FLW Championship preview: Cross Lake, Sept. 11-14

Jay Yelas of Tyler, Texas, advanced to the final round in 10th place Friday with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 5 ounces. He also won the coveted Land O?Lakes Angler of the Year title in nail-biting fashion, beating pre-tournament favorite and 2001 Angler of the Year Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., by six points. Photo by Jeff Schroeder. Angler: Jay Yelas.

September 9, 2002 • Gary Mortenson • Archives

Intriguing head-to-head matchups, $800,000 purse and difficult slot limit all point to compelling championship action

Over the past few months, the buzz leading up to the 2002 FLW Championship battle has undoubtedly been intense. The reason? For starters, bass-fishing enthusiasts are still wondering how the new championship format will play out. With some of the nation’s greatest anglers pitted against one another in a unique, bracket-style format for the first three days of the Cross Lake battle, opening-round matchups could be just as exciting as the final round of competition. After all, who could turn away from Rick Clunn’s first-round matchup with Paul Elias or Dean Rojas’ opening battle with Takahiro Omori?

“The format is definitely unique,” said FLW veteran Clark Wendlandt. “I think it should be pretty interesting, especially the head-to-head matchups. I’ve never fished anything like this before. I’m looking forward to it.”

Adding to the intrigue for bass-fishing enthusiasts will be the pro anglers’ relative lack of experience with Cross Lake itself. Although some anglers have fished Cross Lake before, the majority of the 48-member pro and co-angler fields have not. In addition, Cross Lake is the smallest body of water that the FLW Tour has visited all year. Consequently, it remains to be seen which anglers will be able to truly take advantage of the unfamiliar waters.

“I don’t know anything about Cross Lake yet,” said 2002 FLW Angler-of-the-Year winner Jay Yelas, shortly before the championship. “I haven’t done too much homework on it yet. But from what I can tell, there are plenty of cypress trees and wood cover. I don’t think there is a lot of vegetation. I also think, for the most part, it’s going to be the smallest lake I’ve ever had a big tournament on. However, I like the fact that no one is really going to have a home-lake advantage.”

Finally, anglers will have to navigate a tough slot limit that will be in place throughout the tournament. Specifically, the Cross Lake slot limit demands the following restrictions: Anglers can keep all fish between 12 and 14 inches. They are also allowed to keep up to four fish over 17 inches. However, anglers may keep no fish between 14 and 17 inches. The result? A healthy number of 2- and 3-pound largemouth bass are going to find themselves back in the water as soon as they are hooked. Consequently, anglers are going to have to work very hard to catch a limit of decent-sized fish, which, in turn, is going to place a premium on strategy as well as a little bit of luck.

“Because the slot limit is in place, there is going to be a certain amount of luck involved in advancing,” said Wendlandt. “But in general, I think it’s going to be a typical Louisiana shallow-water fishing tournament.”

With a series of compelling story lines, a first-place pro prize of $260,000 on the line and a finicky slot limit facing the top 48 pros and co-anglers from the 2002 FLW Tour season, one thing is clear: The 2002 FLW Championship should be one of the most intriguing and hotly discussed events of the season.

Lake facts

Weighing in at only 8,830 acres, Cross Lake is undoubtedly the smallest body of water the FLW Tour will visit all year. A relatively shallow lake located at the northwest corner of Shreveport, La., Cross Lake is approximately 8.5 miles long and nearly 1 mile wide. However, with over 60 miles of shoreline and abundant levels of largemouth bass, anglers shouldn’t have much trouble hauling in bass. The question is, with a tough slot limit in place, will they be able to haul in the right sizes?

In general, Cross Lake is an open lake dominated by cypress trees, mossy bayous and pristine scenic vistas. It also boasts large populations of largemouth bass, crappies, bream and catfish. There are a few islands located at the upper end of the Cross Lake that should provide anglers with some intriguing and strategic fishing opportunities. Cross Lake also provides the city of Shreveport with almost its entire supply of fresh water.

Tournament rules

While the tournament format is somewhat complicated, once anglers and bass-fishing fans get a feel for the competition, it’s a relatively easy concept to grasp. For starters, the top 48 pros are seeded based on their year-end standings, with the No. 1 seeded angler fishing off against the No. 48 pro, the No. 2 seeded angler fishing against the No. 47 pro, etc. Anglers will face off against their same opponent for the first two days of competition. After the day-two weigh-in has concluded, the angler in each matchup who has the most combined weight over the first two days of competition will advance to the next round.

With 24 anglers remaining on day three, bracket matchups continue with each angler starting over from zero. At the end of competition on day three, whoever has the most weight in each of the individual matchups will advance to the final day of competition. However, before the start of the final day of competition, all 12 remaining anglers will be reseeded based on their combined three-day catch weights. Hence, the angler who survives the head-to-head matchups over the first three days of competition with the most combined weight over the course of the tournament will be seeded No. 1 heading into the finals.

On the final day of competition, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeded anglers will battle it out for the $260,000 first-place prize money. Anglers seeded No. 3 and No. 4 will compete for the third place prize, etc.

The Co-angler Division format is different and somewhat more basic than that of the Pro Division. All 48 co-anglers will fish during the first two days of competition. After the day-two weigh-in, the 24 co-anglers with the most combined, two-day weight will survive the cut. On day three, the remaining 24 anglers will start over from zero and fish for the first-place prize of $25,000. At the end of day three, a co-angler champion will be crowned.

2002 FLW Championship strategy

While it’s difficult to come up with a perfect fishing strategy for Cross Lake, anglers have already come to some conclusions.

“With the slot limit in effect, the fishing could be really tough. And some anglers are going to have a decision to make: ‘Do I go for a bunch of small fish and guarantee that I bring in a limit or should I go for the larger fish?'” said Wendlandt. “For me, personally speaking, I think you have to go for broke and catch everything you possibly can. I’m coming to Cross Lake to finish in first place. I see very little point in fishing safely. You just have to hope you don’t run out of fish on that last day if you make it that far.”

Yelas believes that the angler who ultimately wins this year’s FLW Championship might have to produce the bass-fishing equivalent of pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

“It’s a complicated format, and there is probably going to be a lot of fishing pressure,” he said. “And with all of that pressure the lake is going to get, some finesse baits and usual techniques might not work that well. As a result, the person who wins this tournament might have to do so using some unusual techniques or by fishing some off-the-wall baits. There are just too many unknowns right now to say what is going to win this tournament with any degree of certainty.”

Despite the uncertainty, Wendlandt believes that you won’t have to prefish the lake very long to start unraveling the mystery of Cross Lake and the 2002 FLW Championship.

“I’m going to go out there and practice about four and a half days,” said Wendlandt. “The lake is small enough that I should have enough time to figure it out. From what I know, the lake is old, very silted, shallow and without any real dramatic breaks or drop-offs. So my guess is that spinner baits, plastic worms and top-water baits will work the best. I don’t think you’re going to see a lot of Carolina rigs or deep-diving crankbaits. But then again, you never know.”