Two-circuit pro Steve Kennedy has made three consecutive 20-cuts in FLW Tour events. Last week at Pickwick Lake, he narrowly missed his second Top-10 showing of the season.
"I'd have been there if I could catch my bites," he said. "There were quite a few I didn't catch, but that's the nature of that swimbait I like to throw."
He would've preferred to fish below the Wilson Dam, where Davy Hite won a Bassmaster Elite Series event in 2011, but that area was off-limits for the derby. He fished as close to that vicinity as he could get – he was one of a very few competitors who made long runs in that direction.
He had 19-09 on day 1, but had a 16-inch fish among the quintet he brought to the scale.
"The other four were good ones – 4 to 4 1/2 pounds each," he said. "I had those at 10:30 and I never got another one."
He focused on water in the 4- to 6-foot depth range. In addition to the swimbait, he threw jigs and a couple of other offerings.
"By (day 3) I was just out of fish. I had some that might show themselves once, but they wouldn't bite."
The Big Bite Lookback, which focuses on the angler who's first out of the final cut at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great folks at Big Bite Baits.
