Knowledge Of Migration Routes Key For Lashlee

This may sound a bit odd, but Sam Lashlee insists it's true: It was easier for him to win the Old Hickory FLW Series last week – against many of the top tour pros in the country – than it would have been to win a big local tournament at Old Stingy.

A lot of the post-spawn fish were still shallow and relatively easy to catch, and that worked against most of the field. A high percentage of the fish that weighed 3 pounds and over, though, were either already out on the ledges, or on their way there. As he said after day 1, he knew where they'd been, where they were going and the routes they'd use to get there.

"I knew I'd have a huge advantage over all the pros because I know so many spots," said the resident of nearby Camden, Tenn. "The local guys know a lot of those same spots, and it would have been a lot tougher if this had been strictly a local tournament.

"There were some good locals in this tournament, but their problem was they were still catching fish shallow. I knew all of the pros would start shallow, and when they caught fish, that would keep most of them there.

"There was no doubt in my mind that if my equipment didn't fail and I didn't run into any major problems, I'd be in the Top 5."

He caught two of the tournament's three heaviest bags and won by 4-11 over reigning Bassmaster Classic champion Luke Clausen. Here's how he did it.

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 16-06
> Day 2: 3, 9-00
> Day 3: 5, 17-10 (13, 43-00)
> Day 4: 5, 9-10
> Total = 18, 52-10

Lashlee got into the tournament off the waiting list the day before it began. Therefore, he didn't practice. He used day 1 to pin down precisely what the fish were doing and caught the biggest sack of the day in the process.

"On the first day, I caught a small limit at the first place I stopped," he said. "Then I went to a little point off a creek-channel drop where I usually catch big fish. When I didn't catch any, I knew right then that the big fish had moved out.

"I knew they were working their way out from the spawning areas to the (Cumberland) River, so I went all the way out to the river and started working my way back in. When I did that, I whacked them. I culled every fish I had in the box."

He didn't go to the mouth of the river, but rather to a place "in the middle of the lake" where the old channel ran through. "There's current and more oxygen there, and that's where they live. Those fish get less pressure, and they're bigger."

He caught his first limit on a Strike King Series 5 crankbait (1/2-ounce, dives 10-12 feet). When he got to the deeper water, he switched to a Strike King prototype football-head jig.

His 16-06 limit gave him an 8-ounce lead over fellow Tennessean Ashley Hayes.

Day 2 wasn't so rosy though. He weighed in only three fish and dropped to 5th place.

"I went to the same spot and went through it with the big jig and some plastics, but I didn't catch anything," he said. "Then I went to a 1/4-ounce Strike King Bitsy Bug Jig and caught one, and then caught another one off another spot.

"Then I really started idling around and looking, because I knew it was a marathon and not a sprint. I went to one spot I know and caught a 4-pounder, but we ruined the spot by getting my co-angler's bait unsnagged.

"I knew I'd get them the next day. It was a creek-channel drop that wasn't quite all the way to the river and if those fish were there, I knew four or five more spots that would be holding them."

Get them he did, to the tune of a 17-10 bag that was the biggest of the tournament. All of the fish came from water between 14 and 20 feet deep, and two of them topped 5 pounds.

The huge sack catapulted him back into the lead and gave him a 4 1/2-pound cushion heading to the final day. He lost his two biggest bites on day 4, but kept his nerves in check and scraped up a limit on jigs and a big hand-poured worm that was more than sufficient to lock up the win.

The victory was worth $100,000, but he said the biggest rewards were non-monetary.

"The joy that it brought to my family was worth more than the money or anything else," he said. "People came from all over, and we never get together like that unless it's for a funeral or a wedding.

"I know my family has suffered because of my fishing. I missed my cousin's wedding and I missed some other events. But when we were together on Saturday, they told me they could see why I'd been living this dream. They said, 'You've made us suffer in different types of ways, but it's all worth it now.' My dad's 75, and he was just crying like a baby."

Winning Gear Notes

> Football jig gear: 6'9" medium-heavy Kistler Helium LTA rod, Shimano Bantam Chronarch casting reel (6.3:1 gear ratio), 12-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon line, prototype 1/2-ounce Strike King football-head jig, Strike King 3X Denny Brauer Chunk or Netbait Paca Craw trailer (green-pumpkin).

> Bitsy Bug Jig gear: Same rod, reel and line, 1/4-ounce Strike King Bitsy Bug Jig (black/blue), Strike King 3X Junior Chunk (black/blue flake).

> Crankbait gear: 7'6" medium Kistler Helium LTA rod, Shimano Curado casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), same line, Strike King Series 5 crankbait (blue/chartreuse with red Bleeding Shad hooks).

> "There's such an advantage with an extremely long rod," he said. "You can make longer casts and you can control a big fish better. You don't lose as many fish."

> He also caught one fish on day 4 on an 11-inch hand-poured worm (purple).

Notable

> Main factor in his success – "Two words: Jesus Christ. The Good Lord just blessed me. I knew that if I got into the tournament and the fish were where I thought they would be, I could win. I left everything else up to Him."

> He's worked on the football-head jig for more than a year with Doug Minor, Strike King's VP of marketing and sales. "I've helped him with a few baits over the years and we've fished together some and come close to winning some tournaments."

> He was a Top 10 finisher in each of the past two Kentucky Lake Midwestern EverStarts (now Strens). "I thought I was on the fish to win both of those, and I didn't win either. I didn't know if it was ever going to be my time. I knew I had the ability, but everything had to come together right. To have it happen like this, just out of the blue, is incredible."

> He'd fished one prior tour event – he was 32nd at the 1996 Kentucky Lake FLW Tour.