Tournament site
Beaver Lake. This deep, clear, scenic impoundment in the Arkansas Ozarks has been the site of the annual Wal-Mart Open for eight years straight. It’s familiar territory for pretty much every angler on tour, so the “local” advantage has very little play at this event. Jigs and finesse baits often play a key role in capturing the tournament’s $200,000 top prize, as we saw with Las Vegas’ Tim Klinger’s win last year. The question this year, as in years past, is whether this will be a sight-fishing event. Some pros have their sights set exclusively on spawning-bass bonanza, while others aren’t so sure about that yet, saying it still might be a little cold for a huge migration toward the bank come tournament time. Another angle will be the spotted-bass factor, which plays a huge role at Beaver. Whatever the case, as with Okeechobee, fantasy-fishing fans have a wealth of history at their disposal to make their picks at Beaver Lake, and there definitely are patterns of success exhibited by certain pros at this lake. To wit: see Clark Wendlandt.
Hot picks
Like the pros, the staff think that Clark Wendlandt will right the ship at Beaver Lake. He and another former Wal-Mart Open winner, Dan Morehead, earned the most votes, four apiece, from the six staff pickers. Aaron Martens and his spotted-bass skills came in next with three picks. Tracy Adams, Cody Bird, Luke Clausen and Greg Hackney also collected multiple picks, each with two.
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Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop No. 4
Wal-Mart Open
Beaver Lake, Rogers, Ark.
April 13-16
Rob Newell
Contributing editor
FLW Outdoors
Record: 2-1
Points: 2,276 |
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VS. |
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Patrick Baker
Editor
FLWOutdoors.com
Record: 2-1
Points: 1,999 |
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| 1) AARON MARTENS .Just won BASS AOY. Second at BASS Table Rock. Big momentum is on his side, dude. |
| 2) TOM MANN JR .Just a darn solid all-around pick at Beaver Lake. |
| 3) MIKE WURM .Wurm has had a couple of slow years on the FLW Tour, but I think he’s working his way out of it this year. I’m going to get on board while he picks up steam. |
| 4) JEREMIAH KINDY .Don’t know much about Kindy other than Beaver is his home water. |
| 5) ART BERRY .It’s the year of the Californians, dude. |
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| 1) DAVID WALKER .His stock just keeps going up with each tourney, plus he cracked the top 40 last year at Beaver. I think he’ll reach the top of the charts at the 2005 Wal-Mart Open, and I aim to cash in. |
| 2) DAN MOREHEAD .Morehead earned more points for me at the Ouachita than any other angler, so I’m sticking with the former Angler of the Year. |
| 3) GREG HACKNEY .Despite a rough start at Ouachita, Hackney’s day-two rally was enough to make him my only other significant points play. As with Morehead, I’ll stay loyal for the Wal-Mart Open. |
| 4) BRENT CHAPMAN .Chapman has lost a little ground with each step along the tour this year, but he’s still No. 5 in the standings. Add to that his 11th-place finish at Beaver last year, and I’m sold. |
| 5) CLARK WENDLANDT .It’s his lake and season to salvage. Back on the Wendlandt bandwagon at the most obvious point of the season? Yes, but it sure feels good to type that name in this column again – with confidence. |
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Gary Mortenson
Editor
FLWOutdoors.com
Record: 2-1
Points: 1,865 |
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VS. |
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Chris Eubanks
Editor
FLW Outdoors
Record: 1-2
Points: 2,139 |
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| 1) CLARK WENDLANDT .Clean Shoes is having a tough year, to say the least. But when you have the talent that Wendlandt possesses and a track record on Beaver Lake that is second-to-none, it’s obvious that if the Texan is to finally right the ship it’s going to be at the Wal-Mart Open. He knows it, the fans know and, most importantly, I know it. |
| 2) TRACY ADAMS .While Adams may not be a household name just yet, few anglers have been as consistent on Beaver Lake as the North Carolina native. With four top-20 finishes on Beaver Lake in the past five years, Adams is as close to a lock as anyone. |
| 3) DAN MOREHEAD .Fourth place, 28th place, 22nd place, first place and 15th place – those are the numbers that represent Morehead’s tournament finishes on Beaver Lake over the past five years. What else do you need to know? |
| 4) AARON MARTENS .Still one of my favorite anglers on tour, Martens has now added the 2005 BASS Angler of the Year title to his collection. In addition, over the last three years Martens has finished in 27th, fifth and 12th place on Beaver Lake, respectively. |
| 5) CODY BIRD .With four top-20 finishes in the last five years on Beaver Lake, Bird has demonstrated that he has what it takes to make a title run at this year’s Wal-Mart Open. As they sang in the `60s: “Have you heard about the Bird? Everybody knows that the Bird is the word.” |
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| 1) BOBBY LANE .I really can’t believe I’m picking Lane to win this event, but I’ve picked him every event this season. I’ll say it again: I’ll ride him until he lets me down. |
| 2) AARON MARTENS .Martens just finished second in the BASS event on Table Rock, which lies immediately downstream from Beaver and is the same type of lake. Plus he won the BASS AOY. I think he’ll be confident and Beaver fits his finesse style. |
| 3) LUKE CLAUSEN .Luke is a good clear-water angler and he’s due a top-10 finish. |
| 4) MARCUS CLOUSE .My sleeper pick. Clouse lives near a big, deep, clear lake: Mead. I think he’ll surprise some people. |
| 5) DAVE LEFEBRE .Dave has been fishing well lately, so I guess I’ll finally break down and pick him. He is good in cool- and clear-water conditions. |
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Jeff Schroeder
Editor
FLWOutdoors.com
Record: 1-2
Points: 1,939 |
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Keith Lebowitz
Co-host
“FLW Outdoors” on FSN
Record: 1-2
Points: 1,893 |
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| 1) TRACY ADAMS .Tops the list, but he probably won’t actually win the tournament since randoms sometimes take the Wal-Mart Open title. Adams, however, will finish extremely high at Beaver, just as he always does. He has five top-20s in the FLW’s last six trips there. Money. |
| 2) CODY BIRD .Also a Beaver Lake beast. Bird’s worst Open finish in the last five years? An amazing 18th place in both `00 and `04. Otherwise, he’s been even better than that. |
| 3) DAN MOREHEAD .As you can see, I’m stacking the deck with the barons of Beaver Lake, Morehead among them. He hasn’t finished out of the top 30 there since `99 and, for good measure, he won the thing in ’03 in a decidedly unrandom fashion. |
| 4) MATT HERREN .Steady, steady, steady and gaining this season. Finished 30th at Beaver the last two years, and I need his points to beat Lebowitz. |
| 5) CLARK WENDLANDT .Because he’s Clark Wendlandt and this is Beaver Lake. A Japanese pro should get the nod here since one of them will make the cut – probably red-hot Toshi Namiki, based on the year he’s having – but Wendlandt’s woes this season end here. It’s like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes. Real, clean shoes. |
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| 1) JASON KILPATRICK .He had a nice top-10 at the Ouachita and has fared well in his last two Beaver Lake appearances. |
| 2) LUKE CLAUSEN .The championship hangover is long gone. He’s proven he can step it up when the purse is increased, and $200,000 has a nice ring to it. |
| 3) DAN MOREHEAD .Who’s your daddy? Big Dan is gonna be there when this one is over. He won here a couple of years ago and has been very steady this year. |
| 4) GREG HACKNEY .Coming off a BASS win, he’s still the hottest angler over the past two years. |
| 5) CLARK WENDLANDT .Not taking Clark here is a sin. Even though the Kellogg’s king has struggled this year, he’s still got my vote of confidence on “his” lake. |
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