GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – The Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Plains Division event on Kentucky Lake was a smallmouth spawn showdown, as experts and the calendar predicted. But some big largemouth showed up as well, and the anglers who did best on spawning smallmouth are playing at a level that is truly top tier, so there’s a lot to learn from their choices.
Here’s what worked best this week on Kentucky Lake.
1. Minnow and a Ned key for Turano
Winning the event, Matteo Turano worked on spawning smallmouth for the most part, and added a big largemouth on Day 2.
Turano mostly went with the traditional jig and minnow to catch his fish, using a 1/8- or 3/16-ounce head with a 5-inch Yamamoto Hinge Minnow. He threw that on a 7-foot, 1-inch, medium Phenix Feather with 15-pound braid and a 15-pound fluorocarbon leader.
He also mixed in a drop-shot with a 6-inch Roboworm Straight Tail Worm in bold bluegill, and his largemouth Ned rig consisted of a 3-inch Roboworm Ned Worm and a Northland Tackle Tungsten Nedster.
2. Kohl keys on the smallmouth spawn
Levi Kohl turned in the most consistent performance of the event, weighing 20 pounds, 11 ounces each of the first two days and then 21-6 on Day 3. It was a nearly perfect tournament, and he did it with 14 bass caught while his forward-facing sonar was fired up, and one 4-pounder caught off a shad spawn.
His best bait was a Jenko The Don on a 3/16-ounce Jenko Revolution Jighead. He used a 7-6, medium-light Jenko DCVR Elite FFS Series stick.
“After my ‘Scope period, the most exciting thing I had all tournament was I had one 4-pounder follow my Magdraft out of a laydown,” Kohl said. “And, the last day, I did catch a 4-pounder out of a shad spawn first thing.”
Otherwise, Kohl got it done in style every day on the spawning grounds.
3. Gill in his element
Fishing to win in his only Toyota Series event of the year, Drew Gill slipped up a little on Day 1, but otherwise knocked their lights out.
His bait of choice was a 4.8-inch Big Bite Baits Spotlight Minnow on a 3/16-ounce jighead. He used a 7-1, medium-light Phenix K2 Torzite stick and 22-pound braid with a 12-pound Seaguar Grand Max leader.
“I caught all 15 on it, including some blind fish,” Gill said of his minnow. “I was running primarily spawning smallmouth. I caught two largemouth, but they were spawning in the same places, just fishing shallow, primarily fishing objects.”
4. Another Kentucky Lake Top 10 for Lawrence
One of, if not the best, when it comes to Kentucky Lake, Jake Lawrence turned in another sterling performance.
He used a 3/16-ounce head with a 5-inch Yamamoto Hinge Minnow, as well as a 3-inch Roboworm Ned Worm. For his minnow, he used a prototype Dobyns Xtasy 761, and he used a Dobyns Kaden 700 or a Dobyns Fury 702 for his Ned.
“I was familiar enough with the lake to find where the fresh ones were,” Lawrence said. “Matteo and I both, if that fish was going to bite, we caught them on the first or maybe second cast. We were playing a numbers game. Yesterday, I ran all new stuff, Day 2, I got in a bad rotation. Day 3, I got fortunate, I bet I caught 30 over 3 pounds in the ‘Scope period yesterday, it was pretty fun.”
When the bass wouldn’t bite his minnow, he’d slow down with the Ned, especially if the fish looked big. On Day 2, he wrapped up his LiveScope period with only 18 pounds and caught a 4-pounder later on with a single swimbait.
5. Campbell knocks out another Top 10
Making his fifth Top 10 of the season, Brody Campbell kept things rolling after a similar performance at Pickwick.
Catching all spawning smallmouth, he did his work with a 1/4-ounce shaky head and a finesse worm, and of course, used a Bird Dog Rods stick.
6. Smallmouth carry Meisenhelter
Fishing for bedding smallmouth, Grant Meisenhelter did his damage in the traditional way.
“I stayed further north Day 1, and survived. I had one half-mile stretch, and I probably had 60 fish on bed, marked in that stretch,” he said. “I knew if I could save it for Day 2 and Day 3, I could go down and smash them at least one day.”
His best bait was a 5-inch Deps Sakamata Shad on a 3/16-ounce head, and he also caught one fish on a Neko rig.
7. Texas rig was a solid backup for Jelinek
Improving his weight every day, Brad Jelinek put together another great tournament and took over the lead for 7 Brew Angler of the Year in the Plains Division.
His best bait was a 6th Sense Juggle Minnow on a 3/16-ounce and he also used a 6th Sense Stroker Craw on a 3/8-ounce Texas rig. He used 6th Sense rods for both.
“That was the one-two punch,” he said. “If I couldn’t get them to come up to eat, I knew they wanted something slower.
“I could never figure the largemouth deal out,” he added. “I was targeting spawning fish, and tried to get lucky and catch a prespawn female. I think I only caught one female, and I think it was the last fish I caught.”
8. Nutt cracks ‘em on Day 3
Carter Nutt didn’t start off on fire, but on Day 3, he blasted 22-5 to rocket up into the Top 10.
His best baits were a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Hit Worm on a Neko rig, as well as a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Lil’ General on a Ned. He used a 3000 Abu Garcia Zenon X with 10-pound Berkley X5 and a 12-pound Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon leader for both, and went with a 7-foot, medium Abu Garcia Zenon for his worm, and a 6-10, medium light Zenon for his Ned.
“I weighed half of my fish without ‘Scope,” he said. “I was fishing for spawning smallmouth, so it was pretty hard to fish for them without ‘Scope. I’d found an area down south that I thought I could possibly win the tournament there, and I got there, and Jake Lawrence was reeling one in. So, I got to watch him catch all of his weight the first day, and I ended my ‘Scope period with 16 pounds.”
On Day 2, he flubbed the ‘Scope period again, and he only had 14 pounds when he turned his graph off, after staying up north instead of making the run. Day 3, he got it right.
“The third day, I fished the same stuff I did the second day, but I turned my ‘Scope on in the afternoon and every one of them bit,” he said. “I caught a 5-1 in practice and fished for her for two hours the second day, an hour with ‘Scope and an hour without. The third day, I got her to bite first cast, lost her, and got her to bite again 10 minutes later.”
9. Fields thrives on a minnow and a Texas rig
After losing the tournament on Day 1, Ethan Fields roared up the leaderboard every day after that. To get it done, his best baits were a 4.8-inch Big Bite Baits Spotlight Minnow on a 3/16-ounce head and a Texas-rigged Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog.
10. Minnow plays big for Morgan
Leading the event on Day 1 with nearly 24 pounds, Drew Morgan fell off from there, eventually finishing up in 10th place.
His best bait for smallmouth was a 5-inch Deps Sakamata Shad. For fish on beds, he used the chartreuse laser color and a 3/16-ounce head, and he also used the same minnow in silver shiner on a 1/2-ounce Carolina rig.
“I was throwing something with some chartreuse on it, the smallmouth were eating a chartreuse a lot better than a natural color for me,” he said.
Notably, Morgan has a couple of schools found in practice, and they all deserted him on Day 1 of the event. But, grouped up fish still accounted for some of his weight.
“I found a school with 30 minutes left of my three-hour window (on Day 1), and I threw in there twice and caught two fives,” he said. “I decided to leave them for tomorrow. In hindsight, I should have caught every one of them and given myself a little more of a lead. They were kind of shallow, I don’t know if they pulled up to spawn, or what, it has me a little bit confused. But that’s Kentucky Lake, these smallmouth are unpredictable.”