Young snares overall lead on Kentucky Lake
Cramer retains top spot in Co-angler Division
GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – David Young of Mayfield, Ky., used a dominating two-day stringer of 32 pounds, 12 ounces to take over the top spot in the Pro Division and distance himself from his nearest competitor by a full 3 pounds. However, despite the fact that Young has had a banner first two days of competition, the Kentucky native was hardly ready to rest on his laurels.
In fact, the way Young sees it, today was nothing more than a stepping stone to the finals.
“I was hoping I’d make the cut, so it feels pretty good,” he said. “But I haven’t won anything yet. I’m not going to be thrilled about a thing until I do what I set out to accomplish. I’ve had too many second-place finishes in the past to get too excited. Anything less than a first-place finish is going to be a disappointment for me. I definitely want to finish first.”
Young said that despite the plethora of top-notched FLW Tour anglers fishing this week at Kentucky Lake, he believes he has as good of a chance as anyone to take home the title.
“I feel really good about this tournament,” said Young, who put his rod down a full 90 minutes before check-in time to allow his co-angler to make up some ground in today’s competition. “I have about four or five good spots that I haven’t even gone to yet. I’ve been saving them all week. I really wanted to make sure that I didn’t hurt my good fish today.”
Young, who believes that it will take a 12-pound catch in tomorrow’s competition to advance to the finals, was mum about his technique of choice.
“Let’s just say that I’m using two or three different baits,” he said. “And that I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”
Paris is burning – hot
(Photo by Gary Mortenson)” BORDER=”1″ ALIGN=”RIGHT”>Gary Paris of Emory, Texas, was arguably one of the hottest anglers coming into the tournament. And, from the look of things, it appears that he won’t be cooling off anytime soon. Coming off a very lucrative win on the Texas Tournament Trail at Sam Rayburn in early April, Paris reeled in a two-day catch of 29 pounds, 12 ounces to grab the second overall qualifying position heading into tomorrow’s semifinals.
“I just came off a $71,000 win at the TTT last month and to make the cut today really feels good,” he said. “I’m definitely excited about this tournament. I have a lot of fish located and if the weather permits and I don’t do anything stupid, I should make the (final) cut.”
A relative novice to the circuit, having only competed in four EverStart tournaments in his career, Paris has improved his overall performance in the Central Division with each passing tournament.
“This is my first full season on the EverStart trail,” he said. “And so far, I’ve gotten better at every tournament. I finished in 48th place during the first tournament of the year, I finished in 28th place in the next tournament and I’ll finish no worse than 20th here. I’m definitely excited about my chances.”
Paris, who has used a combination of spinner baits and craw worms to land the majority of his catch, said his experience guiding on Lake Fork, Texas, has really helped out his confidence on Kentucky Lake.
“I’m doing the same thing here as I would at home,” he said. “So it’s definitely helped me.”
Best of the rest
Rounding out the top five pro qualifiers were: Lendell Martin (third) of Nacogdoches, Texas, with a two-day catch of 29 pounds, 8 ounces; Joe Bennett (fourth) of Independence, Mo., with a total catch of 28 pounds, 14 ounces; and Wesley Strader (fifth) of Spring City, Tenn., with a catch of 28 pounds, 14 ounces.
Greg Korschot of Lafayette, Ind., won the day’s big bass award in the Pro Division after netting a 7-pound, 2-ounce largemouth. Korschot, who finished the tournament in 24th place, won $750 for his catch.
Cramer vs. Cramer
Daniel Cramer of Van Wert, Ohio, found himself in a familiar place at the conclusion of today’s weigh-in – atop the Co-angler leaderboard. Using a two-day catch of 24 pounds, 7 ounces, Cramer finished in first place for the second day in row – ensuring that he would retain the top qualifying position for the remainder of the tournament. In many respects, Cramer’s main competition this week has been himself.
“I had to work a little bit harder today,” he said. “But I just kept my lure in the water and eventually, it all worked out okay. It feels great to make the cut. This is the first tournament I’ve ever had the lead after the first day. And to keep it for a second day in a row has been fantastic.”
Cramer, who continued his preferred technique of flipping a jigs at brush and laydowns in today’s competition, said that he is as strong mentally on the water as he’s ever been.
“My confidence level is very high right now,” said Cramer. “The mental aspect of this game is very important. But the most important thing is to just keep that lure in the water.”
Cramer said that he is targeting a double-digit stringer weight for tomorrow’s competition.
“The way the fish are coming in, I think it’s going to take 12 pounds tomorrow just to make the cut,” he said.
Best of the rest
Rounding out the top five co-angler qualifiers were: Keith White (second) of Lewisville, Texas, with a catch of 22 pounds, 7 ounces; Greg Pugh (third) of Cullman, Ala., with a catch of 21 pounds, 9 ounces; Larry Regina (fourth) of South Bend, Ind., with a catch of 21 pounds, 2 ounces; and Ray Johnson (fifth) of Clinton, Ky., with a catch of 19 pounds, 8 ounces.
Don Smith of Belton, Ky., won the day’s big bass award in the Co-angler Division after netting a 5-pound, 13-ounce largemouth. Smith, who finished the tournament in 54th place, won $250 for his catch.
Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 5:45 a.m. at Moors Resort located at 570 Moors Road in Gilbertsville, Ky.