BENTON, Ky. – As the 2004 FLW Tour season starts to head down the backstretch at the second-to-last event of the year on Kentucky Lake, some FLW Tour pros are beginning to pull their hair out.
For many pros this tournament, 2004 FLW Tour Championship berths and 2005 FLW Tour qualifications are on the line. And, not surprisingly, stress levels are being raised by little green fish that seemed to be neither here nor there on both Kentucky and Barkley Lakes.
Some fish are being caught shallow and some are being caught deep, but neither pattern has been dominant, leaving pros in limbo about where to commit their best fishing efforts during the tournament.
“We are kind of in the in-between time,” said 1998 Kentucky Lake FLW Tour winner Dan Morehead of Paducah, Ky. “Some people are thinking the spawn is mostly over, but after a few days of practice, I think there are a lot of fish still moving shallow. I’ve been checking some of my deep places and the deep bite has not been easy for me. I’m starting to think that maybe not as many fish have spawned. The spawn has been late all over the country this year and I’m sure that’s probably the case on Kentucky Lake as well.”
FLW Tour pro Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn., agrees. Even though water temperatures are in the 70- to 75-degree range, he also thinks many of the fish have not spawned yet.
“I know for a fact they are still catching sight-fish on Lake Eufaula in Alabama and you are going to tell me the fish are done spawning here?” questioned Powers. “I think only about half the fish have spawned-out here.”
Powers believes the main factor that has slowed the spawn on Kentucky Lake is the low water. Unlike last year’s Kentucky Lake FLW Tour event when anglers were faced with ultra-high water conditions, this year is just the opposite. The lake is nearly 8 feet lower than last year and most of Kentucky and Barkley lakes’ prime flipping bushes are high and dry.
“On some lakes, the moon and water temperatures influence the spawn,” Powers offered. “But on reservoirs like Kentucky Lake, the water level has a lot more to do with when the fish spawn than anything else; no matter what the water temperature is, they’ll wait for right water level before moving up.”
Due to the vastness of Kentucky and Barkley lakes, Morehead points out that fish are in different phases of the spawn up and down the system.
“We are talking about two massive lakes that are 90 miles long,” Morehead said. “So it’s not like we can say that all of the fish are in the exact same phase of the spawn. The fish that live 60 mile south on Barkley are a complete different group of animals than the ones that live near the Kentucky Lake dam. Depending on where you are, fish can be caught both deep and shallow.”
As a result, the Kentucky Lake FLW event should shape up to be an interesting battle between the deep-water structure experts and the shallow-water enthusiasts.
Those that opt for the deep-water bite will likely be found working offshore humps and ledges near creek mouths on the northern end of the both lakes. Their main weapons will be crankbaits and Carolina rigs as they probe 8 to 12 feet of water for post-spawn bass.
Those pros searching for shallow water fish will probably be making long runs to the southern extremities of either lake looking for bushes in the backs of pockets with at least a foot of water on them. Their primary lures will be jigs and soft plastics pitched and flipped to the bushes.
In terms of conditions, anglers can expect typical early-summer weather: highs in the middle 80’s with a chance of thunderstorms each day.
Those pros fishing offshore would like to see the Kentucky-Barkley dams hard at work generating current over their structure spots and pulling water out of their foe’s bushes.
Meanwhile, those in the shallow-water camp would like to the dam take a respite and the water start rising into the bushes.
Will the best bite be shallow or deep? That’s a question that many pros would like to know the answer to right about now.
Lake history/facts
Spanning the western portion of Tennessee and southwest Kentucky, Kentucky Lake stretches 184 miles in length. The largest Tennessee Valley Authority reservoir in existence, Kentucky Lake covers 2,380 miles of shoreline – 355 miles of which are island shoreline – and boasts 160,000 surface acres of water. Kentucky Lake is home to healthy populations of largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, crappie, bluegill, catfish and sauger.
Catch the action
The full field competes in the two-day opening round for one of 10 slots in Friday’s competition based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for day three, and co-angler competition concludes following Friday’s weigh-in. The 10 pros continue competition Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest two-day weight.
Anglers will take off from Kentucky Dam Village Marina at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday and at 8 a.m. Friday. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m., and Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 310 W. Fifth St. in Benton beginning at 5 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
The community is encouraged to attend the Family Fun Zone Friday and Saturday outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The Family Fun Zone features interactive displays, product samples and games for the entire family to enjoy. The Fun Zone will open Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m.
FLW Kentucky Lake on TV and the Net
Coverage of the Kentucky Lake tournament will be broadcast to 65 million subscribers of the Outdoor Life Network on the “FLW Outdoors” television program. A tournament preview show featuring bass-fishing legend Hank Parker will air May 30 at 1 p.m. Eastern time and June 3 at 5 p.m. Eastern time, and fishing fans can watch the tournament weigh-in with hosts Carlton Wing, Taylor Carr and Charlie Evans June 6 at 1 p.m. and June 10 at 5 p.m. Eastern time. Tournament veteran Larry Nixon will host a tournament wrap-up show June 13 at 1 p.m. Eastern time, and that show will re-air June 17 at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
You can also catch all the weigh-in action at FLWOutdoors.com with FLW Live. The first weigh-in will be broadcast Wednesday, May 12, at 3 p.m. Central time and will continue throughout all four days’ weigh-ins.
Previous FLW Kentucky Lake winners
2003 – Steve Kennedy, Auburn, Ala.
1998 – Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky.
1997 – David Fritts, Lexington, N.C.
1996 – George Cochran, Hot Springs, Ark.
FLW Outdoors.com editors Gary Mortenson and Jeff Schroeder contributed to this report.
Links:
Pundits’ Picks
Destination: Kentucky Lake
Pre-tournament press release
FLW Live