Clausen Overcomes Pressure and Cold Front to Advance to Knockout Round
LAKE FORK, Texas – Some guys like Mark Daniels, Jr. and Jeff Sprague had it figured out all day long on Qualifying Days 1 and 3. But then there’s Luke Clausen.
Even though he finished above the Elimination Line in 13th place with 78 pounds, 1 ounce, he still had some questions he wanted answered. As the Washington pro pulled his boat out of the waters of Lake Fork, there was plenty of evidence of his problem-solving skills on full display Sunday.
More than 12 rods and countless torn up soft plastics baits filled the deck of his Ranger. When asked what worked best for him today, Clausen chuckled before his response.
“I caught fish on four or five different baits today,” Clausen said. “A lot of fish were spawning that you couldn’t see and then you had some that weren’t spawning yet. It’s really a menagerie of techniques I’m using to try to figure this lake out. Really, pitching a creature bait was probably the best thing for me. I was either pitching it right outside of where they were spawning or right next to potential beds.”
Clausen started the day in 25th place with 38-4. That weight from Day 1 put him less than 2 pounds below the Top 20 to begin Day 3. Even though he was in a somewhat favorable position entering Sunday’s Qualifying Round of the General Tire Stage Three Presented by TrueTimber, the Z-Man pro was still uneasy.
“It was kind of an unknown what I was going to do heading into today,” Clausen recapped. “I was fortunate to catch the ones I did on Day 1 because these fish are so pressured. You really are trying to find new fish that haven’t been fished for and that’s not easy.”
The fishing pressure was no surprise, but the pressure system that rolled through overnight in east Texas brought in unexpected challenges. The air temperature dropped into the low 50s for most of the day, while the sun never could peek through the dense cloud cover. Depending on where you were fishing on Lake Fork, you either stayed cold and dry or cold and wet due to intermittent rain.
Clausen says that if you add together the pressured fish with cold front, it could probably explain why the lake’s Florida-strain largemouths were so much harder to catch for the anglers today than it was on Friday.
“I think the combination of those two aspects brought the weights down today,” Clausen said. “There was again no sun today so that in itself isn’t ideal. There really needs to be a flow of new fish coming into the bank to spawn or it’s going to be really tough come Tuesday. It’s rare to find a pocket you’re not sharing with someone else.”
The Shimano pro was able to collect 39-13 of bass to finish in 13th place and move on to Tuesday’s Knockout Round. Clausen made the Knockout Round during Stage One on Lake Eufaula, but was unable to qualify for the Championship Round. To make his first Championship Round of the season, Clausen has some high expectations for what it’s going to take.
“I think guys are going to have to catch 35 pounds or more to make the Championship Round,” Clausen predicted. “If the weather warms up and we get lucky with some sun, it could be 45 pounds or more to make it. It’s going to be tough.”
Clausen and the other 18 qualifiers out of Group A now await the Top 19 anglers (excluding the round winners) from Group B in the Knockout Round. Only the Top 8 will advance to Wednesday’s Championship Round. The action continues tomorrow with Qualifying Day 4 at 10 a.m. CT on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF app and MyOutdoorTV.