Bluegrass bass bash

Ethridge opens up huge lead at EverStart Central

BENTON, Ky. – For many, day two of the EverStart Series Central Division event on Kentucky Lake was something of a struggle, but Jeremy Ethridge of Nashville, Tenn., not only improved his day-one catch but opened up a 9-pound-plus lead with a two-day haul of 51 pounds, 1 ounce.

Ethridge ended day one in second with a limit weighing 23 pounds, 13 ounces. His ascension to the top of the leaderboard is thanks to the day’s only stringer in excess of 20 pounds, and what a limit it was – five bass totaling a whopping 27 pounds, 14 ounces. That haul gives him a 9-pound, 5-ounce lead heading into the tournament’s final day.

Ethridge capitalizes despite slow bite

By the looks of things, Ethridge is shaking off fat Kentucky/Barkley bass left and right, but that is not the case.

“I’m not getting very many bites,” he said. “I caught eight bites all day long, and I only had five bites yesterday.”

Not surprisingly, Ethridge is reticent about where he is catching his bass, offering only that he is staying on Kentucky Lake, but wherever his honeyhole is, it shouldn’t be affected by anything the weather may have to offer tomorrow.

“Unless we have a big cold front or something, hopefully it’ll stay about the same,” he said.

He did admit to a lot of running around, noting that his fish are coming from shallow water. His plans for tomorrow call for more of the same.

“I’ll just try to do it again,” he said.

Fox falls to second

Day-one leader Travis Fox of Rogers, Ark., brought in a limit of bass weighing 17 pounds, 15 ounces to end the day in the No. 2 spot with a two-day total of 41-12. His Friday catch was nearly 6 pounds lighter than what he weighed in on day one, which was typical on a day that most described as a lot tougher.

“I never got a bite on my best spot,” Fox said. “I went to my second spot and didn’t catch any, so I went to my backup spot and caught all but one there.”

Despite the tough early going, Fox said he never panicked about whether or not he’d be able to bring them in, noting that he and his co-angler partner caught 11 fish today off that backup spot. As for what happened to his primary areas, he thinks it was exhausted with his 23-pound, 13-ounce day-one catch.

“Sometimes you hold back, and sometimes you do all you can,” he said. “Today I hit them hard.”

Fox said he is power-fishing, but fishing ultra slow.

“The bites are very subtle,” he said of his targeted prespawn bass. “If you think you have a fish, you better swing. My two best ones were barely hooked, and one broke off in the net.”

Fox remains confident about the event’s final day.

“I’m going to keep on keeping on and go enjoy a good day of fishing,” he said.

Hollingshead extends lucky streak, ends day two in third

Retaining the No. 3 position is Mike Hollingshead of Murfreesboro, Tenn., with a two-day catch of 37 pounds, 1 ounce. His day-one haul of 23 pounds, 1 ounce was followed up today with a limit weighing 14 pounds.

“I’m sitting in 30 feet of water throwing to a shallow drop,” Hollingshead said. “Most guys are fishing shallow. But this way, the fish can get deep and come right back up to spawn.”

Hollingshead is catching his bass on a Hoppy’s Jig and a Strike King Series 5 crankbait.

“It was very tough day,” he said. “I just couldn’t get the fish to bite. But it’s fishing; I just do the best I can do.”

Fitzpatrick, Hollowell round out top five

Taking the fourth position with a two-day haul of 33 pounds is Brian Fitzpatrick of La Crosse, Wis. Fitzpatrick caught 13-3 yesterday but improved that today with a limit weighing 19 pounds, 13 ounces.

Todd Hollowell of Fishers, Ind., will enter the final day from the No. 5 spot with a two-day catch of 32 pounds, 15 ounces. His 19-6 day-one haul was followed up with a day-two limit weighing 13-9. His final-round position is due in large part to fellow pro Bart Schutz, who brought Hollowell in after Hollowell found himself in a predicament.

“I have had a blessed week,” Hollowell said. “My boat broke down 30 miles from here. I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for Bart.”

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top 10 pro qualifiers for the Kentucky Lake event:

6th: Bobby McMullin of Pevely, Mo., 32-9

7th: Travis Loyd of Kinmundy, Ill., 32-1

8th: Tim Sprouse of Clarksville, Tenn., 31-12

9th: Tom Silber of Labadie, Mo., 30-15

10th: Brent Anderson of Kingston Springs, Tenn., 30-15

Quick takes over co-angler lead

Leaping from 19th place to first on the co-angler side is Alan Quick of Springfield, Mo., with a two-day total of 22 pounds, 5 ounces. His day-one catch of 9-3 was improved today with a limit of five weighing 13 pounds, 2 ounces. That gives him a 15-ounce lead heading into the final day.

“It was great,” Quick said. “We made a 70-mile run south. Not a lot of people want to run that far, but I probably had 10 to 12 keepers.”

Quick caught his bass on a Jackall crankbait in 6 to 8 feet of water. All were prespawn largemouth.

Henderson more than triples weight to jump to second

In 44th place on day one with 4 pounds, 9 ounces, Joey Henderson of Mayfield was a long shot to make the co-angler finals. That all changed when he was paired with day-one leader Fox for day two, and Henderson hauled in a limit totaling 16 pounds, 13 ounces to jump into second place with a two-day total of 21-6.

“I had a great partner in Travis Fox,” Henderson said. “He had us around quality fish all day. I was fortunate enough to have a good day and catch a couple of nice fish.”

By virtue of their respective second-place spots, Fox and Henderson will fish together again on tomorrow’s final day.

“I enjoy fishing with him,” Henderson said. “Hopefully we can repeat what we did today.”

Best of the rest

Steve Gregg of Florissant, Mo., struggled today, bringing in a pair of bass weighing 4 pounds, 12 ounces, but the strength of his day-one haul of 15-12 was enough to vault him into the finals in the No. 3 co-angler position. His two-day weight totals 20 pounds, 8 ounces.

Tommy Lowery of O’Fallon, Mo., however, greatly improved his fortunes today with a day-two haul of 12 pounds, 7 ounces that put him in fourth with a combined weight of 19-4.

In the fifth co-angler spot is Russell Sproessig of Columbus, Ind., with a two-day catch of 18-14.

The remaining top-10 co-angler qualifiers included:

6th: Alan Woodford of Winslow, Ind., 18-9

7th: Gary Emery of Eastpointe, Mich., 18-8

8th: David Matual of Chicago, Ill., 17-8

9th: Rod Yoder of West Lafayette, Ind., 17-2

10th: Terry Hollowell of Anderson, Ind., 16-13

EverStart Series action continues during Saturday’s final takeoff, scheduled to take place at 6:30 a.m. at Moors Resort and Marina, located at 570 Moors Road in Gilbertsville, Ky.