Quick Bites: FLW Tour Kentucky Lake, Day 3

Wal-Mart FLW Tour

Kentucky Lake, Benton, Ky.

Semifinal round, Friday

Dramamine, anyone? … The weatherman predicted the wind would blow on Kentucky Lake today, and blow it did, rocking anglers all over the place as waves crashed over the their boats. A couple of pros – Curt Lytle and Toshinari Namiki – said the wind was actually helping them, but the rest of the pros were definitely all shook up about it. “I’m fishing shallow, and it takes boat control,” said No. 9 pro Matt Herren. “The wind was pushing me around really bad. I’ve got to stay on the trolling motor, and that stirs up the mud and spooks the fish. It really wreaked havoc with what I’m doing.” Joked No. 3 pro Gary Yamamoto, “I hide in the marinas.” No. 2 Steve Kennedy also had trouble, saying, “It’s been hard to fish. Maybe that’s why we’re bunching up – we’re trying to get out of the wind.” Unfortunately, the wind is expected to blow again tomorrow, with current forecasts calling for winds in the 15- to 25- mph range.

He’s so shallow … Yesterday, No. 4 Lytle predicted he would crash and burn on day three, as he was one of maybe only two top-10 pros working a shallow-water pattern. He ended up bringing in 13 pounds, 13 ounces today, which is actually 10 ounces more than he caught on day two and a couple pounds better than he thought he did. “I honestly thought I had 11 pounds,” Lytle said. “I struggled very hard. I don’t think I ever got a big-fish bite. I guess I just underestimated the size of my fish.” So even though Lytle’s weight couldn’t be described as spectacular, luckily for him, just about everyone else’s weight went down today. Therefore, Lytle’s status quo wound up pushing him ahead of more than half the field. “I’m looking at the leaderboard, and no one else had 13 pounds (yesterday), so clearly a lot of guys stubbed their toes today,” he said. Indeed, though Lytle’s two-day opening-round catch was enough to put him in the finals, his actual day-two catch was the lowest of any of the final-round pros except for Yamamoto, who improved his catch today by a couple of pounds and caught 15-2. In typical Lytle fashion, he joked, “Tomorrow I’m hoping a lot of guys screw up.”

Killer combo … As we’ve mentioned throughout the week, Kentucky/Barkley is home to a host of professional, semiprofessional and back-of-the-boat anglers, several of whom competed this week. Paducah pro Terry Bolton currently leads the tournament with nearly a 5-pound lead, and today his co-angler partner was a guy he’d fished against many times in local tournaments – Cadiz co-angler Brian Hickey, who finished third. “I’ve known of Terry since probably 1994,” Hickey said. “He and Shawn Penn were the two young terrors of our lake. They’ve been the model of who people around here measure themselves against.” Over the years, Bolton and Hickey have become friends, creating a neat situation today when the two were paired together. “I’ve never been in a boat with any of these locals who are professional anglers,” Hickey said. “We had a really, really fun time – we would have had a good time even if we weren’t catching fish.” … According to Bolton, Hickey’s own knowledge of the lake helped him today as he was busy trying to keep his boat together in the wind. “Brian figured out a few places and how to catch them as I was trying to control the boat,” Bolton said. “That’s how you work with a partner.”

Good start … Runner-up co-angler Andy Montgomery is almost finished with his first year on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, and he’s done a whale of a job. He entered the Kentucky Lake event ranked second in co-angler points standings with two top-10 finishes in four events on his resume. He will leave Kentucky Lake with a third final-round finish, going three for five so far this season. He also apparently came out of nowhere, having cherry-picked a few Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League events over the years as well as competing in the Stren Series for a couple years. According to Montgomery, the secret to success in the big leagues is simply a matter of paying attention. “I try to adapt to what my pro is fishing and pay attention to what they’re doing so I can figure out how to catch them,” he said. Montgomery has a bit of experience on the pro side himself, having earned a trip to the Stren Series Championship back in 2005 as a professional. “I just try to learn something from everybody I go out with,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot this week.” Indeed, he’s had some excellent teachers. “I got paid $10,000 to fish with Terry Bolton and Steve Kennedy,” he said. Not a bad deal.

Quick numbers:

1-5: Margin of victory, in pounds and ounces, of co-angler Tyrone Phillips over Montgomery.

7: Number of top-10 pros who performed better on day two than they did on day three.

25: Number of top-10 finishes, including this one, scored by Bolton on Kentucky/Barkley since 1995.

100: Percentage of final-round pros who caught a five-bass limit today.

11-7: Difference, in pounds and ounces, of Jim Moynagh’s day-two catch of 23-4 and his day-three catch of 11-13.

Sound bites:

“I think we’re all pretty much fishing for second.” – No. 6 pro David Walker, on Bolton’s large lead on his home lake.

“This one weighs 12 pounds.” – No. 10 co-angler William “Pete” Bridges, trying to scare eventual winner Phillips, with his 12-pound, 15-ounce weight, with the one fish he had in his bag. Bridges’ bass actually weighed 2 pounds, 1 ounce.

“Kentucky Lake’s got more fish than all the lakes in Ohio.” – Buckeye State co-angler George Polosky, on the healthy bass population in Kentucky Lake.

“I’m from North Carolina; I didn’t know they had hurricanes in Kentucky.” – No. 10 pro David Fritts on today’s excessive winds.

“That sounds like an unlucky number, but I’m happy with it.” – Lytle, not superstitious with his 13-pound, 13-ounce day-three catch.

Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 6:30 a.m. Central time at Kentucky Dam Marina, located at 466 Marina Drive in Gilbertsville.