Lashlee leads
Leaders lie low at Kentucky Lake EverStart Series event
BENTON, Ky. – Can you imagine purposely avoiding your best spots in a fishing tournament?
It has become a standard practice for the leaders of the Kentucky Lake EverStart Central event this week as they have strategically mapped their way into the top 20 by fishing secondary areas in an effort to save their best spots for the finals.
Sam Lashlee of Camden, Tenn., brought in 15 pounds, 13 ounces today to take the lead on day two with a two-day total of 35 pounds, 1 ounce.
Each of the last two days Lashlee has traveled nearly 70 miles to the south on Kentucky Lake to do his fishing. Tomorrow he plans to run even farther to his best spots that he has not even sampled yet.
“I’m fishing both shallow and deep, but I had to work a little harder today,” he said. “Yesterday I only fished four of my spots; today I had to fish a lot more places. But I’ve still got plenty of water that I haven’t fished yet, and I’m pretty excited about the next two days.”
Newton moves to second
Jonathan Newton of Rogersville, Ala., fished in Barkley Lake yesterday and caught 14 pounds, 8 ounces. Today he moved over to Kentucky Lake and caught the biggest stringer of the tournament – 19 pounds, 15 ounces.
He is now in second with a two-day total of 34 pounds, 7 ounces.
“I was pleasantly surprised by my places on Kentucky Lake this morning,” Newton said. “My first two keepers today were a 5-pounder and a 3-pounder hooked on the same plug – that got things going for me.”
Newton revealed that he is throwing a big crankbait on main lake drops.
“I only fished two of my places on Kentucky, and I don’t think I hurt them too bad,” he added. “I have about seven or eight places I’ll be fishing tomorrow.”
All going according to plan for Morehead
For the last two days, Stratos pro Dan Morehead of Paducah, Ky., has been fishing what he calls the “B Plan,” his term for a milk run of secondary areas.
That B Plan has put him in third place with a two-day total of 33 pounds, 8 ounces.
Tomorrow he is switching to the A Plan.
“This is kind of like halftime,” he said after making the cut Thursday. “Now it’s time to get serious.”
Morehead is looking for redemption in his tournament fishing after finishing second by tiebreaker at the Red River EverStart event and then missing the top-10 cut in the Kentucky Lake FLW Tour event by 1 ounce.
“I feel confident about the next two days,” he said. “But you need a little good fortune to win any tournament, so hopefully luck will be on my side.”
Bolton sneaks into fourth
Terry Bolton of Paducah, Ky., has managed to stay where he wants while fishing his home lake this week: under the radar.
He now sits in fourth with a two-day total of 33 pounds, 6 ounces.
Bolton thinks the deep fish are improving by the day. He not only caught his bigger fish quicker today, but fish moved up on some of his other spots, which had previously been duds.
“I’m encouraged by what I’m seeing evolve out there,” Bolton commented. “Up until now the routine has been to pull up to a spot, catch a bunch of shorts, then a keeper, a bunch more shorts, then a keeper, and then maybe a good fish. But today I caught all of my best fish on the first cast to a spot, and that’s the way it should be.
“I also caught some fish off a spot that has not produced all week, which is another good sign that they are moving out that way.”
Consistent Caldwell in fifth
Larry Caldwell of Saint Peters, Mo., has easily been the most consistent angler at Kentucky Lake this week.
On day one he weighed in 16 pounds, 4 ounces, and today he weighed in – 16 pounds, 4 ounces. Now that’s consistency.
Caldwell now has a two-day total of 32 pounds, 8 ounces, good enough for fifth place.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pros are Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala., in sixth place with a two-day total of 32 pounds, 6 ounces; Billy Schroeder of Paducah, Ky., in seventh place with a two-day total of 31 pounds, 13 ounces; Bobby Kilzer of Paris, Tenn., in eighth place with a two-day total of 31 pounds, 10 ounces; Shawn Penn of Eddyville, Ky., in ninth place with a two-day total of 30 pounds, 11 ounces; and Drew Lynch of Paducah, Ky., in 10th place with a two-day total of 30 pounds, 5 ounces.
Pro stats and big bass
In the Pro Division on day two, there were 53 limits, the top-20 cut weight was 26 pounds, 14 ounces, and the money cut was 19 pounds, 2 ounces.
The big-bass award of $750 went to Christian Romans of Carrollton, Ky., for a bass weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces.
Clark continues to lead co-anglers
Woody Clark of Bandera, Texas, maintained his lead in the Co-angler Division by catching three bass on a Carolina rig for a weight of 7 pounds, 1 ounce.
Clark now has a two-day total of 24 pounds, 9 ounces.
Eric Braden of Radcliff, Ky., has been one of the only co-anglers to bring in a limit each day. He is now in second place with two-day total of 24 pounds, 4 ounces.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 in the Co-angler Division are Bill Rogers of Jasper, Texas, in third place with a two-day total of 23 pounds, 4 ounces; Keith Newsom of Memphis, Tenn., in fourth place with a two-day total of 22 pounds; Tim Webb of Olpe, Kan., in fifth place with a two-day total of 21 pounds, 3 ounces; Frank Divis of Fayetteville, Ark., in sixth place with a two-day total of 20 pounds, 3 ounces; Ron Bricker of Indianapolis in seventh place with a two-day total of 19 pounds, 7 ounces; Tony Cooper of Horn Lake, Miss., in eighth place with a two-day total of 19 pounds, 1 ounce; Tony Burke of Bloomington, Ind., in ninth place with a two-day total of 17 pounds, 10 ounces; and Doug Fraser of Ashland City, Tenn., in 10th place with a two-day total of 17 pounds, 6 ounces.
Co-angler stats and big bass
In the Co-angler Division on day two, there were 12 limits, the top-20 cut was 14 pounds, 8 ounces, and the money cut was 9 pounds, 9 ounces.
The big-bass award of $250 went to David Garrett of Dawson Springs, Ky., for a 6-pound, 3-ounce lunker.
The top 20 pros and 20 co-anglers start from zero tomorrow at The Moors Resort and Marina at 6 a.m. Central.