BEST NEW LURES OF THE PROS

Yelas's Gulp!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Each year, tackle manufacturers and fishing pros develop new lures and new tactics for catching bass. Most companies employ professional fishermen to tell them about problems they find throughout the year while competing and to help them create new lures to solve these fishing problems.

Jay Yelas, a 38-year-old from Tyler, Texas, the 2002 Bassmaster Classic champion and the 2003 BASS Angler of the Year, has earned all-time winnings on the BASS tournament trail well over $1 million. Yelas has had 49 top-10 wins, has made 13 Bassmaster Classic appearances and has won 5 Bassmaster tournaments.

"I like Berkley's version of Yamamoto's Senko called the Gulp! Super Bait series in a sinking minnow," Yelas says. "I like to use the Gulp! sinking minnow in the spring. I'll fish with 20-pound FireLine braid with an 8-pound diameter. I can pitch the Gulp! into a bush because it sinks slowly, but it's heavy enough to sink all the way to the bottom. This slow-moving bait will fall through the branches and the limbs and attract bass differently than pitching a jig or a worm into a bush will. I think that the slow presentation and the different-style bait cause bass to bite that won't bite the typical jig, worm or lizard that you flip into brush."

According to Yelas, he probably wouldn't have won the Angler-of-the-Year title in 2003 if not for the Berkley Gulp! "When I fished on the Sacramento River delta in California, I caught most of my bass on the Gulp! This non-plastic 100-percent-biodegradable soft bait caught bass for me when nothing else would. The Gulp! recently won 'Best in Show' at the 2003 ICAST Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"Berkley also has a new worm that I like to use as well, called the PowerBait Bungee Worm. One of the things I like best about the Bungee Worm is that it has a natural recoiling action. This movement makes the worm appear as live bait to the fish. This bait is the one I won the Bassmaster Classic on in 2002. I also fish the Berkley Jay Yelas Classic Power Jig with a Power Frog plastic chunk - an all-around jig. The jig's big, strong hook features a hook point that is directly in line with the line-tie, which is important to get a fast, solid and straight hook set. The Power Jig has a stout weedguard for fishing in heavy cover without getting hung-up. I increase the size of the jig as the water gets warmer, or as I fish in heavier cover. I like to use the black-and-blue, pumpkin-and-green, black-and-chartreuse or brown-and-black colored Classic Craw as a trailer. The color I fish with depends on the depth of the water and the water clarity. When fishing the Power Bait jig-and-trailer combination, I'll use 25-pound-test Trilene XT clear fishing line."

When fishing spinner baits, Yelas prefers a chartreuse-and-white skirt with no trailer, and likes nickel and gold willow-leaf blades on 25-pound-test Trilene XT line. "When fishing the spinner bait, I'll keep it on the surface, and constantly reel it in, never letting it hit the bottom," Yelas emphasizes. "I've also fished with Berkley's Power Tube with sparkle scales this year. When I fish the tube, I'll fish it on the bottom. I pitch it out, let it sink to the bottom, then hop it off the bottom maybe three times, then reel it in and flip it again. I believe this bait solicits more strikes when presented vertically."

TOMORROW: I LIKE SKIRTS, AND POINTING THE WAY TO MORE BASS