Jay Yelas – FLW Cup Wrap Up

The 2011 Forrest Wood Cup was incredible. I was pleased to see my friend Scott Martin take home the Cup, and I know he will make a great Champion. Scott did an outstanding job finding and catching the winning fish.

I started the Cup strong, catching 17# on day 1. I spent that day bouncing back and forth between brushpiles in 25′ of water and throwing topwater over grass. I caught two 4s late on top that really helped. The clouds and rain seemed to help the catch on day 1, and most anglers were surprised at how good the overall catch was. Ouachita has definately gotten better since the 2007 Cup there.

Day 2 brought sunny, calm conditions. I fished deep brush most of the day, thinking that would be the deal over topwater given the conditions. I caught a 5 about 8am on a 10″ Berkley Power Worm in a 25′ brushpile. So I stuck with that pattern most of the day, and it just didn’t work for me. I weighed 2 bass for 7# and fell to 13th place. Looking back, I have to say that I was shocked I didn’t do better. I was really confident in my deep brush pattern. I spoke with other pros who caught ’em well in practice in brushpiles, but their fish vanished too during competition.

After my brushpile debacle on day 2, I picked up a topwtaer plug and threw it all day the third day. I caught 3 for almost 11 pounds. I lost two 4s that day that haunt me. I had the bites to make a major move in the event, but they didn’t make it to the net. So I moved up only two places and just missed the top 10 cut, finishing 11th.

The weird thing about this event for me was I caught fish big enough to win, but I couldn’t fill my limit on days 2 and 3. Usually in August you catch small ones and struggle to find a kicker. It was like a February bite. Only big bass. Over the three days I weighed 10 bass for 35#. I came close, so close to a really high finish.

The best part of the whole event for me was at the day 3 weigh-in when I thanked my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the large crowd erupted with a loud ovation. Praise God!

I flew home to Corvallis and couldn’t wait to get back to paradise. I am taking the family camping next week at the beach, up near Astoria. We are going to get my girls hooked up with some big salmon on the Columbia River, walk the beach, and enjoy a nice vacation with the family. I check the weather up there for next week- highs of 68 and sunny. Sounds wonderful after a month straight of 100+ down South.

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