Kentucky Lake Top 5 Patterns

Offshore schools key for the leaders

Tom Redington led the ledge-fishing pack on the first day of the Rayovac FLW Series Central Division tournament presented by Evinrude on Kentucky Lake, amassing a limit of 24 pounds, 13 ounces to take a 1-ounce lead over Chris Blackwell.

Redington, a Texan more acclimated to the shallow lakes of the Lone Star State than big TVA impoundments, nevertheless proved he could decipher Kentucky Lake’s ledge bass well enough to pace the 208-boat field heading into Friday’s second round. You can read the full story of his day here.

It won’t be a cakewalk for Redington, however, as a dozen pros are close on his heels.

2. Chris Blackwell, Clarksville, Tennessee, 24-12

Blackwell declined to identify the lures he’s using, but did admit he was using them to scour ledge spots in a broad area of the lake. He culled three keepers on day one and thinks his spots will replenish for Friday’s second round.

“To tell the truth, I’m just riding around pecking at fish most of the morning, waiting for the afternoon bite,” confesses Blackwell. “When it hits high noon, it’s game on. It took 10 minutes for my co-angler and me to get our limits.”

Blackwell’s co-angler, Chris Martinkovic of Hamilton, Ohio, is in third place in the co-angler standings with 19-14.

Blackwell found his best spot on the last day of practice with a couple of hours left. He says there were no boats around him Thursday, but expects that to change when a major tournament out of Kentucky Dam Village State Park begins Friday morning.

“I’ll almost guarantee the tournament will affect us, but maybe not too bad,” says Blackwell.

3. Brandon Hunter, Benton, Ky., 22-10

Hunter caught two limits and was throwing back 4-pounders by Thursday afternoon. He’s using two baits and spending more time looking than fishing. The Kentucky pro says the fish haven’t shown up in numbers on the ledges yet, but there are some schools that can provide more 20-pound-plus sacks.

“I hopped around a few places, but I may never get a cast on my best stuff Friday because of fishing pressure. There were some other boats in the same area,” says Hunter. “Most of my fish came early, and I spent the afternoon looking for new stuff. I think I can catch some fish on Friday, but the thing I don’t like about is that other boat traffic coming. At least I’m in an early flight Friday, so that should help as long as somebody else doesn’t beat me to my best spot.

4. Michael Wooley, Collierville, Tenn., 22-8

Wooley and his co-angler, Taylor Bolton (21-7), brought in 44 pounds of bass, which is indicative of the quality of schools they found far south of Moors. The pair used a variety of lures to catch their ledge fish, and worked about a dozen locales, according to Wooley.

“We probably caught more than 50 keepers all day,” says the Tennessee pro. “We left a lot of the schools still there. What happens is that they’ll let you catch five or six fish before they quit for a while. Then you go to the next batch and fish them, and start all over. We did catch about 15 fish out of one school before they shut down. It should be okay Friday, but there will be a lot more boats out there, so we’ll see.”

5. (tie) Wesley Anderson, Moscow, Tenn., 22-0

Anderson, who had an excellent practice, appears to be dialed in to a solid fish management program. He caught all his fish by 7:30 a.m. and then went looking for new schools the rest of the day.

“I didn’t want to burn up my other schools, so I tried to locate something like what I’ve got,” he says. “I also think I can get another pretty good bag off the spot I fished this morning (Thursday), unless somebody else gets on it.”

5. (tie) Randy Haynes, Counce, Tenn., 22-0

Haynes is fishing a prototype crankbait from Profound Outdoors called the Z-Boss 25, which dives to about 25 feet on 15-pound-test fluorocarbon. He made more stops than the mailman Thursday, ranging from well below Paris Landing to the upper reaches of the lake. In fact, he ran out of fuel just in front of Moors and had to be towed in.

“I’m scared every time I throw that Z-Boss 25 [silver with black back] because it’s the only one I’ve got and I can’t afford to lose it,” says Haynes. “Friday I might go out like it’s another day of practice. To me the fun part of this tournament is trying to be the guy who finds the fresh batches of fish that just moved out. Whoever that is, he’s going to have a strong chance of winning.

“You’ve got to stay ahead of the fish and the other fishermen to do well in this tournament,” he continues. “Everybody is wearing out the fish that are already there. What I need to do is get on the ones that are just now showing up.”