Jake Morris of McKee, Ky., brought just two bass weighing 5-12 to the scale Saturday, but as it turned out he could have taken the day off. Morris’ big 24-pound, 10-ounce day-1 limit on Thursday was enough to propel him into the early lead and go wire-to wire to win the Kentucky Lake Central FLW Series with a three-day total of 10 fish weighing 44-02.
Morris prevailed by a 6-14 margin and earned $39,608.
“I’m just as proud of the two that I caught today as the 24 (pounds) that I had on Thursday,” said Morris, who also won a BFL Regional Championship tournament on Lake Barkley in 2010. “It was tough out there today. My nerves are shot. It was a half-hour boat ride back and I thought for sure I had blown it. It hasn’t even sunk in that I won yet – maybe it will tomorrow.”
Morris said that he fished the same 75-yard stretch all three days of competition – a big flat that had a ditch against the bank, near the mouth of the Little River in Lake Barkley. He said that his key bait for the week was a 3/8-ounce Stan Sloan spinnerbait with a chartreuse skirt, Colorado and willow-leaf blades and a white Zoom Fat Albert Grub trailer.
“I was making the same cast and getting tired of looking at it,” Morris joked. “I think the key was two main things – the water color was dirtier back in my area and the temperature was 3 to 4 degrees warmer.
“I worried myself sick all day long, so to get the win today is crazy. I won a BFL regional event here and that was special, but this one feels a little better because the competition was so tough. I had a great week and it’s a tournament I will remember for a long time.”
Here are the final totals for the top 10:
1. Jake Morris: 44-02
2. Steve Floyd: 37-04
3. Shawn Kowal: 36-09
4. Jimmy Washam: 35-11
5. Cole Floyd: 35-06
6. Dan Morehead: 30-05
7. Brad Cook: 30-03
8. Christopher Jones: 28-15
9. William Campbell: 28-08
10. Travis Wilson: 23-06
