Lashlee closes in on second consecutive victory
Tennessee pro wins last week on Old Hickory, leads Stren Series event on Kentucky Lake
BENTON, Ky. – Kentucky and Barkley lakes churned out the bass again today for the Stren Series Midwest Division semifinalists, yielding 20 limits on the 20-boat pro side and 11 on the co-angler side. Three competitors – two pros and one co-angler – busted the 20-pound mark again today, proving once again that the big lakes are among the premier bass-fishing destinations in the country.
Typically by day three, a fishery succumbs to the pressure exerted by a 200-boat field over the first two days, but not Kentucky-Barkley. The lakes are so big and so full of bass that the big ones continue to cross the scales into the final rounds, including a 7-pound bass brought in today by No. 13 co-angler Billy Sneed.
However, Kentucky-Barkley has always been known as a local’s lake, and the hometown folks brought them in again today, with at least half of the top 10 pros hailing from the area. Leading the pack once again is Camden, Tenn., phenom Sam Lashlee, who will bring a 1-pound, 8-ounce lead into day four thanks to his five-bass catch weighing 23 pounds, 3 ounces.
To say that Lashlee is on a hot streak would be putting it mildly. In addition to leading two out of three days so far this week on his home lake, it was just one week ago tomorrow that Lashlee earned $100,000 on Tennessee’s Old Hickory Lake at the Wal-Mart FLW Series’ third event. Can Lashlee take two titles in two weeks?
“I’m on a roll,” Lashlee said. “I’m fishing with a lot of confidence. It seems everything I’m doing is right. I’m adjusting, and I’m proud of myself. When you get a limit, it gives you confidence you can move on.”
Indeed, Lashlee’s momentum, coupled with his extensive local knowledge, has the rest of the field shaking in their boots, and nine co-anglers jealous that they don’t get to fish with him tomorrow. Should Lashlee win tomorrow, he will have done it all at home, as he’s making a seriously long run to his Tennessee stomping grounds to bring in the bass.
“We ran almost to my house,” Lashlee said of the sweet spot that surrendered his day-three bounty. “It’s a spot I’ve kind of been saving; I didn’t know if I’d need it today. It’s loaded. It paid off.”
Lashlee described the area as a deepwater spot with patches of hydrilla. He’s fishing it the same way he’s fished all week, using several baits but most notably a 3/4-ounce jig and a Series 6 crankbait.
“The fish are deep – that’s where they live,” he said. “You always want to fish where the majority of the fish are.”
Silvester makes a comeback
Giving Lashlee the most serious run for his money is Staunton, Ill., pro Anton Silvester, who caught 21 pounds, 11 ounces today to come all the way from 14th place to second. Silvester is milking one particular spot that has continued to replenish itself over the course of the week.
“I hope they’re still there; I don’t have many spots left,” Silvester said. “I’m fishing Kentucky Lake relatively deep, using worms and jigs.”
Silvester is fishing in water deeper than 20 feet, and he’s milking the predominant ledge-fishing pattern to haul in the big ones.
“The key is fishing slow,” he said. “I think my chances are pretty good.”
Windham adjusts, lands in third
Yesterday’s No. 9 pro Yancy Windham of Gordo, Ala., moved into the third spot on day three with a limit weighing 18 pounds, 4 ounces.
“I had a great day, awesome really,” Windham said. “The fish changed on me, and I had to adjust. I know I’m on big fish.”
What Windham needs the most is a break from the blinding sunshine that has blistered anglers all week. Unfortunately, the current forecast calls for another sunny day despite the clouds that rolled in during the second half of today’s weigh-in.
“I’m hoping the weather will play into my hands,” Windham said. “I need clouds and wind. I don’t like it still.”
Windham is catching his bass on Kentucky Lake.
Tutt, Kilzer bring in similar weight to round out top five
For the third day in a row, Texas pro Jim Tutt ended the day in the fourth position, this time with a limit weighing 17 pounds, 10 ounces. Remarkably, Tutt has caught about 54 pounds of bass this week out of the same spot.
“I haven’t moved the boat a hundred yards in three days,” Tutt said. “I’m milking it. I get about a bite an hour, but fortunately they’re good ones.”
Bobby Kilzer of Paris, Tenn., another Kentucky Lake denizen, sits in the fifth spot 1 ounce behind Tutt with a day-three limit that weighed 17 pounds, 9 ounces.
“The last two casts I made, I caught my two biggest fish,” Kilzer said. “The key for me is a football-head jig. It’s all I’m throwing.”
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pros who will fish tomorrow on Kentucky Lake:
6th: Mike Ward, Paris, Tenn., five bass, 17-6
7th: Donald Cordle Jr., Brentwood, Tenn., five bass, 17-3
8th: Kenneth Chapman, Woodlawn, Tenn., five bass, 16-5
9th: Drew Lynch, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 15-15
10th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., five bass, 15-15
Fabiszak takes co-angler top spot
South Bend, Ind., angler Ron Fabiszak ended Jeramiah Sifers’ two-day hold on the No. 1 spot in the Co-angler Division with a five-bass catch that weighed 21 pounds. Fabiszak will enter the final round with a 1-pound, 3-ounce lead over his nearest competitor.
“Hot and long” was how Fabiszak described his day, which he spent in the back of Windham’s boat.
“I’m fishing slow, staying out of the way,” Fabiszak said. “I stopped fishing at 10:30. I’m just doing something different than they are.”
As the No. 1 co-angler, Fabiszak is the lucky one who will fish with red-hot Lashlee tomorrow, ending yet another run for Sifers, who fished with Lashlee on days two and three.
Rounds hopes for repeat
In second place on the co-angler side is local stick Chuck Rounds, who won this event last year and doesn’t have much ground to make up to take it again this year.
“I’m catching them on a big 12-inch worm, june bug color, in 17 to 23 feet of water,” Rounds said. “I’m hopping it around pretty good, not dragging it around.”
If Rounds should take the co-angler victory, which would award him a new Ranger boat, he plans to take that boat and make the move to the pro side.
“(A win) would give me the keys to one of those rigs, and I could go to the front,” he said.
Sifers slips to third
He may not be leading it anymore, but Sifers is still no slouch this week on Kentucky Lake, as he brought in another 17 pounds, 10 ounces today to sit in third. He is disappointed, however, that he won’t get to fish with Lashlee for the third straight day tomorrow.
“I was hoping it was going to work out for the both of us tomorrow,” Sifers said. “We really fish good together – it was more like a team tournament. I just had a bad day.”
Sifers estimates that he lost two 4-pounders plus another fish that they never really saw.
Murphy, Wolfe round out top five
In fourth place on the co-angler side is Brendan Murphy of Cape Girardeau, Mo., with a limit weighing 17 pounds, 4 ounces. Behind him in fifth is Jesse Wolfe of Nelson, Wis., who caught five today that weighed 15 pounds, 6 ounces.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the final-round co-anglers on Kentucky Lake:
6th: Rick Pelletier, Anoka, Minn., five bass, 14-6
7th: Fred McCormick, Greenville, Ind., five bass, 12-11
8th: Scott Cloutier, Rochester, Minn., five bass, 12-9
9th: Richard Meuth, Henderson, Ky., five bass, 11-8
10th: Bill Sims, Paducah, Ky., four bass, 11-7
The top 10 pros and co-anglers will head out again tomorrow at 6 a.m. from Moors Resort and Marina in Gilbertsville for the final day of competition. Their weights from day three are carried over, with the winners determined by the heaviest two-day catch. The final-round weigh-in begins at 4 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 310 W. Fifth St. in Benton.