Jake Lawrence of Paris, Tenn. caught a 19-11 stringer on Saturday to win the Lake Barkley Central FLW Series with a 3-day total of 72-04. His winning margin was 7-05 and the victory netted him $48,300.
Lawrence said that he knew most of the bass would be offshore on the deeper ledges, where they would be easy to locate but challenging to catch. He also knew the early combination of heavy rain and high water coupled with the strong current would send some fish seeking shallower cover. That’s where he trained his efforts; specifically an area near the mouth of a small creek south of the Highway 79 bridge.
Lawrence was targeting fish in the 8- to 12 -oot zone. He primarily threw a 10-inch V&M J-Mag Worm in red bug (either on a Neko Rig or a swing-head), but he said he also caught fish on a Scrounger with a Castaic Jerky J, as well as a custom-made hair jig, a football jig and a spoon.
Most of Lawrence’s fish came each morning from the same area following a nearly 90-minute run from the Lake Barkley State Park launch site. The day-1 morning result was a 28-15 limit. He collected a 21-10 limit on day 2. On day 3 he had a winning limit in the boat by 7:30 and caught his last fish around 11 o’clock.
“Conditions are changing,” he said. “This was about the last day of it. I’m glad it lasted as long as it did.”
Here are the final totals for the top 10:
1. Jake Lawrence: 72-04
2. Garrett Paquett: 64-15
3. Mike Roller: 58-10
4. Marcus Sykora: 57-07
5. Ramie Colson Jr.: 55-09
6. Andy Morgan: 55-08
7. Brandon Hunter: 54-13
8. Cody Harrison: 52-11
9. Adam Craig: 44-06
10. Stacey King: 41-10
