Sam’s club

Kentucky Lake hotshot Sam Lashlee leads pro pack at Stren Midwest after day two

BENTON, Ky. – Though the weights and numbers were down slightly from opening day, it was still another fish-catching fiesta on day two of the Stren Series Midwest Division tournament on Kentucky Lake. All total, only three pros in the 200-boat field never caught a fish Thursday, and the pros brought in 82 five-bass limits today to end the opening round beneath the sweltering Kentucky sun.

Leading them all is Kentucky Lake homeboy Sam Lashlee of Camden, Tenn., who brought in 10 bass over two days weighing 41 pounds, 5 ounces, including the 18-15 he caught today. Lashlee is making an extremely long run down Kentucky Lake to his Tennessee home to haul in the big fish. He pointed the boat south yesterday too, but says Thursday he made an even longer run.

“I went about 30 miles farther – I ran over 80 miles today,” Lashlee said. “I started at my first stop, which is probably 60 miles out. I had a lot of company. The fish just didn’t seem to be there, or I wasn’t fishing right, so I decided to make a long run.”

Lashlee’s decision paid off for both him and his co-angler, Jeramiah Sifers, who extended his day-one lead into day two with the help of Lashlee’s homegrown sweet spot.

“I told my co-angler to get ready to get them, because they’re here,” Lashlee said. “We high-fived three or four times and came on back.”

Like Wednesday, Lashlee reported catching them on a crankbait as well as the 1/2-ounce Sam Lashlee jig. However, unlike yesterday, Lashlee didn’t catch them quite as deep. On day one, he caught them in water as deep as 25 feet, deeper than he has ever caught them before on this lake. Today, he still fished deep, but not quite as far down.

“This ledge wasn’t as deep – it was probably 12 to 14 feet,” he said. “The farther south you go, the ledges aren’t nearly as deep.”

Lashlee is in contention for his second victory in two weeks, as he took home the crown last week at the Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Old Hickory Lake in Tennessee.

Auten tends to family while Sheffer leaps to second

Yesterday’s leader, Mike Auten, caught 14 pounds, 2 ounces today to bring his two-day total to 37 pounds, 12 ounces, which was good for second, but his official tournament finish will be 21st. Due to a family emergency, Auten will not be able to compete tomorrow, which means 21st-place pro Ed Dunnaway of Flowood, Miss., moves up into the semifinal round in the 20th-place cut position, as the top 20 pros and 20 co-anglers will continue competition Friday.

Moving up the ladder to the second position, then, is yesterday’s 29th-place pro, Mike Sheffer of Morganfield, Ky., who leapt ahead today with a 22-pound limit. His two-day total is 36 pounds, 11 ounces. Unlike most of the semifinal-round contenders, Sheffer caught his bass cranking on Barkley Lake.

“I mainly fished a crankbait all day long,” he said. “Everything went good for me – it came easy. I had a limit by 11 o’clock.”

An easy day is not what many other competitors reported, and Sheffer had it good not only on Barkley but also on Kentucky, where he caught one of his two biggest bass.

Lynch moves to third

Local pro Drew Lynch of Paducah, Ky., caught 20 pounds today to move up into the third position with a two-day total of 36 pounds, 7 ounces.

“I’ve just been fishing Kentucky Lake ledges and drop-offs from 10 feet to 18 feet,” said Lynch, who caught his bass mainly on jigs and worms. “I feel good about it, but anything can happen. The fish can move, so I don’t want to get overconfident.”

Like Lashlee, Lynch lives in the Kentucky Lake area, and he admits that, at a place like Kentucky-Barkley, the locals can have a distinct advantage.

“The locals do know the lake better and the ledges,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean a local’s going to win it.”

Tutt, Penn round out top five

Pro Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, retained his fourth-place status with a limit weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces for a two-day total of 36 pounds, 6 ounces. Tutt, though, had a tougher time out there today, bringing in every bite he got.

“I caught all my fish again today on a big worm,” he said. “I caught four of them out of one area. It was a slow day. I kind of pulled off of them because I knew I had enough. But I’m going to hammer them tomorrow.”

One of Kentucky Lake’s most feared local sticks, Shawn Penn, ended the opening round in fifth with a two-day total of 35 pounds, 9 ounces, including a day-two limit weighing 20 pounds, 3 ounces.

“I probably only got 15 bites all day,” said Penn, who’s using a jig and a worm to catch them off the Kentucky Lake ledges. “I’ve got several spots, with one spot that I’ve really got them on.”

Penn said his success hinges on whether or not enough water is pulled to get the current moving.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros after day two on Kentucky Lake:

6th: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 10 bass, 35-8

7th: Jim Jones, Big Bend, Wis., 10 bass, 34-0

8th: Yancy Windham, Gordo, Ala., 10 bass, 33-5

9th: Terry Bolton, Paducah, Ky., 10 bass, 32-13

10th: Bobby Kilzer, Paris, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-11

Sifers continues co-angler dominance

Co-angler Jeramiah Sifers led day one and got the hottest draw of all Thursday when he had the good fortune to fish with pro leader Lashlee. That pairing gave Sifers a 14-pound limit today that brought his two-day total to 33 pounds, 5 ounces, affording him a 6-pound, 8-ounce lead over his nearest competition. Unfortunately for Sifers, though, those weights will be zeroed for tomorrow’s semifinal round.

“We slacked off after 10 o’clock,” Sifers said of the pair’s phenomenal day of fishing way down south on Kentucky Lake. “I figured I had enough, so I just tried to catch a big one. We caught a lot of fish and had a ball.”

Sifers said he is catching his bass this week on a worm, and he is paired with Lashlee again tomorrow by virtue of their mutual first-place opening-round finishes.

Meuth holds steady, Barton moves up

The top two co-angler positions from yesterday held today, as yesterday’s No. 2 Richard Meuth is again the runner-up thanks to his two-day total of 26 pounds, 13 ounces. He caught 18-9 yesterday, but his weight fell today to 8-4, still plenty enough for a chance to fish on day three.

“It was a lot tougher today,” Meuth said. “The bite was a lot slower; they weren’t as aggressive. But I had a good day.”

Doug Barton of Pittsburg, Mo., jumped from 32nd to third with a five-bass catch today that weighed 15 pounds, 14 ounces, which brought his two-day total to 26 pounds. He caught his bass today on 10-inch worms on Barkley Lake and hopes his day-three draw will fish the same.

“I’d like to stick with the 10-inch worms because we got bit a lot today, especially in the afternoon,” Barton said.

Sneed, Cloutier take top five

In fourth is Billy Sneed of Bowling Green, Ky., with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 24 pounds, 11 ounces. Behind him in fifth is Scott Cloutier of Rochester, Minn., with eight bass weighing 24 pounds, 8 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers after day two on Kentucky Lake:

6th: Chuck Rounds, Benton, Ky., nine bass, 24-8

7th: Nick Lux, Shelbyville, Ind., 10 bass, 24-5

8th: Ron Fabiszak, South Bend, Ind., eight bass, 24-2

9th: Brian “Pete” Peters, Woodlawn, Tenn., seven bass, 23-6

10th: Rick Pelletier, Anoka, Minn., seven bass, 22-0

Into the cut

Day three of Midwest Division competition on Kentucky Lake begins as the semifinal-round field of 20 boats takes off from Moors Resort and Marina at 6 a.m. Central time. Anglers’ weights are reset to zero for Friday, and winners in both fields are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight over the next two days.