Yelas Loves Da Big O
Category: Tournament
Jan 17th, 2014 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jan 17th, 2014 at 12:00 AM
Ranger/Mercury pro Jay Yelas was recently in Arkansas picking up his new Ranger boat for the 2014 season. From there, the former Bassmaster Classic champ is heading to Texas to fish the Rayovac FLW Series event. Then, it’s on to his favorite lake to fish during the winter months, Lake Okeechobee in Florida.
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Kistler Rods pro Jay Yelas (jayyelas.com)
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Ranger time for Yelas.
“I just picked up my new Ranger Z520C from the plant in Arkansas,” said Yelas. “It is the perfect boat for me. Its 20-feet long and a real fishing machine. From here, I am heading down to Sam Rayburn in Texas to fish the Rayovac FLW Series event. That is a warm up to me for the regular season. I’m fishing it for fun and also to break in my Ranger and Mercury engine in preparation for the FLW Tour.”
Okeechobee is a favorite of Yelas’. It is a massive lake and produces impressive limits of largemouth bass. Yelas feels you’d better be on beefy bass to compete at this year’s FLW Tour event held February 6-9.
“I love fishing Okeechobee,” said Yelas. “You can be in shorts and flip flops in the winter. Plus, the fishing is generally really good there. I’ve had some very good finishes, but haven’t won there yet.
“One thing that seems to be constant at Okeechobee is you can’t allow yourself to get locked into catching 10-pound limits. You will not do well if you follow that path. A few years ago, I caught around 100 keepers on Day 1 of a tournament there with my co-angler. Got swept up in the numbers, but was only in 70th or so after the first day. You need to be prepared to focus on the big girls and accept fewer bites each day.”
Yelas likes to cook at Okeechobee.
“We usually rent a place at Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina,” said Yelas. “There are not a lot of great restaurants right there in Clewiston, so we generally cook out there.
“Last year, Scott Martin had a get-together at his place. He hired a chef to cater it. Lots of fresh food. Shrimp and other seafood from Florida waters. It was terrific. It would be cool to have a personal chef at every tournament.”