Pros’ Picks: Beaver Lake

FLW Tour pros counter the pundits with their own picks for the Beaver Lake FLW Outdoors Fishing Challenge

FLW Lake Murray scores

Pundits: 3,058
Pros: 2,773

Yearly totals

Pundits: 8,876
Pros: 8,649

First of all, I would like to congratulate Dave on a stellar performance at Lake Murray. Great job! Really.

With our poor showing behind us, we the pros are now on to bigger and better things: Beaver Lake, which will be the largest payout for a non-year-ending tournament ever. I don’t know how folks expect us to perform in making our picks with all that pressure, but I’m sure we are up to the task.

Warm, cold, who’s going to California and who’s not going: That’s what will determine the winner at this event.

I better get to catching them. Good luck to all of you who play, and make sure you keep your heads up when you lose.

Here’s how I see this baby playing out for the Wal-Mart Open FLW Outdoors Fishing Challenge. I’m outta here.

– Koby
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Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop No. 4
Wal-Mart Open
Beaver Lake, Rogers, Ark.
April 9-12

Koby Kreiger
FLW pro, Osceola, Ind.
Previous tournament score (Lake Murray): 756
Yearly total: 2,338

1) Mark Pack. Always consistent, but can’t seem to get over the hump at Beaver. Might this time.
2) Wesley Strader. Made a big jump in the points at the last tournament.
3) Clark Wendlandt. You’ve got to have Clark somewhere in the top five, but I’m going to pick him third.
4) David Dudley. Always consistent.
5) Tracy Adams. Hasn’t seen the top 10 in a while.

Clark Wendlandt
FLW pro, Cedar Park, Texas
Previous tournament score: 707
Yearly total: 2,312

1) Aaron Martens. After such a cold spring, I am afraid sight-fishing will not be the pattern. With Martens, you have sight-fishing covered – if it is a viable technique – and he loves catching big, prespawn, spotted bass. I think he will do well this week and be the one to beat.
2) John Sappington. John can also catch fish both deep and shallow. If they are on the beds, he is very hard to beat, and, if not, he will make the needed adjustments.
3) Clark Wendlandt. I made a huge mistake at Murray picking myself first. The pressure is just too great. I have heard through the pundit grapevine that Blaukat made the same mistake this week. It’s a bold move and I respect it, but good luck, Randy.
4) Bernie Schultz. Bernie loves clear-water, springtime fishing and has fared well on Beaver in the past. If the fish aren’t spawning, the well-known Dinkmaster will still get great points.
5) Carl Svebek III. This has been a good lake for Carl over the years, and now he lives just 20 minutes away. His specialty is shallow, cruising bass. I predict he will have five different Falcon weightless-worm rods rigged with five different-color Gambler Sweebo’s. Carl will be hard to beat.

Emily Wendlandt
FLW daughter/TV star, Cedar Park, Texas
(Gerald Swindle’s) previous tournament score: 697
(Swindle’s) yearly total: 2,078

Editor’s note: Pro Gerald Swindle took some time off from the FLW Tour this month for a little R and R in California, so, unfortunately, he will be unable to join us for the Beaver Lake round of picks. In his stead, the pros have recruited a ringer. Emily Wendlandt, Clark’s 9-year-old daughter and star of Wal-Mart commercial television, has a vested interest in the tour and has graciously offered her opinions to fill in for the absent Swindle. The points she earns at Beaver Lake will count towards Swindle’s yearly total and the pros’ combined total at this tournament.

Said Clark: “She has given me a hard time about my previous tournament picks and accuses me of not listening to her suggestions. Two weeks ago she came up with her own list for Beaver Lake and now accuses me of copying her choices. I maintain, however, that while some of our picks are the same, it is only because she came up with some pretty good ones this time. Actually, her predictions are usually better than mine.”

1) Clark Wendlandt.
2) Carl Svebek III.
3) Jim Tutt.
4) Aaron Martens.
5) David Walker.

Randy Blaukat
FLW pro, Lamar, Mo.
Previous tournament score: 613
Yearly total: 1,921

1) Randy Blaukat. Sorry, Clark. Since I am a victim of the BASS no-patch/no-points rule, my BASS season is over, giving me the opportunity for the first time to have over two days practice for the Wal-Mart Open. Also, I have been waiting for the chance to fish Beaver during the prespawn, which we will have this year. I’ve been fortunate enough to win some regional events on Beaver in the past during this time of year, so I am really looking forward to this one.
2) Randall Hutson. As last year’s runner-up, Hutson is my choice for a top finish because of his talent for doing well at many of the Ozark impoundments during the prespawn. He is an expert with a jerkbait and a Carolina rig, both of which will play a key role in this event.
3) Toshinari Namiki. If Namiki continues to fish here in the U.S., he will become a household name. Already a legend in Japan and a former Japanese Angler of the Year, he has an incredible work ethic and is a student of the sport and the fish. I’ve known Namiki for over five years, and Beaver is his type of water.
4) Cecil Kingsley. Like Randall Hutson, longtime Kansas pro Kingsley has a great track record for doing well in regional events on the Ozark lakes. He has been a finalist in the Wal-Mart Open before, and like Hutson, he is very good with a Carolina rig and a jerkbait. Cecil has been fishing well in the past few events, and Beaver is the type of water at which he usually excels.
5) Clark Wendlandt. The undisputed king of Beaver Lake during the spawning season, Wendlandt earns a place in my picks for his mystical connection with the Beaver Lake bass. Also, Clark is one of the anglers I most highly respect on the tour, since he relies on his own ability to find bass and shuns local help, which is my definition of a true bass pro. Since this will not be a bed-fishing event, I am counting on Clark to find a prespawn pattern to make the finals. He will have a lot of pre-practice for this event and has been fishing well during the first three events, but, mainly, I like his chances because he is so in tune with the energies of Beaver Lake.

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Pundits’ Picks: Beaver Lake
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