Lake Cumberland Top 10 Baits

What works in the hills of Kentucky in the fall

In classic Southern smallmouth fashion, crankbaits and jigs dominated the top 10 at Lake Cumberland during the 2019 Costa FLW Series Championship. The only exceptions were a few finesse baits and the tackle used by two pros who targeted largemouths.

Here’s what worked. 

1. To earn his second win on a Southern smallmouth fishery, Andrew Upshaw caught some fish on a Ned rig with a 1/8-ounce Gene Larew Pighead Jig Head and a Strike King Ned Ocho Worm, but he did most of his work with a green pumpkin Strike King Bitsy Flip Jig and matching Strike King Baby Rage Craw trailer.

2. Rob Burns targeted smallmouths on steep banks by burning three crankbaits: a Storm Wiggle Wart, a Luck-E-Strike American Originals G5 and a 6th Sense Curve 55. All sported orange craw patterns.

3. Three patterns worked for Matt Pangrac, but he used a couple of baits: 1) a SPRO RKCrawler 55 (solid red in cloudy conditions and translucent red in the sun) fished on 12-pound-test Sunline FC Crank fluorocarbon with a Duckett White Ice II 7-foot, 4-inch Timmy Horton cranking rod, and 2) a 6-inch Roboworm Straight Tail Worm (bold bluegill or morning sunrise) on a 2/0 drop-shot hook with 3/8-ounce weight and 7-pound-test Sunline FC Leader tied to 12-pound-test Sunline SX1 Braid.

4. The only bait Luke Plunkett needed was a 1/2-ounce double-Colorado spinnerbait by Coosa Custom Baits. It had a yellow skirt with a little bit of chartreuse.

5. Travis Manson cranked with a Rapala DT 14 in either brown craw or red craw, or a SPRO RKCrawler 55 in red craw. To follow up the cranks, he used a drop-shot with a Roboworm Straight Tail Worm in morning dawn.

6. California’s Rusty Salewske fished a 3/4-ounce green and brown football jig that was made for him by a friend in Arkansas. He paired it with a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver trailer.

7. Florida’s Laramy Strickland caught his fish grinding a red SPRO RKCrawler 55 into the bottom or banging it off trees. He fished it on a 7-foot, 4-inch, medium-heavy Fitzgerald Fishing Bryan Thrift Series cranking rod with 12-pound-test fluorocarbon line.

8. Steve Floyd fished exclusively for largemouths. He caught two keepers the last day on a 3/8-ounce white spinnerbait, but all of his other fish fell for a green pumpkin Berkley Havoc Pit Boss Texas-rigged with a 1/2-ounce weight. 

9. Brent Algeo was the only other pro to commit to the largemouth bite. He fished a black Berkley Choppo and a War Eagle spinnerbait in the spot remover color with tandem gold and silver willow-leaf blades and a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper trailer. 

10. California’s David Valdivia targeted smallmouths with a 3/8- or 1/2-ounce Deek’s Jigs football jig in green pumpkin with a craw trailer.