Moynagh rocks 23-4, leads Kentucky Lake opening round

Two 6-pounders help push Minnesota native past 40 pounds

BENTON, Ky. – Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., caught a nice Kentucky Lake-sized sack of bass weighing 23 pounds, 4 ounces Thursday and led the Pro Division out of the opening round of Wal-Mart FLW Tour competition with a two-day weight of 40-10.

The weather on Kentucky and Barkley lakes remained a little schizophrenic Thursday with intermittent heavy downpours, cool temperatures and wind interrupted by periods of radiant sunshine, steamy warmth and even more wind. Perhaps that played into Moynagh’s hands as he caught the week’s heaviest five-bass limit to date by working his namesake, Jim Moynagh Rock Jig by All-Terrain Tackle, to success in the breezy conditions.

“Yeah, the jig bite’s been really good,” he said. “The thing that could hurt me is if it gets flat and sunny. I caught most of my fish on the rock jig, and I don’t know, but these fish must have had their protein today.”

Moynagh caught two nice largemouths – a 6-pounder and a 6-12, which won the day’s $750 Snickers Big Bass award – plus a 4-pound smallmouth that pushed his limit well past the 20-pound mark. Fishing his primary area on Kentucky Lake, he caught the smallie and the 6-pound largemouth early, then ground out a limit in secondary areas and later hooked into the 6-12 beast while fishing completely new water.

“Just when I think it’s a good morning bite, I catch a big one in the afternoon,” he said. “Things are just going my way. That’s the thing about Kentucky Lake. You can fish forever out here, and you can always fish new places. I didn’t even go to my two best spots from yesterday.”

Moynagh is a known jig specialist. In fact, he said he has four rods rigged up with just jigs: a 3/8-ounce jig, two 1/2-ounce jigs and a deep-water ¾-ounce jig that he uses in the wind. He said he fished a combination deep-and-shallow pattern both days of the opening round and marveled at the generosity of big Kentucky Lake this week.

“Yesterday, I caught my biggest fish on a spot that I didn’t even fish in practice. I just pulled up on an area that looked good, and he bit,” he said. “It’s kind of been like that for me this season. When you make decisions like that, all of sudden you’re having a good year.”

Walker also breaks 20 pounds, takes second

David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., popped a 21-pound, 5-ounce limit Thursday and grabbed the second qualifying spot for the pros with an opening-round weight of 36-7.

“It’s awesome. I got a big stringer of fish, but it really was a tough day out there,” Walker said. “I didn’t catch a lot. It was so windy on one part of the lake, and there were 200 boats where it wasn’t windy. That made it fish small today.”

Walker caught his fish on a combination of baits – jigs, a Carolina rig and crankbaits – mainly fishing points in deeper water offshore. His two biggest bass, a 6-pounder and a 5-pounder, came late in the day on a crankbait.

“I caught that 6-pounder right underneath the trolling motor, and I thought I was going to lose him for sure. Then I caught a 5-pounder right after that,” he said. “I can’t believe I pulled out those last two big fish.”

Local Bolton third

Terry Bolton of nearby Paducah, Ky., put on a home-lake display by catching 36 pounds, 7 ounces in the opening round and qualifying for the finals in third place on the pro side. He caught a limit weighing 19-5 Thursday.

“I had 15 or 20 places to fish in practice, but I’ve only been catching them off three or four places, because the wind today was just terrible. You just have to have really good timing,” said Bolton, who said that he’s fishing deeper water on Kentucky Lake. “I fought it all day long. I can hardly move right now.”

Namiki fourth, Kennedy makes run for fifth

Toshinari Namiki of Mineola, Texas, stayed strong in the blustery weather and caught a limit weighing 15 pounds, 10 ounces Thursday. He grabbed fourth place for the pros with an opening-round total of 35-11.

Mounting a sizable day-two comeback, Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala., caught the third-heaviest limit – 19 pounds, 8 ounces – and made the pro cut in fifth place with 34-0. Kennedy won this event in 2003.

“It was just one of those places where I said, `Let’s go over there and try that,'” said Kennedy, who added that he had just two days of practice prior to the tournament. “The main deal was a football-head jig, which is a great way to catch a 12- or 13-pound limit. Then I caught two good ones on a crankbait.”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros to make the cut at Kentucky Lake:

6th: Curt Lytle of Zuni, Va., 33-12 (day-one leader)

7th: Gary Yamamoto of Mineola, Texas, 33-1

8th: David Fritts of Lexington, N.C., 32-15

9th: David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., 32-12

10th: Matt Herren of Trussville, Ala., 32-10

All of the top 10 pros caught limits both days of the opening round.

A total of 104 pros caught limits Thursday.

Lowe lands first for co-anglers

Todd Lowe of Greensboro, Ga., used a fortuitous pairing Thursday to hook into a nice limit from the back of the boat – 15 pounds, 1 ounce – and lead the Co-angler Division with a two-day weight of 26-15.

“I fished with (pro) Chip Harrison today, and I fished with him before at Beaver Lake,” Lowe said. “He’s just a great partner and put us on points with some quality fish.”

Lowe caught his limit early in the day mainly on deep-diving crankbaits.

Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark., grabbed the second slot for the co-anglers with an opening-round total of 24 pounds, 11 ounces. He caught 11-11 Thursday.

Co-angler Brian Hickey of Cadiz, Ky., placed third with a two-day weight of 23 pounds, 13 ounces. He caught 11-13 Thursday.

Catching 13 pounds, 7 ounces was George Polosky of Alliance, Ohio, who qualified in fourth place with an opening-round total of 22-5.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers is Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C., with an opening-round total of 22 pounds, 4 ounces.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers to make the cut at Kentucky Lake:

6th: William “Pete” Bridges of Tallapoosa, Ga., 21-13

7th: Tyrone Phillips of Little Rock, Ark., 21-9

8th: Eric Foltin of Lebanon, Pa., 21-0

9th: Sondra Rankin of Paducah, Ky., 20-15

10th: Brandon Sheeler of Lake Park, Iowa, 20-14

Chad Parks of Memphis, Tenn., earned $375 and Snickers Big Bass honors in the Co-angler Division with a 6-pound, 3-ounce smallmouth.

Day three of competition at Kentucky Lake begins as the 10 pros and 10 co-anglers take off from Kentucky Dam Marina in Gilbertsville, Ky., at 6:30 a.m. Central time Friday for the second half of competition. The co-anglers will wrap up competition Friday while the pros are fishing the first half of a two-day final round.

For this tournament, the top award for the winning pro is $100,000. The winning co-angler will earn $20,000.