Kentucky Lake Day 2 Coverage
Weigh-in is coming right up!
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Storylines: Right, but not right?
2:00 p.m.: Closing time
As the day has worn on, the glow of a fast start this morning has somewhat worn off. As a sign of how frustrating it can be out on the ledges right now, Bryan Thrift has abandoned them entirely and is now flipping docks. Throughout the field, from John Voyles with 13 pounds to Jeff Sprague slowly upgrading into the low teens, to Michael Neal with only about 13 pounds, a lot of pros could really use a kicker or two late in the day.
Yesterday, plenty of big fish were caught late. Today the same is likely to happen. The current is running about the same as it has all day, but the TVA can change that anytime. When weigh-in starts, we’re sure to have some drama and surprises either way.
Weigh-in details
Watch the day-two weigh-in live at FLWFishing.com starting at 3 p.m. CT or come down and watch in-person at Kentucky Dam State Park at 7792 U.S. Highway 641 N., Gilbertsville, Ky., 42044.
1:25 p.m.: Rose has another good day going
Mark Rose has about 16 pounds. He just culled with a 4-pounder that ran him in some brush and he thought it got off. As he wrapped the line around his hand to break it off he broke the branch and the fish was still hooked and he landed it. So, that’s a nifty way to get a 4-pounder in the boat.
12:35 p.m.: Morgan going to work, Haynes still hunting
It’s been an hour since Randy Haynes last made a cast. Randy Haynes only has one fish. For anyone else, that would be a very worrisome string of facts. For Randy Haynes on Kentucky Lake, it almost makes a body wonder if every passing minute makes it more likely that he finds the mother lode. Running from waypoint to waypoint, Haynes still hasn’t found the magic school. Looking at his history on this fishery, it’s bound to happen soon.
While Haynes is running all over and burning gas, Andy Morgan is putting bass in the boat. So far today, he says he has 15 pounds. That likely puts him around 18 to 20 pounds, and that’s not even considering the possibility of a kicker in the rest of the day. As usual, the GOAT is doing his thing, and probably creeping up the AOY leaderboard by the minute.
12:00 p.m.: More catches
It’s update time! One of the steadier pros out there, Cody Meyer has been culling up all day and now has around 15 pounds. Matt Arey has gotten off to a bad start. On day one he weighed more than 20 pounds – today he’s only got three fish. Troy Morrow has four in the boat. Additionally, Andy Young is making a comeback with 14 pounds.
Randy Haynes has broken out the spinning rod again. He says the afternoon bite should already be going, but it plainly isn’t. Yesterday, the fish bit late in the day. It’d be no surprise to see them go off again this afternoon.
11:15 a.m.: Weather watch
With a light south breeze, it’s getting hot out on the lake, but the weather isn’t too out of hand yet. Right now, it’s merely a comfortably warm day in Kentucky. Of course, the high is 95, so it’s going to be hot. On day one, the current ticked up as the day went on, but so far it has remained very steady today. That said, despite some early success, it seems like a bit of a lull has settled in for most of the field. Considering how good Kentucky Lake is, that doesn’t figure to last too long…
10:50 a.m.: Knight on the rise?
About 20 minutes ago Brad Knight caught a 4+ to get things rolling a bit. Then, he said that it was about to get good. We’ll see how it plays out, but the way the day has gone for everyone else, another 20 pounds or so would keep him right up there, and 4-pounders are the way to do it.
10:30 a.m.: Knight has his limit
It took a while, but Brad Knight now has a limit for around 10 pounds. Not near the weight he’ll need to fish day three, but plenty to build on, especially if he can bust a couple more 8-pounders.
Jeff Sprague came into the tournament a nose ahead of John Cox in the AOY race and both of them have struggled. Today, Sprague has a long day of fishing, but he’s not going great so far. The Texas pro has three so far and is sharing a spot with Clayton Batts, who’s got around 15 pounds.
10:00 a.m.: Around the field
Outside of the top group, Scott Martin is struggling for the fourth day in a row (counting Pickwick) with only two on the board so far. Cody Meyer has limited for about 15 pounds. This year was supposed to set up a lot like his AOY battle with Andy Morgan, but that hasn’t been the case – unexpected patterns at most of the lakes have put the fishing well outside of his wheelhouse. Elsewhere, Alex Davis is sitting on two and Buddy Gross and Jim Moynagh have empty livewells so far. Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson has around 1 3 pounds in the ‘well and Brandon McMillan has two keepers.
9:25 a.m.: Thoughts from Haynes
When Randy Haynes opens up about ledge fishing it is nothing short of amazing. Today, he says he messed up on the morning bite and didn’t fish shallow enough. Now, he says he’ll have to do it the hard way and wait for the afternoon bite.
If there are distinct bite windows to take advantage of, you’d think Haynes would be on top of it. That said, the hope is still for some more current that’ll open a bite window across the entire lake.
Day one GoPro highlights
9:15 a.m.: Current and a few catches
The TVA is running about 25,000 CFS through the Kentucky Dam at the moment, which is better than anything pros saw yesterday morning. It also appears that the south wind is a bit more widespread. All that is probably contributing to the slight uptick in action.
As for catches, Mark Rose has a limit, but none of them are big. Randy Haynes is finally on the board with a 2-pounder. Additionally, Larry Nixon has two fish, one of which is a 4-pounder.
8:45 a.m.: Knight in action, others catching too
After a slow start, Brad Knight has picked up a bit with three keepers on the crankbait fairly quickly. No big ones, but there’s plenty of time left for that. One note is that he’s really cranking his plug, burning it along a lot faster than most of the rest of the field.
Around him, Jason Lambert has a limit for around 16 pounds now, but his intense flurry died as quickly as it started. Terry Bolton has been catching fairly steadily and has a limit in the low teens. Todd Hollowell also has an early limit for around 12 pounds. Scott Canterbury has a limit for about 10 pounds.
Notable by the lack of action, Randy Haynes still hasn’t put any in the boat and Shin Fukae only has three small ones.
8:15 a.m.: Knight with nothing so far
Knight pulled into the same general area he and Andy Morgan fished yesterday about 45 minutes ago, but it hasn’t produced thus far. Though he’s caught four or five short fish, none of them have been keepers. Nearby, Andy Morgan has caught a solid 3+, so there are some keepers around. Looks like Knight just needs to find them.
7:45 a.m.: Lambert has ‘em fired up
Even with some decent initial catches from almost all the leaders, nobody had really jumped to the forefront or fired up a school. Nobody except Jason Lambert. Lambert just pulled up on a spot and caught a 3-pounder, another one and then a 4-pounder in a span of about five casts. That’s a dynamite way to get things going.
Elsewhere, Cory Johnston has two for about 5 pounds, Shin Fukae has three small ones, Todd Hollowell has one keeper to start and Terry Bolton has a little guy.
7:15 a.m.: The leaders are getting started
Though Cody Meyer is on the board, the early part of the day has been about setting up for most of the leaders so far. Brad Knight had a long run and is likely just making it there, but Randy Haynes and Brandon Hunter began by idling for about a half hour on a variety of spots (four for Haynes) to start out before finally settling down to fish. So far, Haynes has lost one, but that’s all to report.
6:30 a.m.: Knight narrowly leads a tightly packed field
Day two of the Walmart FLW Tour on Kentucky Lake presented by Mercury and hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau looks to be setting up almost exactly like day one, only a little hotter. On the first day, many pros scuffled in the morning, but by the end of it, a long list of the best ledge anglers as well as the best all-around anglers had caught ‘em pretty good. The fishing might be even better today.
Today, the TVA is already drawing more water than it did anytime yesterday morning, and though running about 25,000 Cubic Feet per Second (CFS) isn’t that much, every bit of water that goes through the dam should help the bite. The increasingly hot temperature should help as well, driving more fish out toward the ledges where they are easier to find.
Day one saw the action center on Kentucky Lake and not the northern part of Lake Barkley, and we can expect the same thing on day two. As for Kentucky Lake, just about all of it played, though as far as we know, not many did damage in the extreme south end. Of course, Brad Knight is leading with 23 pounds, and he fished further south than most everyone else, so perhaps some pros will be tempted to extend their range. Whatever happens, it’s sure to be another interesting day on the world’s best ledge-fishing lake.
The top three review day one
Todd Hollowell crushing on day one
Gussy in action on day one
Conditions
Current temperature: 70 degrees
Forecast high: 95 degrees
Sky: sunny
Precipitation: no rain forecast
Wind: SE 5 mph
Weigh-in Details
Watch the day-two weigh-in live at FLWFishing.com starting at 3 p.m. CT or come down and watch in-person at Kentucky Dam State Park at 7792 U.S. Highway 641 N., Gilbertsville, Ky., 42044.
Click here for complete tournament details.