It’s good to be king

Kenney scores his second FLW Outdoors national win at FLW Series

CLEWISTON, Fla. – When J.T. Kenney of Port Charlotte, Fla., was dubbed “King Kenney, the Overlord of Okeechobee” several years ago, it was a light-hearted moniker given to the gregarious pro because of his uncanny ability to find concentrations of tournament-winning fish on the massive lake.

After all, the Big O helped put Kenney on professional fishing’s map in 2002 when he was just a pauper guide on Lake Okeechobee who happened to get into a Wal-Mart FLW Tour event at the last minute from the waiting list. Four days later he won the event, sacking up his first $100,000 check.

Since then he has won a BASS Open (October 2003) and notched three other top-10s in Stren Series competition on the Big O. In fact, Kenney once held the record for the heaviest one-day catch in a Stren Series event (32-12) from Okeechobee until the Stren Series ventured west to Texas and California.

Today, Kenney’s crown came under serious contention at the Wal-Mart FLW Series BP Series Eastern event as some of the best names in professional fishing tried to wrangle it away from him.

Greg Hackney and Tommy Biffle both mounted impressive charges at Kenney’s laurels with big bags of bass on the final day.

Then well-known local Jimmy McMillan tried to overturn the King’s court with a crowd-rousing 18 pounds, 2 ounces.

But when Kenney took center stage, he clearly demonstrated his mastery of the Big O with a 19-pound catch that gave him a four-day total of 68 pounds, 13 ounces and the $125,000 victory.

There’s no denying it, King Kenney has a kindred connection with Lake Okeechobee.

“Winning this means I can keep the bills paid and keep fishing,” Kenney said humbly after his win. “That’s all that matters to me. I did not get into professional fishing to get rich or famous. I simply love fishing, that’s why I do it, and I consider myself very lucky to be in a position where I can fish for a living.”

About his inherent abilities on Okeechobee, Kenney explained that guiding here for several years taught him a great deal about Okeechobee’s bass and their unique habits.

“I actually found the spot where I won this event in 2001 when the water was so low,” he said. “It’s an area in the middle of a huge shallow flat covered in shrimp grass. And in the middle of the shrimp grass is a large depression about the size of a football field that’s only about 12 inches deeper than the surrounding flat. When I found it seven years ago, I told myself that I would win a tournament on it someday if the water ever got low again – and I did.”

Timing is another critical part of Kenney’s tournament-winning game. He knows when those “weather windows” open up on the big lake and conditions get just right for big bites.

“The second day was really the magical day when the window opened because it got calm for a couple days and the water cleared,” Kenney explained. “The first day it was not quite right, and the third day it was completely shut down from the wind and mud.

“When I got there this morning, I could see my lure about 3 or 4 inches under the water, and I knew right then I was going to catch a big bag in the afternoon,” he said. “In fact, I left it, went back into the rim canal, caught a of couple keepers, and then at about 10:30, I couldn’t stand it (the rim canal) anymore. I went back out there and it was on.”

For his catch on the main lake, Kenney fished a Berkley Frenzy Rattler (in a shad color early in the week and gold today) on 17-pound-test Trilene Maxx line tied to a 7-1/2 foot G. Loomis medium-heavy-action flipping stick.

“I used the long rod because the water was so shallow and I had to keep the lure up,” he said. “My depth finder was reading `point nine’ most of the day.”

When he laid up on day three in the rim canal, he used a Berkley Power Finesse Shaky worm in blue fleck color tied to 8-pound-test Spiderwire Ultracast and 8-pound-test Trilene fluorocarbon leader.

“Knowing when to be where was really critical for me this week,” he added. “As crazy as it sounds, it’s almost like tidal fishing in terms of knowing when the fish are going to bite where.”

Indeed, it’s good to be king.

McMillan second

Local pro Jimmy McMillan of Belle Glade, Fla., finished second with a three-day total of 64 pounds, 8 ounces worth $50,000.

“To be honest with you, I’m dissappointed in second; I wanted to win,” McMillan said. “This is the only tournament like this I’ll get to fish – I don’t fish the whole tour like the other guys who will have a chance to win big money like this again. This is my one shot on my home lake.”

Much of McMillan’s frustration came from an estimated 8-pound bass that he lost, which would have sewn up victory for him.

The local angler fished in the main lake on the south end, concentrating on small depressions with a Lucky Craft LV-7 lipless rattler in a gold shiner color tied to 25-pound-test Trilene Big Game line.

Biffle takes third

Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., finished third with a four-day total of 62 pounds, 8 ounces for $40,000.

Biffle spent his week in the rim canal, concentrating on deep structure in the middle of the canal.

“I had a couple of deep ledges in there that were key,” Biffle said. “They would come out to about 4 or 5 feet and then break off into 10 feet of water.”

Biffle’s primary weapon on the ledges was a 10-inch Gene Larew worm (junebug) rigged with a ¼-ounce Tru-tungsten weight and tied to 15-pound-test Sunline fluorocarbon.

“I wasn’t interested in throwing that small stuff – shaky heads and drop-shots,” Biffle added. “I wanted big bites, so I stayed with that big worm.”

Hackney rallies for fourth

Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., came from ninth place to fourth thanks to his 19-pound, 7-ounce catch today, the largest stringer on day four, bringing his four-day total to 61 pounds, 11 ounces.

Hackney used an aluminum tunnel-hull boat to squeak into Harney Pond Canal each day and went to work with three primary lures to do his damage: a drop-shot 4-inch finesse worm, a Strike King Series 3 crankbait and a swimbait.

“Earlier in the week I caught a lot of fish on the drop-shot and the Series 3 in a root beer color – they would eat that root beer up,” Hackney said. “But today, I fished 90 percent of the day with a swimbait – I was going for the gusto – and I caught three of the ones I weighed in on it.”

The Hack Attack took home $30,000 for his finish.

Rose fifth

Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., finished fifth with a four-day total of 61 pounds, 8 ounces worth $20,000.

Rose attributed all his success this week to his ability to get in Harney Pond Canal using a full size Ranger boat.

“They said it couldn’t be done, and I did it four days,” Rose said. “I can’t say enough about that Ranger and Yamaha combination. Every day I ran that boat and motor aground until the heating alarm went off in the motor. Once I got in the canal and cooled it off with fresh water, it was fine; I could do it again tomorrow if I had to.”

Even Hackney, who bumped the bottom getting into Harney Pond Canal in his aluminum tunnel-hull, was amazed at Rose’s shallow-water sand-bar surfing ability.

“Sometimes this game comes down to knowing the limits of your equipment,” Rose commented. “And I guarantee you I pushed mine to extremes this week.”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros in the FLW Series Eastern Division event on Lake Okeechobee:

6th: Russell Lane of Prattville, Ala., four-day total of 60-13, $19,000

7th: Chad Grigsby of Maple Grove, Minn., four-day total of 60-7, $18,000

8th: Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., four-day total of 59-14, $17,000

9th: Takahiro Omori of Emory, Texas, four-day total of 56-7, $16,000

10th: Greg Pugh of Cullman, Ala., four-day total of 55-0, $15,000

Coming up next

The next Wal-Mart FLW Series BP Eastern Division event will be held March 26-29 on Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Ala.