Beaver Lake FLW Tour

I've been a little bit slow to post a report on my latest FLW Tour event a couple of weeks ago at Beaver Lake, Arkansas.  This was the third of six events on the season and it went pretty good for me.  It was my best finish so far on the season, 45th place, which netted me a $10,000 cheque!  These FLW tournaments pay $10,000 to 50th place, so the main goal is to make it into the top 50 at each event.  It sounds easy, just finish in the top 50, but let me tell you, it isn't!  These guys are very competitive, there are a lot of hungry anglers out there!  

In the tournament I ended up catching all of my weigh fish on a Jackall Squad Minnow 115 jerkbait.  I got on a jerkbait deal in practice and just kinda ran with it through the event.  I probably should have spent a little more time fishing deeper around some of my better spots with a drop-shot rig but it's all a learning process.  I did catch some nice fish drop-shotting after the event was over.  

Here are a few photos from fishing at Beaver Lake.  It was a fun lake, lot's of fish.  

Here was a nice spotted bass that I caught in practice.  I caught it on a Northland Bug-A-Boo Jig off of a dock.  

Also from the first day of practice, a big largemouth on a Yellow Hammer Umbrella Rig.  As it turned out, most of the top finishing anglers in this event fished an umbrella rig, I just couldn't get enough bites on it to use it in the tournament.  I think I need to get on a body of water where there is a hot bite happening, catch some fish on it and get some confidence.  It catches big ones! 

My practice partner, Darryl Galusha from Kenora with a nice walleye...Beaver has plenty of them as well!  

Beaver Lake has a unique population of MEANMOUTH BASS, shown in this picture.  They are cross bretween a spotted bass and a smallmouth.  They are kinda shaped like a spot, yet coloured like a smallmouth.  Pretty bass!

The day after the tournament I got to spend a couple hours in the boat with some of the top anglers on the FLW Tour going through some Minn Kota/Humminbird product training.  From L-R - Tim Price from M.K./Humminbird, Brent Ehrler, Chad Morgenthaler and Brett Hite.  It was fun and we got to see the new Humminbird 360 in action, as well as some of the new features of the I-Pilot Link system.  

I fished Beaver for a few days after the tournament and caught this big largemouth on a Jackall Mudsucker topwater bait.  

Next event is mid-May at Lake Eufala, Alabama.  Follow online at www.flwoutdoors.com