Kentucky Lake has served as the playing field for more MLF/FLW events than any other fishery – 258 to be exact. But never has the legendary lake played host to the Bass Pro Tour. That will be rectified next week, when Lowrance Stage 5 Presented by Mercury heads to Kentucky Lake and neighboring Lake Barkley from June 5-8.
Despite all that history on the fisheries, most of the 66-angler field will face a much different Kentucky Lake than they’re used to. The last reservoir on the Tennessee River chain has undergone a stark transformation in recent years, with a dip in its largemouth population followed by a boom in smallmouth. Thus, while the lake’s famous river-channel ledges should at least be a factor, this is shaping up to be a more diverse tournament than an early-June event on Kentucky Lake would have been a decade ago.
Here’s everything Phoenix Fantasy Fishing players need to know to understand the new-look lake and assemble a winning roster. Remember to lock in your lineups prior to the start of competition on Thursday morning.
Lawrence is a no-brainer
No matter the competition, Jake Lawrence has to be considered the angler to beat anytime he launches his boat on Kentucky Lake. The longtime guide on the fishery has won five times on Kentucky and/or Barkley, with four of those coming since 2023. Oh, by the way, he also might have more momentum entering this event than anyone else in the field, as he won his most recent BPT start on Chickamauga and Nickajack, then backed it up with a runner-up finish in the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals event on Pickwick. While it’s true that Lawrence stumbled a bit on his home lake last year, finishing 24th when the Invitationals visited in April 2024, it would seem logical he learned from that experience and will have a better idea of how to avoid home-lake pitfalls this time. You simply can’t build a fantasy roster without him.
While Lawrence is the only true Kentucky Lake local in the field, Cole Floyd is pretty close, having attended college at nearby Bethel University and cut his teeth fishing tournaments there. He has three Toyota Series Top 10s on Kentucky/Barkley and won three straight Angler of the Year titles in the LBL Division of the Phoenix Bass Fishing League from 2017-19. Plus, like Lawrence, Floyd is fishing well right now. He’s coming off top-five finishes at both Stage 4 and B&W Trailer Hitches Heavy Hitters.
Plenty of past winners in the mix
With so much tournament history on the fishery, it would be exhausting to list all the past Top 10s competitors in this event have logged on Kentucky Lake. In fact, nine of the pros have won on the fishery before, with six of those victories coming at a national level.
Wesley Strader logged the most recent tour-level victory on Kentucky Lake at a 2018 Bassmaster Elite Series event. Edwin Evers and Bobby Lane have also both won Elite Series events on the fishery, with both of their wins coming the first week of June – the same time as this tournament. Dave LeFebre won a 2012 FLW Pro Circuit event around the same time in 2012. Anthony Gagliardi also won a Pro Circuit event on Kentucky Lake way back in 2004. Lastly, if Barkley manages to kick out a contender this week, Jeremy Lawyer would be a good bet. He launched his career by winning the All-American in early June of 2016 on Barkley.
The usual suspects
With his win on Nickajack, Lawrence moved up to fourth place in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year standings, so a stop on his home lake could represent a golden opportunity for him to pull even closer to winning the $100,000 points prize. Expect the other top contenders to recognize that and be on their A-game next week.
Jacob Wheeler is looking for an unprecedented fourth AOY title in the past five years. Given that he hasn’t finished worse than sixth in a regular-season event all year, you can’t leave him off your roster. Same goes for Drew Gill, who not only has finished in the top 11 of every BPT regular-season event in 2025 but has never missed the Top 10 in four professional events on Kentucky/Barkley. Matt Becker is 1 point ahead of Lawrence in the standings and has gotten a lot better on the Tennessee River since he moved south from Pennsylvania a few years ago. Lastly, while he’s a tad farther down in the points, few anglers are fishing better than Justin Lucas right now. Lucas is coming off Top 10s at both Chickamauga/Nickajack and Heavy Hitters, and he knows his way around a ledge.
Other anglers to consider
Group A:
Colby Miller – Miller is one of the few anglers in the field who has not only competed on Kentucky Lake within the past few years but done well. He finished third at the Invitationals event held there in April 2024. While he won’t be able to replicate that pattern (targeting smallmouth spawning offshore), the Toledo Bend local should be plenty comfortable cranking, dragging and/or minnowing offshore.
Mark Rose – Rose has had a tough season, but he’s long been one of the best in the game when Tennessee River bass school up on ledges. He has a BFL win on Kentucky Lake on his résumé alongside tour-level victories on Pickwick, Chickamauga, Guntersville and Wheeler.
Group B:
Nick Hatfield – If you’ve followed tournament bass fishing for long, you know momentum is a real thing in this sport. Hatfield certainly has it after winning Heavy Hitters on Smith Mountain Lake. He also has a strong track record on the Tennessee River, including an 11th-place finish on Kentucky Lake in last year’s Invitationals stop.
Jacob Wall – Wall has cooled off a bit since starting the season with consecutive Top 10s. But the Guntersville native is always a threat on the Tennessee River, especially if the ledge bite ends up being the winning pattern.