Davis nets lead on Kentucky Lake
Alabama angler dominates local-heavy top 10 at EverStart Central closer
BENTON, Ky. – Glance through the list of the top 10 anglers at the EverStart Series Central Division event on Kentucky Lake, and you’d think it was a local BFL tournament. Though eight of the top 10 pros are Kentucky Lake regulars, Alabama’s William Davis is still showing them how it’s done with a field-leading two-day total weight of 35 pounds, 11 ounces.
The numbers were off a bit today compared to yesterday’s staggering statistics, and several reasons for that were floated around today’s weigh-in. Davis, for one, blamed the slower bite on a front that moved through the area this morning, while others say the hot spots are simply picked clean.
Though Thursday’s forecast called for sunny weather, the skies remained overcast most of the day, although it didn’t much matter to the deep-water fish that are being caught this week. Fishing deep-water ledges remained the pattern of choice, and it continued to produce for six of yesterday’s top 10 pros that held on to their status to earn the right to fish again tomorrow and Saturday.
Leading the pack once again is Davis, who added a limit of bass weighing 13 pounds, 15 ounces to his day-one total to land in front by nearly 2 pounds. That is no advantage, however, as the top 10 will start over at zero tomorrow.
According to Davis, the five he weighed in today were the only keepers he boated, and his hot spot from day one cooled off considerably on day two.
“It was a lot tougher for me today than it was yesterday,” Davis said. “I had one place that I caught probably 30 fish off of yesterday, and I caught probably three off of it today.”
Though Davis isn’t completely sure the front is to blame, he said it didn’t help the bite, which was described as slow yesterday and was even slower today. Though Davis’ primary spot seemed to dry up, he said yesterday he was fishing as many as 20 places.
“I didn’t hit as many places today,” he said. “After I got five, I practiced a little bit.”
With plenty of spots left remaining and new ones found today in practice, Davis feels good about his chances. It would be his first EverStart victory.
“I’m really optimistic,” he said. “I could go out there and catch them, and I may not, but I’m going to have fun trying.”
Albert leaps to second
Yesterday’s No. 9 pro Kelly Albert of Goodlettsville, Tenn., vaulted to second today with a 17-pound, 13-ounce limit that brought his two-day total to 33 pounds, 15 ounces.
Though Albert has a Nashville-area address, don’t think his experience is limited to Old Hickory and Percy Priest. Albert is a frequent Kentucky Lake angler and should be counted among the locals that fill out the top 10.
“I just know the lake,” Albert said. “I had found a couple of areas where the fish were coming off beds. They have just spawned – some of their tails are still bleeding.”
Albert said he’s fishing depths of approximately 12 feet and says his fish are on the move – though the ones he’s caught have been readily biting.
“I quit fishing today at 8 o’clock this morning,” he said. “But they’re moving so much that I could easily zero tomorrow. Nothing’s guaranteed.”
Schroeder abandons smallmouth pattern to land in third
Paducah pro Billy Schroeder has more than 20 FLW Outdoors top-10 finishes on Kentucky-Barkley since 1996 and added another one to the list today with a two-day total of 33 pounds, 11 ounces that put him in third place on the pro side.
Initially, Schroeder tried to target smallmouth bass but found that to be an exercise in futility. He was then forced to scratch out a limit that ended up being remarkably similar to his day-one weight. After catching a good-sized bass early, Schroeder hit a dry spell that lasted through late morning, when he finally caught his limit in about an hour’s time.
“It didn’t go as quickly today, I’ll say that,” Schroeder said. “At about 10:30 I decided to go farther south, and I caught the rest by 11:30. I’m not sure (the bite) was slower, but I was picking the wrong places. The fish kind of moved on me.”
Schroeder says he caught about 12 keepers today but was forced to milk an area he’d hoped to save for the finals.
“The place I was fishing today I didn’t want to fish yet, but I had to get to tomorrow,” he said. “There’s no use saving them.”
Frasier ledge-fishes his way to fourth
Larry Frasier of Owensboro caught 18 pounds, 5 ounces today to jump from 19th to fourth with a two-day total weight of 33 pounds, 3 ounces. He’s fishing ledges with an 11-inch worm to land his bass.
“I fish here a bunch,” he said. “They’re just known spots that I generally fish. My fish should replenish.”
Frasier reported that for him, the fish are biting steadily until noon, when it then all but quits.
Penn lands in top five despite tougher bite
Shawn Penn of Eddyville is another angler with 20-plus top-10 Kentucky-Barkley finishes since the mid-’90s, and after finishing 18th on day one, he landed in fifth place on day two with a two-day total catch weighing 33 pounds, 3 ounces.
“I’m fishing ledges,” Penn said. “I’m not finding them everywhere – it’s pretty tough. I only had seven keeper bites.”
Penn said he has one spot he kept returning to today because he kept getting bit.
“I’m sharing it with another guy,” he said. No word yet if that competitor also advanced to tomorrow’s competition. Penn said his success the remainder of the tournament depended on whether he had the area to himself or not in the final rounds.
Best of the rest
Rounding out the top 10 pros who will compete the final two days on Kentucky Lake:
6th: Rodney Tidwell of Murray, 10 bass, 32-13
7th: David Curtis of Trinity, Texas, 10 bass, 32-9
8th: Terry Bolton of Paducah, 10 bass, 31-3
9th: Curt McGuire of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-13
10th: Sam Lashlee of Camden, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-3
Mize leads final-round co-anglers
Melinda Mize came to Kentucky Lake just to support her brother Matthew, who entered the tournament ranked fifth in Central Division points standings. As it turns out, Matthew finished 144th on the pro side while his little sister is currently first among the co-anglers with a two-day total weight of 28 pounds, 13 ounces.
“This is my style of fishing,” she said. “Slow and easy – I’m not switching rods all day.”
Mize said she’s throwing a jig, “dragging it like a Carolina rig,” which she described as her favorite method of bass-catching.
“I really came up here to support my brother, and it’s just really worked out for me,” she said. “It’s always been my dream to make a top 10.”
Rounds in second
Benton resident Chuck Rounds continues to prove his Kentucky-Barkley prowess with yet another top-10 finish on the lakes. He enters the final rounds in second place in the Co-angler Division with 27 pounds, 8 ounces the first two days.
“I’m just fishing ledges with a jig,” Rounds said. “It’s stuff that we fish pretty much all the time. They’re really fast early, but it slowed down about 10 o’clock. There’s a lot of company out there.”
Rounds said he caught his bass in about 20 feet of water.
Taylor, Newsom, Barrett round out top five
Brad Taylor of Catlettsburg caught one of the day’s heaviest co-angler limits to land in third place heading into the final rounds. His two-day weight tallied 25 pounds, 11 ounces.
Keith Newsom of Memphis, Tenn., earned his second top-10 finish of the season with a fourth-place effort after the first two days. He caught 23 pounds, 9 ounces on days one and two to enter the final rounds.
Emmet Barnett of Waldron, Ark., is in the top 10 for the second time in his EverStart career thanks to his two-day total weight of 23 pounds, 6 ounces that put him in fifth after the opening round.
Best of the rest
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers who will fish the final two days on Kentucky Lake:
6th: Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark., 10 bass, 23-5
7th: Gilbert Herald of Pittsburg, Texas, nine bass, 23-2
8th: Mark King of Gurdon, Ark., nine bass, 22-12
9th: Rick Turner of Tyler, Texas, nine bass, 22-5
10th: David Hargett of Sherwood, Ark., 10 bass, 22-1
The top 10 pros and co-anglers will take off Friday at 6 a.m. from Moors Resort and Marina, located at 570 Moors Road in Gilbertsville.