

This is just a real tough fishery. I only caught four yesterday and I got the fourth with 3 minutes to go, and today I caught five all day and didn't catch the last two until there was an hour to go. It was just a grind like that.

I tried a lot of different baits and I caught some flipping a Berkley HAVOC Craw Fatty on 17-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon. I flipped lily pads mostly.

The toughest thing is the mental part of it because it's so hard to get bit. I fished for a day and a half in one backwater where I'd gotten the most bites in practice, and today at noon I decided to run 15 miles downriver to a place I hadn't been to since Sunday. I'd caught a 4-pounder there in practice, but only two keepers. I caught my last two keepers there and my co-angler got a 4-pounder.

Maybe I should've spent more time there, but those are the decisions that tournament fishing always boils down to – whether to stay or go. It seems there's some bigger fish there and I might've done better.

My best area from practice, the wind just wiped it out. It was so shallow, less than 2 feet of water, and the 20-mph wind turned those banks to mud. That happened to a lot of guys today.

The falling water didn't really hurt anything, it just moved the fish to steeper banks. They've definitely been on the move with the water dropping. It's gone down 2 or 3 feet since the first practice day.

I fished Pool 5 mostly, but that other spot I had was in Pool 4. I was taking a pretty big chance locking through at noon, knowing I had to be back at 2:15.

My Typhoon sunglasses really helped me this week. Those fish were on little pieces of wood in the lily pads, and a lot of the wood was entirely under water. On a dark day with heavy overcast, I was still able to see those small pieces of wood.

Jay Yelas – Practice
Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The Red River is fishing tough this week and I just don't think the numbers are in here like they are at some places we visit. Nobody I've talked to is really catching much and I think 10 pounds is going to be a good day. Anything in the teens could be a Top-5 or Top-10 deal and 50 pounds for 4 days could win it.

I've struggled like everybody else. I've got two areas I'm going to fish and I've gotten a few bites, but nothing spectacular by any means. This place fishes real small and there's a lot of guys in the same backwater areas. The main river is so muddy that there's not much going on there.

The fish will be caught all over the place and I'm not certain that any pool will be better than the others. I've caught fish in all three pools, but nothing exceptional. I think you'll see guys make the Top 10 out of each pool.

It should be pretty much post-spawn. There's still a few fish guarding fry and I've heard some guys say they've found a few on beds, but not many at all.

It'll be a grind and these tournaments are usually won by somebody who gets in a backwater that no one else finds, although it's not really high enough for that. Everybody will be on top of each other and whoever figures out how to get the key bites will be the guy who comes out on top. I think patience and being meticulous will be rewarded rather than running and gunning. If you find an area that's got some fish, you need to get in there and fish slow and thorough.