Lake Cumberland Day 3 Coverage
The weather is great and the fishing is too
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Top five patterns from day two
2:30 We’re headed to weigh-in
Day three is starting to wrap up. Scott Canterbury has culled up by about half a pound, but that’s been the only action other than running for a fair bit. For now, we’re headed to weigh-in to cut things down to the top 10. One thing is for sure – it’s going to be a close one. Weigh-in starts at 4 p.m. ET and 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.
2:15 We’re winding down
Clark Wendlandt is fishing about halfway between the dam and Conley Bottom, and starting to think about working back up. All over, it is almost time to get back toward weigh-in. The pros need to check in at 3:30 p.m. ET and it takes nearly an hour to get all the way back from the dam. Because of the movement, there aren’t any new fish catches to report.
2:00 Wendlandt update
We may have gotten a little lost on Clark Wendlandt, but he’s got a pretty solid bag going consisting of three smallmouths, a largemouth and a spotted bass. Time is beginning to run down and he just found and then left one on a bed – one more good fish might put him back in the lead, but he’s certainly in contention for it.
1:55 A limit for Wilson, Canterbury update
Barry Wilson has filled his limit. He caught a 5-pounder a short while ago, and filled it with a 2-pounder. That gives him nearly 13 pounds and puts another body between Bryan Thrift and the top 10.
Scott Canterbury doesn’t have anything giant, but he’s got a lot of solid fish and has been catching steadily as the weather has warmed. He’ll likely be very close to the top 10 cut.
1:53 One more for Bird
Cody Bird has had a brutally tough day, but he just landed his second big smallmouth. He’s only got two fish, but they’re both really good quality.
1:40 Bolton is really rolling
Terry Bolton has caught another quality largemouth on a spinnerbait to cull yet again. He definitely has 15 pounds in the boat now and might well have more than 16. That puts him up in third places unofficially, and within easy striking distance of the lead tomorrow.
1:35 Martin culls, Day limits
Scott Martin just caught a 3-pound largemouth for his sixth fish. That culled out a little spotted bass and has him at about 15 pounds on the day.
Bill Day just limited, and has one good one in the mix – he’s got a chance of making the top 10 and fishing tomorrow.
1:10 Martin is back in the lead
Scott Martin just filled his limit with a 3-pounder. That’s a strong way to fill a limit, and it’ll bump him up into or very close to the lead.
We also think Clark Wendlandt has filled his limit, which would put him back up in the top group of semi-leaders.
12:55 Reed and Thrift
Matt Reed is one shy of a limit now, having just landed a small spotted bass. He’s got one good one in the livewell, and he’s right on the cusp of making the top 10. Slightly more safely in the top 10, Bryan Thrift has filled out his limit with spotted bass now and has about 10 pounds.
12:40 Wendlandt is back in business
Clark Wendlandt just boxed up his fourth keeper and it’s a smallmouth. We don’t have an official estimate, but it’s got to be more than three pounds. That puts him right back up with the leaders.
James Watson has also added a fish off a wake bait, but it’s not nearly the size of his first two. Nonetheless, limit-filler spotted bass are clutch to have.
12:28 Shin with four
Shin Fukae landed his fourth a little bit ago. It’s nothing special, but ounces is money in this game.
12:22 Gagliardi plucks a spawner
It took about four different baits, but Anthony Gagliardi has culled up just slightly with a largemouth plucked from a bed.
12:20 Meyer and Bolton
Cody Meyer has four fish now after catching a couple of small spotted bass in quick succession. He doesn’t have much of a limit today at all.
Terry Bolton does have a limit and he’s still improving, having just added almost a pound to his total. Though he caught his last fish on a tube, the majority of his weight has been on a white spinnerbait.
12:12 Morgan is back in the top 10
Andy Morgan has scuffled since his hot start, but he just got rolling again with a 2-pound largemouth. With that, he’s got four fish and is unofficially back inside the top 10 cut.
12:08 FLW Live is done for the day
We lost internet at the studio back in Benton, and with that FLW Live is down for the day. Keep it here the rest of the day for the blog, and of course weigh-in at 4 p.m. ET. We have every expectation that FLW Live will be rolling as usual tomorrow.
12:05 Gags is getting wormy
Anthony Gagliardi has been doing most of his damage on a floating worm this morning. He just lost a 2-pounder in a tree, and the fishing are starting to pull up and doing just want he wants. Minus the giants, today seems very similar to his dramatic charge at Lake Travis.
11:55 Another for McCall
Chris McCall has landed another keeper and culled up a little more. Behind him, Casey Scanlon caught his fourth of the day, a 2-pounder, and is now pretty tight on McCall’s heels. Scanlon still has room for one more before he has to start culling.
11:40 No luck on the beds
Bryan Thrift has found two different bass on beds now, but he hasn’t been able to catch either of them. Shin Fukae has managed a bed fish, his third keeper, but it wasn’t very big at all. It seems like we’re still a little bit early for the bedding bite to be a major factor.
11:20 Bolton and Gagliardi are moving on up
Terry Bolton finished his limit with a 4-pounder and has more than 11 pounds in the boat now. He’s caught all his today in dirtier water with a spinnerbait. Anthony Gagliardi is staying in the clear, and he just culled up to about 13 pounds – he’s unofficially in second place.
11:08 Three for Wendlandt
Clark Wendlandt boxed up a decent largemouth for his third keeper. He caught it on a jerkbait pretty close to the back of a cove.
Bryan Thrift has three as well, but he might be close to a fourth – he just found something on a bed in the back of a pocket.
10:55 Martin just lost a giant
Scott Martin just lost a fish that he says was the biggest thing he’s hooked all week. It wasn’t a striper. Lost fish happen, but it always hurts to dump the big ones.
10:50 McCall limits and culls
Chris McCall just hit another stretch of fish and landed a 3-pound largemouth to fill his limit and then a small spotted bass to cull up an ounce or so. He’s got a really nice mixed bag going and has rocketed from sixth into a position of strength
10:40 The weather is pretty stupendous
It’s turning into a lovely day out on Lake Cumberland. The air has lost its chill and the lake is almost slick calm. The lack of wind is probably going to hurt the smallmouth fishing, but there’s a good chance the warming weather does nothing but help things.
10:33 A handful of updates
Around the field, Cody Meyer and Bill Day each have two keepers now. Terry Bolton has bumped his way up to four keepers now. Finally, Scott Martin’s third keeper is a decent largemouth.
10:30 Another for McCall
Chris McCall just landed a quality spotted bass for his fourth keeper. Even without that largemouth he botched, he’s still putting together a really nice morning.
10:20 Watson is doing things
James Watson may not be catching piles of fish, but he’s sure got the size figured out. The Ozark specialist just landed his second fish of the day – a 5-pound largemouth. With that, he’s got nearly 10 pounds with just two fish, both caught on the floating worm.
10:15 Scanlon and Gags
Casey Scanlon just caught a solid 3-pounder for his third keeper.
Anthony Gagliardi now has the first limit of the day – they’re all keeper largemouths and he’s technically got the lead. The fact that just a limit is enough to move him from 14th to first is a great testament to how tight things really are out on Cumberland.
10:08 Wendlandt has his second
Clark Wendlandt just caught a small spotted bass to edge up into the lead. He’s really planning on smallmouths today, but hasn’t had much success on them so far.
9:47 Shin strikes bronze, McCall makes an error
Shin Fukae just put his second fish in the boat, a quality smallmouth. Though any fish is a help, those 18-inch smallmouth seem to be one of the quickest ways to a good weight.
Meanwhile, Chris McCall may have made a Nelson Cruz-level error. Attempting to land a 3-pound largemouth with a jerkbait, the Texas pro broke his line trying to swing the fish into the boat.
9:30 Two for Martin
After a good smallmouth early, Scott Martin has added his second keeper of the day, a decent 2-pound spotted bass. That gives him more than 6 pounds with just two.
9:25 McCall takes the lead
Chris McCall landed a decent spotted bass for his third keeper and has now edged out in front of the field. With his quality smallmouth, he’s certainly on the right kind of pace to make a run at this thing. So far today, he’s doing most of his work with a jerkbait.
9:15 Twos all around
Casey Scanlon, Bryan Thrift and Scott Canterbury all just caught their second fish of the day. Each one goes about 2 pounds.
Thrift goes to work on day two
9:12 Wendlandt is changing up
Clark Wendlandt has made a bit of a change. He just put down the jerkbait and has picked up a crankbait and is rolling down the bank now. We’ll see if that produces anything.
9:10 Two for Gagliardi
Anthony Gagliardi is up to two keepers now. Neither of them are huge, but it’s good to be on the board.
9:05 McCall has the smallies dialed
Chris McCall has had a really good start. He just put his second keeper smallmouth in the boat – now he has two fish for more than 6 pounds.
9:00 A big one for Watson
James Watson struck the first real kicker of the day. He picked up almost a 5-pounder on a floating worm to get his day going. With Bird still catching fish on beds and Watson fishing shallow, we might be headed to a sight-fishing deal at some point today or tomorrow.
8:58 Wendlandt comes up short
Clark Wendlandt landed a smallmouth a minute ago that went almost 18 inches, but not quite.
8:50 Scanlon has one
Casey Scanlon picked up his first keeper of the day on FLW Live on a jerkbait. It’s just a little spotted bass, but it’s a start.
Otherwise, Scott Canterbury and Matt Reed have also added keeper bass and Terry Bolton has two now.
8:25 They’re really catching
You can add Bryan Thrift and Cody Bird to the pile of pros with fish. Thrift started off with a 2-pound largemouth and Bird got started with a 3-pound smallmouth.
On a related note, FLW Live is about to start, and though the service might be sketchy, there should be a lot of fish in play.
8:20 McCall and Martin are on the board
Chris McCall has himself a chunky smallmouth now as well. He’s started down near the mouth of Indian. Scott Martin is also catching – he started his day with a solid 4-pound smallmouth.
8:10 Wendlandt strikes with a smallmouth
Clark Wendlandt has started his day with a 3-pound smallmouth on a jerkbait. If he can actually manage five smallmouths today that’ll really be something. Then again, there are some big largemouths in Cumberland – an actual kicker would be clutch.
8:00 A handful of catches
Andy Morgan is really cooking this morning – he just added an 18-inch smallmouth from within sight of the ramp. Elsewhere, Terry Bolton is on the board with a solid 2-pounder and Shin Fukae is as well. Down the lake, the pros fishing in Indian Creek and the like are just making their first casts.
7:35 Morgan has two
Most of the pros haven’t even gotten to their fishing spots down the lake. Andy Morgan ain’t about that today – he’s started near takeoff and has two already. His second is a little largemouth, which brings his total up past 30 pounds.
Day two GoPro highlights
7:25 Wilson fishing, Morgan catching
Barry Wilson started fishing down near the Iron Bridge – he’s really the highest man so far to be doing most of his fishing in the upper end of the lake. Andy Morgan has been fishing down in Indian Creek all week, but today he started out near takeoff and has already boxed a small keeper spotted bass.
7:10 Game on
Day one of the FLW Tour presented by T-H Marine on Lake Cumberland featured terrible conditions and great fishing. Day two was perhaps colder and windier, but at least it was nice and sunny. Today might be the nicest day so far – takeoff was brisk, but the temperatures are supposed to reach into the 60s in the afternoon and the wind is forecast to be negligible. In short, it might be a tough day for fishing.
Even though the conditions aren’t perfectly springy like the pros might have hoped, the fishing has held up very well. Someone has cracked more than 18 pounds each day of the event and the top few anglers have been super consistent. The most consistent, or at least the best so far, has been Clark Wendlandt. With more than 35 pounds, the Texas pro is doing his typical spring thing – catching bass. Close behind him, Casey Scanlon, Cody Bird, Bryan Thrift and nearly everyone else is pretty much a bite away from the lead.
From the looks of it, everyone who makes the top 10 and fishes on Sunday will have a shot at a win.
Top 10 pros
1. Clark Wendlandt – Leander, Texas – 35-6 (10)
2. Casey Scanlon – Lenexa, Kan. – 35-4 (10)
3. Cody Bird – Granbury, Texas – 32-14 (10)
4. Bryan Thrift – Shelby, N.C. – 31-14 (10)
5. Scott Martin – Clewiston, Fla. – 31-7 (10)
6. Chris McCall – Palmer, Texas – 31-3 (10)
7. Barry Wilson – Birmingham, Ala. – 30-11 (10)
8. James Watson – Nixa, Mo. – 30-6 (10)
9. Cody Meyer – Auburn, Calif. – 30-2 (10)
10. Terry Bolton – Paducah, Ky. – 30-0 (10)
Conditions
Temperature at takeoff: 36 degrees
Forecast high: 65 degrees
Sky: clear
Precipitation: none
Wind: W at mph
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