Lake Cumberland Day 2 Coverage
Martin leads a tightly packed field
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Top five patterns from day one
2:15 It’s closing time
Our crew is starting to get off the water and head to weigh-in. It looks like it’ll be a close one, and we get to crown a o-angler champion and cut the pro field down to 20 for Saturday. There’s a lot on the line and it all starts at 3 p.m. ET. You can watch online or head on over to General Burnside Island State Park to enjoy some lovely weather and bass.
Also, if you’re interested in the YETI FLW College Fishing Open weigh-in, you can watch that live on Facebook at 2:30 p.m. CT.
2:00 Good news for Lawyer
Jeremy Lawyer just boxed up a 3+ smallie. That gives him four fish, and probably close to 10 pounds considering the size he’s got. One more good one and he’ll have gone from a tough day to a good day in a matter of hours.
1:40 Cortiana and Lawyer
Kyle Cortina has filled his limit out for about 12 pounds. Jeremy Lawyer has had a bit of a tough day – he’s got three in the boat now, but his third is little bitty spotted bass. He's really not digging the 18-inch limit on smallmouths.
1:10 Bird gets going
Cody Bird has his fourth now after a quick move back to his starting spot. It’s a quality smallmouth, which will go a long way today.
Also, John Cox has three, one good one, all caught off beds.
12:55 Gussy is sick
Jeff Gustafson thinks he has an ear infection. He was sick during practice too. It’s a tough break for everyone’s favorite Canadian. Even sick, it’s still going alright – he’s got a decent limit of largemouths going.
12:48 Nixon report
Larry Nixon has about 10 pounds. With that, he’s got the very unofficial lead at the moment. He had a great practice and seems to be plugging right along.
12:45 Reehm and Lawyer
Clark Reehm has four keepers to his credit so far today. Jeremy Lawyer did great on day one, but has only just got going today. After a slow morning, he boxed a big smallmouth and a good largemouth in the last hour. He’s got about 6 pounds in the ‘well now.
12:26 Tough sledding for Bird
Cody Bird has just managed two little bitty keeper spotted bass and one smallmouth to this point. It’s a tough day for many, but that’s not the way you want to follow up a second place showing on day one.
12:20 Jocumsen has two, other updates
Carl Jocumsen is fishing way down near Beaver Creek today, which is a big departure from Fishing Creek. So far he’s got two in the box, though they aren’t super special.
Of note, Cody Meyer just culled with a smallmouth, so he’s got at least one good one in the box now. Also, Scott Martin has moved and is now throwing a cranking in Beaver Creek, having abandoned his jerkbait cuts from the morning.
12:05 A limit for Meyer
Cody Meyer says he’s got a small limit. The big smallmouths that bumped him up late on day one aren’t playing today.
11:55 A handful of updates
Scott Martin just culled, but only slightly. He’s about to make a move from the handful of small cuts he’s been fishing into Beaver Creek.
Otherwise, Brandon Mosely has three keeper smallmouths and Luke Dunkin has two small keepers. With a limit, Eric Jackson has about 11 pounds.
11:35 Tietje and Johnson
Dennis Tietje has one small keeper so far. Up near takeoff, Jason Johnson has two in the box – he says he’s getting plenty of bites but a lot of shorts.
11:30 Another cull for Kendrick
Jay Kendrick is set to make a serious move today – he just culled out a 3-pound smallmouth and should be at or over the 20-pound mark. The big question now is if he’ll be able to move up in the top 20 and fish tomorrow.
11:26 Kickers for Bohannan
Greg Bohannan only weighed three fish for about 4 pounds on day one. Today he says he’s got two fish for nearly 9 pounds. He probably needs a lot more than that to even sniff a check, but he’s certainly on the right track.
11:17 Gross report
Buddy Gross has had a tough morning – he’s got just one so far.
11:10 Two good ones for Cortiana
Kyle Cortiana is in the midst of a long dry spell, but he got off to a blazing start this morning. Fishing a bluff wall, the Oklahoma pro caught two big keeper smallies before 8 a.m. ET.
10:58 He’s got a limit
Scott Martin’s fifth fish is a dinky little spotted bass, but it’s a keeper. He says he’s seeing better fish, and the water is warming up again – the time has come to catch a kicker.
10:46 More updates
Justin Atkins has a keeper now, and Derrick Blake has two keepers. Both are within easy striking distance of the cut – good bags would put them fishing on the weekend for sure.
10:43 Reese, Wesley, Lambert
Jimmy Reese has three in the box so far. Wesley Strader has four keepers. Fishing down in Beaver, Jason Lambert has two – one smallmouth and one largemouth.
10:33 Whoops
Scott Martin’s fifth keeper just came unbuttoned at the boat. He figures it was a decent largemouth and he’s not thrilled. Nonetheless, he’s certainly doing well for numbers – the size seems likely to come at this point.
10:22 No. 4 for Martin
Scott Martin has his fourth keeper, a spotted bass a little over 2 pounds. He figures what he’s got will get him a check, but that’s hardly the goal for someone in his position.
10:20 Scanlon has three
Casey Scanlon has picked up the pace a little. He’s got three in the box now, and two of them are largemouths.
Nearby, Andrew Upshaw has four keepers – two largemouths and two spotted bass.
10:15 Kendrick is crushing
Big bag of the day might be ticketed for Jay Kendrick. He’s down in Otter Creek and has busted nearly 20 pounds of smallmouths on a swimbait. He started the day in 129th with about 7 pounds, so he’s got a lot of ground to make up. But, 20 pounds will go a long way in that effort.
10:10 Birge update
Over in Wolf Creek Zack Birge has three to start his day. They aren’t terrible either, totaling up to about 6 pounds.
9:58 Another spot
Make it three small spotted bass for Scott Martin. The numbers at least seem to be picking up, and that alone will go a long way toward his consistency.
9:50 Something for Martin
Scott Martin just landed his second keeper of the day, a spotted bass worth about 2 pounds. Spotted bass rarely win outright on Cumberland, but when the conditions are bad they can be key to filling limits and staying in the hunt.
After catching the spot, Martin scared up a big largemouth or smallmouth out of a tree with his jerkbait, but he couldn’t get her to commit and she’s gone now.
9:45 Still nothing new for Martin
Scott Martin is hung on one keeper spot so far. He’s just moved to a new spot, and he’s determinedly jerking a jerkbait.
9:27 Two for Ponds
Fishing around up near takeoff, Pete Ponds has two in the boat.
9:20 Morgan update
Andy Morgan has one small keeper spotted bass. He was rolling on the trolling motor on day one – today he’s picking everything apart with a jig.
Billy Shelton has four to start his day – three keeper largemouths and one spotted bass.
9:12 Empty livewells
Justin Atkins has lost two, but has zero fish. Down the lake, Jay Yelas has caught a few shorts, but hasn’t managed a keeper yet.
9:05 Arey, Martin
We’ve got him. Matt Arey and Scott Martin each have one fish so far, a small spotted bass to start the day. Arey has also landed a 16-inch smallmouth he had to toss back. We’re going to be pinned to Martin for a while – it’ll be interesting to see how he fishes in these fresh conditions.
9:00 The wind is starting to get up
The wind is starting to blow down on the lower end pretty good. With any luck it’ll keep on kicking – the more wind the merrier as far as the fishing goes.
8:50 LeHew, down the lake
Shane LeHew just boxed up a keeper largemouth, giving him two keepers on the day. Down the lake, Cody Bird has hit a lull and swapped from a Ned rig to a little swimbait. Matt Reed is also struggling a bit, and says the weather isn’t bad enough.
8:30 Reed and Scanlon are on the board
We haven’t found Scott Martin yet, but his competition is off to a quick start. Both Matt Reed and Casey Scanlon have landed small keepers to begin the day.
8:20 Hollowell lands a good one, Bird is on the board
Todd Hollowell just landed a big smallie to start his day. He caught it on a spinnerbait down near Beaver. That a spinnerbait will still catch them is probably a good sign for the fishing – that’s a power bait for sure.
Meanwhile, Cody Bird is on the board with a smallie that just barely goes past the 18-inch mark. It's a solid start for sure, and maybe a sign he'll be able to replicate his day one effort.
GoPro highlights from day one
Scanlon at work on day one
8:00 Dudley has four, Bird has started
David Dudley has three spotted bass and one largemouth so far, so he’s off to a quick start. Meanwhile, second place pro Cody Bird has started on the same spot where he caught ‘em on day one – he’s all-in on the smallmouths.
7:55 Dudley starts near takeoff
David Dudley caught about 12 pounds on day one for 59th place. Today he’s started up near takeoff, perhaps in search of some retreads. If he catches another 12 pounds he’ll likely have more than enough for a check, but he’ll probably need to figure out something new for a push into the top 20.
Down the lake, a half dozen boats or so have made it into Beaver Creek. The smallmouth game is afoot.
7:44 Waiting down the lake
On day one a high percentage of the top pros caught their weight far down the lake near the dam, in Otter, Beaver and Indian Creek and the like. Today we expect that story to hold true, but it takes some time for it to develop. Even now, the first boats have yet to reach the mouth of Beaver Creek.
7:00 It’s a post-frontal day on Cumberland
The conditions for day two of the FLW Tour presented by T-H Marine on Lake Cumberland are superficially much better – the sky is clear, the wind is lighter and the temperature is just slightly cooler. Though it’ll be much more comfortable for the anglers, the passage of a major cold front usually heralds bad fishing for a least a bit – we’ll see if that holds true today.
On day one, Scott Martin showed out with nearly 20 pounds of Cumberland bass and a pile of other pros loaded up on aggressive smallmouths. Finding consistency while dealing with the 18-inch limit on smallmouths figures to be a challenge this week, and that might come to a head today. One plus could be the wind – many pros are catching a lot of smallmouths on jerkbaits, and a clear and windy day is about the best you can ask for in that case. Smallmouths aside, there’s a decent largemouth bite and spotted bass bite as well, and we could see those “other” species play more today.
Two things are for sure, it’s going to be wonderful to have a tournament day with no rain, and these are the best pros in the world – fish will be caught.
Conditions
Temperature at takeoff: 39 degrees
Forecast high: 55 degrees
Sky: clear
Precipitation: none
Wind: NW at 15 mph
Water level: 715.57 feet
Tournament Details
Folgers Morning Takeoff: 7 a.m. ET at General Burnside Island State Park, 8801 S. Highway 27, Burnside, Ky.
Weigh-in: Thursday and Friday at 3 p.m. ET at General Burnside Island State Park and 4 p.m. ET Saturday and Sunday at General Burnside Island State Park
FLW Expo: 12 to 4 p.m. ET Saturday and Sunday at General Burnside Island State Park
FLW Live: Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. ET to 12:30 p.m. ET