Cumberland Top 5 Patterns – Day 2
It’s all knotted up in Kentucky
Day two of the FLW Tour event presented by General Tire on Lake Cumberland presented more of the same to the sport’s best bass fishermen – more sun, more wind and even more limits of bass. They brought in 162 limits, compared to 145 on Thursday.
Really, the fishing seems to be heating up, no matter if pros are targeting largemouths, smallmouths or spotted bass. It looks like anyone in the top 30 has a legitimate shot at making the top-10 cut and taking a shot at the title.
Both smallmouth specialists and the largemouth lovers are mixed into the top of the standings, which will make for a really interesting week of fishing as we see which species – or what mix of species – can produce the winning bag.
Here’s how the top five got it done on day two.
2. Darrel Robertson – Jay, Okla. – 33-5
Veteran pro Darrel Robertson caught one of the better limits of the day on Friday, bringing 17 pounds, 6 ounces to the scale. He’s right on the heels of Andy Morgan going into the weekend.
“I had two places I wanted to fish, and I fished one yesterday and one today,” Robertson says.
The Oklahoman is on a consistent pattern that produced 20 keepers today. Tomorrow, he plans to re-fish some water and possibly take a look at a few new spots.
His go-to bait is a spinnerbait.
“I think I’ve got the secret one they like,” he says. “It’s a little bit different.”
Robertson is targeting largemouths and doesn’t plan to change it up tomorrow.
“You can’t count on those smallmouths,” he says. “I understand what largemouth bass do.”
3. Clent Davis – Montevallo, Ala. – 32-15
Smallmouths, smallmouths and more smallmouths have carried Clent Davis into the top-30 cut. He lost count of how many he landed today, but figures it was somewhere between 30 and 40. The Alabama pro has weighed in nothing but brown so far this week.
“I don’t know where largemouths live on this lake I guess,” jokes Davis.
Perhaps he’s being modest, but Davis says he’s a little unsure of how things will go on Saturday, when the weather is forecast to change from sunny to rainy. Probably, he’ll continue to smash them.
“Who knows with this weather. I don’t know anything about this place.”
Today, the only change in his game plan was to make a minor adjustment in depth.
“They did move in a little bit,” he says, “and there are more up. That, or I ran into a lot more today. They’re moving up to spawn, and there are some spawning.”
Davis is fishing moving baits and focusing on one small area in the lower end of the lake.
4. Bryan Thrift – Shelby, N.C. – 32-13
Big things are once again happening for FLW superstar Bryan Thrift. The North Carolina hammer is poised to make his 59th top-10 cut this week. He’s breathing down the neck of AOY leader Jared McMillan. And today he established a new record for consecutive limits caught in FLW Tour competition with 51 in a row.
Thrift, as usual, shrugged off the attention that came with his most recent accolade.
“It’s awesome,” is all he said.
But Andy Morgan had more to add: “He’s going to break a whole lot more records. I can promise you that.”
Thrift weighed in five smallmouths for his record-setting limit today.
“I’m just kind of going down the bank, just fishing,” says Thrift, who’s actually not running around at his typical breakneck pace. “I’m kind of getting in a home area and fishing everything in front of me.”
He says the smallies are just starting to spawn, and they’re spread out. His fish have come from main-lake banks, creek banks and inside some smaller pockets.
“You can’t pull up and say ‘I’m gonna catch one right here.’ At least, I can’t.”
Yesterday, Thrift caught seven keepers total. Today, he caught nine. He’s fishing slow with plastics.
“At this place, the smallmouths are like largemouths. You just kind of go down the bank and run into them,” he says.
5. Kerry Milner – Bono, Ark. – 31-6
A big 17-pound, 12-ounce bag gave Arkansas pro Kerry Milner a healthy boost in the standings from 33rd to fifth. He weighed in one bonus smallmouth and four largemouths and was hauling fish over the gunwale all day long.
“I had one good fish and a lot of cookie cutters,” he says. “It was fast and furious, and I had a great time.
“Tomorrow I might switch gears and target smallmouths. On this lake, with weather like they’re predicting, these fish [smallmouths] will be so easy to catch.”
Moving baits have gotten the call from Milner, who’s running and gunning around the lower end.
“Today I was pretty locked in and knew where to find them. I’d give a spot about four minutes, and then I’d move.”