Lake Cumberland Top 5 Patterns Day 2
It's wicked tight at the top
After a drizzly and cold start to the the FLW Tour event on Lake Cumberland presented by T-H Marine, Friday’s day two brought abundant sunshine and wind. The shift in conditions seemed to throttle the bite back a bit, especially in the number of keeper smallmouths that crossed the stage Friday. As a result, some of the leaders had to rely more on largemouths to hold their ground in the top five.
2. Casey Scanlon – Lenexa, Kan. – 35-4
Casey Scanlon moved up a spot on day two with a 16-pound, 12-ounce limit that put him in second.
Scanlon has found comfort in Lake Cumberland in the form of a similarity with his home lakes in the Ozark region.
“This lake reminds me a lot of Bull Shoals or Table Rock,” Scanlon says. “It gets a lot of runoff throughout the lake, and it’s got trees under the water that help the fish set up similar to the way they do back home this time of year. A lot of the lures I use in the Ozarks are working here, including jerkbaits and crankbaits, so I have a lot of confidence in what I’m throwing.”
Scanlon’s limit on day two consisted of one smallmouth and four largemouth.
“I dialed in the largemouth bite a little better in my area today,” he says. “At about 11 a.m. I made a bait change and moved a little shallower and that seemed to make a difference in the number of good largemouths I was catching.
“I have all three species in my area and I’m subject to get bit by any kind at any time, so that feels safe to me,” he says. “I think some water here is strictly smallmouth water and some is strictly largemouth. But staying in those areas where there is a mix is my game plan for the rest of the event.”
3. Cody Bird – Granbury, Texas – 32-14
Cody Bird slipped a spot to third with a 14-pound, 1-ounce catch on day two.
Bird is still playing the smallmouth game, weighing in four smallies and a spot on the day. He has found a small ledge where smallmouth spawning activity seems to be occurring. The only problem is it’s a small area and he has no largemouth areas nearby to hit while the smallmouth honeymoon suite rests.
“The place I’m fishing is just a small area and I’m pretty sure the smallmouth are spawning there,” Bird says. “I know I’ve caught the same 17-inch smallmouth next to the same rock three times now. That can only be because that fish has a bed there. So I’m sure some of the other ones are spawning there, too.
“It’s just such a slow way to fish,” he continues. “I’m basically waiting on new ones to move in and replenish the area while I’m fishing it and it’s hard to just sit there and wait them out. I wish I had some other stuff I could hit nearby, but the closest available largemouth water takes too long to get to to leave and come back over and over again.”
Bird is pitching a small worm to the ledge in about 10 to 12 feet and has become very familiar with the area over the last two days.
“I know the little sweet spots they like to use,” he says. “In fact, I’m starting to know the area too well and that makes me a little antsy to want to go somewhere else.”
4. Bryan Thrift – Shelby, N.C. – 31-14
After spending a day in 20th place after day one, Bryan Thrift assumed his customary spot inside the top five with a day-two catch of 15 pounds, 14 ounces.
Both days Thrift has weighed in three largemouths and two smallmouths.
Thrift has intentionally cushioned his livewell with a few largemouth keepers before playing the smallmouth game each day.
“Even during practice, I have not had a day where I caught five 18-inch smallmouth,” Thrift says. “So I like to make sure I have something in the well before I start running points for smallmouth. Plus that smallmouth deal takes time to fish – I’m winding for them but it’s a slow process. Yesterday, I caught a couple of largemouths before I went smallmouth fishing and today I caught a limit of largemouths before chasing those brown fish. Each day I’ve only been able to get three smallmouth keepers, so I’m glad I had some largemouths in the well first.”
5. Scott Martin – Clewiston, Fla. – 31-7
Day one leader Scott Martin slipped to fifth place on day two with a 12-pound limit which consisted of two smallmouth and three spots.
“My largemouth bite really died today, and I’m not sure why,” Martin says. “The water temperature dropped quite a bit last night, so maybe that had something to do with it. But I was counting on more largemouths today and it just didn’t happen, so I had to bring in some spots, which dropped my weight.”
Martin has been using a jerkbait quite a bit the past two days, but says that may go away with slick conditions tomorrow.
“I’ve been fishing on the fly all week and I’m really enjoying it,” he adds. “I’m fishing new water each day and I need to keep that same open mind about baits. So tomorrow I’m going to switch it up more, bait-wise. I’ve been thinking I would start this tournament with smallmouth and then end it with largemouth, but I need for those largemouths to show back up again to make that happen.”