WHY PROS BOMB
LUKE CLAUSEN
TOURNAMENT AND FINISH : 2019 Bass Pro Tour on Lake Winnebago , 75th place LESSON LEARNED : Don ’ t outsmart yourself .
Just because it ’ s simple or obvious doesn ’ t mean it ’ s wrong . Just ask Luke Clausen , especially after his experience on Lake Winnebago in 2019
“ That one was right in my wheelhouse ,” Clausen says . “ It ’ s a Northern fishery with smallmouth and largemouth . I love those , and I just out-thought myself and made it more complicated than it was .”
Clausen went into the event focused on smallmouth , and he found plenty of them in five small bays on one side of the lake . The problem was that most every other pro found them , too . Clausen figured if he was going to do well in the tournament , he ’ d have to find something all to himself .
“ I ended up fishing where nobody was around me , but that ’ s because there were no fish there ,” Clausen says .
Meanwhile , those five bays got pounded by pros every day of the event and never stopped producing . In fact , once the tournament was over , Clausen went back out there just to see what he had missed .
“ I caught a ton of fish , and every single one of them had hook marks in their faces ,” Clausen admits . “ I didn ’ t realize how resilient those fish were , and I think a big part is our format where they can go right back down and get comfortable enough to bite again .
“ I just thought the pattern was too obvious and too pressured , and I was definitely wrong .”
PHOTO BY PHOENIX MOORE
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42 FLWFISHING . COM | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | DECEMBER-JANUARY 2021