Clouds continue on day two at Kentucky Lake
BENTON, Ky. – The top anglers from day one should be happy with conditions on day two of Wal-Mart FLW Tour competition at Kentucky Lake – at least in theory. It’s overcast and breezy, which is very similar weather to what they fished in Wednesday and caught some big stringers.
A lot of top pros, like Wednesday’s leader, Curt Lytle, were encouraged by the gloomy weather, saying it helped turn on the bass bite.
However, the weather did lighten up a little bit yesterday afternoon – not necessarily becoming sunny, just less cloudy – and only then did other top pros start catching fish.
“In the area I was fishing, the clouds really hurt them,” 10th-place pro Randy Blaukat said. “Once the sun started peeking through the clouds a little, they started biting better. I fished a jig in the afternoon and they started biting hard.”
Another decision everybody is making Thursday is whether to fish Kentucky or Barkley lake. Some of the better bags from the shallow-water anglers like Lytle and Blaukat seemed to come from Barkley, but Kentucky also coughed up its fair share of leading limits.
Logistics
The two-day, opening-round cut will be made following Thursday’s action. The full field competes in the opening round for one of 10 slots in Friday’s competition, based on their two-day accumulated weight. Look for the pro cut weight to hover around 31 to 33 pounds and the co-angler cut weight to settle in around 18 to 21 pounds.
Weights are cleared for day three, and co-angler competition concludes following Friday’s weigh-in. The top 10 pros continue competition Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
Hosted by the Marshall County Chamber of Commerce and Marshall County Tourist Commission, the tournament features 400 anglers from 37 states, Japan, Spain and Australia, with 200 of the world’s best bass pros fishing for a top award of $100,000 cash. Two hundred co-anglers will compete for a top award of $20,000 cash.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 Central each morning from Kentucky Dam Marina. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the Marina beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 310 W. 5th St. in Benton beginning at 4 p.m. For those who cannot attend in person, FLWOutdoors.com provides FLW Live, a real-time application for viewing and staying statistically current with tournament weigh-ins.
Thursday’s conditions
Sunrise: 5:49 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 56 degrees
Expected high temperature: 64 degrees
Water temperature: 67-71 degrees
Wind: W at 20 mph
Maximum humidity: 61 percent
Day’s outlook: scattered thunderstorms/wind