Bobby Lane won the Kentucky Lake Bassmaster Elite Series off of a single honey hole that kicked out massive sacks in the first hour of each of the first 3 days. Those who finished closest to him in the standings, however, spent a considerable amount of time on the move.
As usual at Kentucky, the tournament was all about the ledge-bite. But if there was another bar on the entire reservoir (or on adjacent Lake Barkley, too boot) that was loaded up like Lane's, nobody found it.
Timing was the key for those who did a lot of hopping around – the windows when the biggest fish fed were usually pretty narrow. Current was also a big factor, as the Tennessee Valley Authority pulled a lot of at the tail end of the week. That was a switch from the 3-day practice period, when the water was stagnant for the most part.
2nd: Kevin VanDam
> Day 1: 5, 28-11
> Day 2: 5, 21-09
> Day 3: 5, 21-03
> Day 4: 5, 20-10
> Total = 20, 92-01
Kevin VanDam won at Kentucky in 2008 and would've done so again had Lane not discovered the mother of all hot spots. He caught a giant stringer on day 1 and followed it up with three solid sacks.
While most of the field was focused on the 6- to 12-foot depth-range, he went considerably deeper.
"My practice was pretty bad, really," he said. "What I was finding were lots of schools of small fish. Then on the third day I started fishing a little deeper than I had been and found a good school at about 18 feet, so I started looking for other places like that.
"I found most of them with the depthfinder – you could see the fish down there. I didn't know how big they were, but I knew they were there. Every ledge I fished had (mussel) shells and most were on the main-river channel, but not all of them."
He caught most of his fish on a prototype Strike King crankbait that members of the company's pro staff received just before the tournament – the Series 6 XD.
"It looks like a regular Series 6, but with the new weight chamber, it really runs deep. But more important than how deep it runs is what it does when it gets down there. It took a long time to perfect the action."
> Cranking gear: 7'10" Quantum Tour Edition KVD signature series cranking rod, Quantum Energy PT Series casting reel (5:1 ratio), 12-pound Bass Pro Shops XPS fluorocarbon line, Strike King Series 6 XD (sexy shad).
> He changed out the stock hooks and installed Mustad 1X strong, wide-gap size 2s (model No. 36300).
> Spoon gear: 7'2" heavy-action Quantum PT rod, Quantum PT "Burner" casing reel (7:1 ratio), 17-pound XPS fluorocarbon, 4" Strike King Sexy Spoon (sexy shad).
> He caught lots of fish on both a jig and a 10-inch worm, but none went to the scale.
Main factor in his success – "The biggest challenge for me was figuring out the fish from day to day. There were lots of different scenarios – a little current, a lot of current, no current. The fish moved around more than I'd ever seen in previous times. I was fishing fairly fast, but I had to be very methodical working those ledges."
Performance edge – "The Biosonix unit was a key factor in activating the shad – lots of times I was able to get them to school around me. Also the cranking rod, and the lure for sure."
Staying closer to the bank than most competitors paid off for Russ Lane.
3rd: Russ Lane
> Day 1: 5, 26-02
> Day 2: 5, 21-02
> Day 3: 5, 20-11
> Day 4: 5, 22-10
> Total = 20, 90-09
Russ Lane (no relation to Bobby) opted to say closer to terra firma than most competitors en route to his best Elite finish to date.
"I was fishing shell-bed ridges with hydrilla, but they were the closest ridges to the bank," he said. "Most of the guys were closer to the river channel, and I think the places where I was got less pressure.
"The ridges ran parallel to the main channel, but they might be half a mile away."
He threw three different models of crankbaits and caught weigh-in fish on each of them.
> Cranking gear: 7' medium-action American Rodsmiths David Fritts signature series cranking rod, Pflueger Patriarch casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), 12- or 15-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line, Bomber Tim Horton Switchback Shad (foxy shad), Lucky Craft DD 3.5 (American shad) or Strike King Series 5 (sexy shad).
> He used size 1 Gamakatsu SuperLine round-bend hooks on all three baits.
Main factor in his success – "I was really worried about getting down there and back every day and I was relying on my Yamaha engine to make those 35- or 40-mile runs. Everything worked together perfectly.
Performance edge – "The hooks, without a doubt. In practice and on the first day of the tournament I was losing quite a few fish, but once I made that change I started getting a lot more of them in the boat."
Skeet Reese didn't have any schools of big fish pinned down, so he stayed on the move throughout most of the tournament.
4th: Skeet Reese
> Day 1: 5, 25-15
> Day 2: 5, 22-10
> Day 3: 5, 23-05
> Day 4: 5, 18-09
> Total = 20, 90-07
Skeet Reese had a lackluster practice and didn't locate any areas that he could rely on to produce big fish consistently.
"I just kept running and moving until I found active fish or until I could get a school fired up," he said. "All of my bigger fish were just one here and one there. I never had a school of big ones anywhere.
His ledges featured either hydrilla clumps or shell beds – or both. He caught the majority of his fish from 6- to 10 feet of water and used a combination of crankbaits, a worm and a football jig.
> Cranking gear: 7' medium-action unnamed fiberglass composite rod, Abu Garcia Abu Garcia Skeet Reese Revo casting reel (6.4:1 ratio), 10- or 12-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line, Lucky Craft RC 2.5 (American shad) or Strike King Series 5 (sexy shad).
> Worm gear: 7'6" medium-heavy unnamed graphite rod, same reel and line (12-pound), 1/2-ounce tungsten weight, unnamed 5/0 hook, prototype 12" Berkley PowerWorm (plum).
> Jig gear: Same rod, reel and line as jig, 1/2-ounce unnamed football-head jig (green-pumpkin), Berkley Powerbait Chigger Craw trailer (green-pumpkin).
Main factor in his success – "Covering a lot of water and not sitting in one spot too long."
Peformance edge – "My Lowrance electronics were crucial in dialing in those pieces of structure and finding the little grass clumps. A lot of the fish I caught were related to grass."
Rick Morris hooked quite a few big fish during the week and landed every one of them.
5th: Rick Morris
> Day 1: 5, 26-00
> Day 2: 5, 16-10
> Day 3: 5, 23-01
> Day 4: 5, 22-11
> Total = 20, 88-06
Determination and execution were the keys to Rick Morris' best finish of the year.
"I practiced the wrong way on the first day, but the next 2 days I went sunup to sundown and located a lot of small stretches of shell beds," he said. "I found so many in a 4- to 5-mile stretch that I had enough to fish even when people got on some of the other ones.
"I caught 20 fish that were 5 pounds or over in practice and in the tournament, and I never lost a single one. The rod, the line and the hooks were all perfect and it was one of those miracle deals."
A crankbait was his primary bait, but he also scored on a worm and a jig.
> Cranking gear: 7'11" medium-heavy RPM Custom cranking rod, Pflueger Trion casting reel (5.2:1 ratio), 10-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, Bomber Fat Free Shad (citrus shad).
> Worm gear: 7'6" medium heavy RPM Custom flipping/pitching rod, Pflueger President casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), 20-pound Gamma Edge, 1/2-ounce unnamed tungsten weight, 5/0 Gamakatsu round-bend hook, 10" Berkley PowerWorm (plum).
> Jig gear: Same rod, reel and line as worm, 3/4-ounce Ezee football-head jig (Texas craw), Netbait Paca Craw trailer (bullfrog).
Main factor in his success – "Putting in 14 hours a day on those last 2 practice days and finding all of those shell beds."
Performance edge – "Definitely the cranking rod. I can cast the bait a mile and it's got the backbone I need to put those hooks solidly into the fish."
