Kenney Leads With 19-06 As Rayburn Remains Stingy

By BassFan Staff

The popular opinion among pros fishing the Sam Rayburn Reservoir FLW Tour Open this week was that someone – maybe even several guys – was going to pop a 20-pound stringer at some point.

A 25-pound catch isn’t out of the realm of possibility either. It is Texas, after all, but based on how the lake has been fishing in recent weeks, hitting that number isn’t going to be easy by any means.

After 1 day of competition, we’re still waiting on that 20-pound bag. And a good number of pros are still looking for answers as to what’s going on at the vast east Texas lake.

J.T. Kenney came close, popping a 19-06 basket to set the early pace at the final Tour event of the year. The Floridian is more than 2 pounds ahead of two Texans – Tommy Durham, who’s 2nd with 17-02, and Phil Marks, who’s 3rd with 17-01.

Keith Combs, another Texan who fishes the Bassmaster Elite Series and guides at Rayburn, is 4th with 16-12 while Bill McDonald rounded out the Top 5 with 15-03.

The pros near the top of the leaderboard were fortunate enough to collide with at least one fish in the 5-pound class or better. It may be an entirely new group of names at the top of the standings tomorrow, though. That’s how random the big bites have been this week.

Here's a look at the Top 10 after the first day of competition, with deficit margin from Kenney indicated by red numbers in parentheses:

1. J.T. Kenney: 19-06
2. Tommy Durham: 17-02 (2-04)
3. Phil Marks: 17-01 (2-05)
4. Keith Combs: 16-12 (2-10)
5. Bill McDonald: 15-03 (4-03)
6. Matt Herren: 14-13 (4-09)
7. Art Ferguson III: 14-11 (4-11)
8. Dion Hibdon: 14-07 (4-15)
9 (tie). John Cox: 14-00 (5-06)
9 (tie). Kevin Walker: 14-00 (5-06)

As expected, a fair share of the field bounced between grass beds where wads of bait fish are holed up and offshore spots where fish are holding to timber, drops or stalking schools of bait. Expect it to remain that way as fish are available, seemingly, from 6 inches to 25 feet. The only problem is many of those fish barely measure.

The warm weather is expected to last through the weekend with only a slight chance of thunderstorms on Sunday. The field will cut down to the Top 20 after day 2 and the Top 10 after day 3 will advance to the final round when the winner will be determined by total cumulative weight.

Kenney Cleaned Up

> Day 1: 5, 19-06

Kenney, a noted shallow-water angler, focused only a small portion of his practice around the bank and spent the majority of it out deep, trying to get dialed in on the offshore structure.

He spent all day today jumping around to several spots in a 5-mile area of the lake out deep. He caught dozens of fish, but only 10 keeper-quality bass. Among them was a 6-04 and another of similar ilk.

“It’s not easy. It’s not like I’m out there smashing them like at Kentucky Lake,” he said. “They seemed to bite better (today). The biggest fish I caught in practice was probably a 3 1/2-pounder. I caught some big ones today. We’ll see what happens.

“I had some places where I knew there were quite a few 3-pounders. From what I’ve been hearing about this place this time of year, 3-pounders are what you’re looking for. Of course, there’s always the chance of catching a great big one – you’re in Texas – but just watching the Internet and reading about local tournaments, it hasn’t been taking all that much (to win).”

The spots he focused on had a mix of fish-hold structure.

“Some of it is brush, some is standing timber and some is just a hard spot on a dropoff,” he added. “Heck, one of the places is just a big flat and there’s just a bunch of bait(fish) there. I caught one or two weigh fish there today. It’s just a big, 18-foot deep flat. All of the places, whether it’s a brush pile or a hard-bottom area, you just pull up there and make 10 casts. If they’re not biting, I’ll move on to the next one.

“I slowed down by about 11 because I figured I was getting close to 20. There was no sense in beating them up.”

2nd: Durham Overcame Slow Start

> Day 1: 5, 17-02

Durham first fished Rayburn about 19 years ago and fishes it fairly regularly nowadays. Even he’s not sure what’s got the fish in their current funk, but he was able to score a few quality bites and sits a little more than 2 pounds off the lead in his first career FLW Tour event.

“It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be bite-wise,” he said. “Overall, the lake is fishing pretty hard. I had to move around quite a bite. The fish just weren’t that active where they’d been chasing quite a bit. I guess the weather changes have got them acting up.”

He was among several anglers who thought the topwater bite around grass would be a productive enterprise, but that didn’t fire for him today and he had to wander out to deeper water to catch his better fish toward the middle and latter portion of the day. He had to go through about four spots before he swung a keeper into the boat. Numbers weren’t an issue for the Texan, who went through about a dozen keepers.

“It is in a weird state,” he said of the lake. “The fish were schooling on shad, which is typical for fall, and a few weeks ago, they were schooling all over the lake and you could catch some nice fish in some of them. They were real active and biting really good on topwaters, but we had that cold front and the water dropped about 10 degrees and ever since it seems like they can’t make up their minds.”

4th: Combs’ Cause Aided By a 7-05 Brute

> Day 1: 5, 16-12

Coming off a 3rd-place finish at the Toyota Texas Bass Classic a couple weeks ago at Lake Conroe, Combs is in his comfort zone this week fishing at home. It showed when he pulled a 7-05 beast out of his weigh bag that stood up as the big fish on the pro side on day 1.

Other than that, though, it was an all-around difficult day for the Huntington, Texas, native.

“I thought I was going to catch ‘em pretty good today,” he said. “I only caught five keepers and one of them was big. I caught a big one every day in practice and the last day, I caught five big ones. I know I can catch them, but it was rough today.”

He started out deep today, hoping to cobble together a nice limit as he’d caught a decent fish deep each day in practice. When that didn’t work, he went shallow, but got skunked there as well. Between 9 and 11, he ran through about seven spots and boxed his limit.

“At that point, I had a nice largemouth, the big one and three really small fish,” he said. “I then committed to going shallow and I really thought I’d get two or three more good bites up there at least. That’s how I caught those big ones the last day of practice. I never got a bite today. I have to keep doing it. I’ll have to mix it up again tomorrow.

“The lake’s fishing rough and I don’t know why. It seems like you can’t really be consistent out there right now. Somebody’s going to catch 25 in this still and they’re going to win it. It’ll be something like (the Toyota Texas Bass Classic) at (Lake) Conroe. Somebody will hang in there all week like Bryan (Thrift) did and one day, whether it’s tomorrow or the last day, they’re going to catch a big bag and win this thing.”

5th: McDonald Happy With Start

> Day 1: 5, 15-03

McDonald came into today 2nd in the Open points and in good position to lock up one of the five early-qualifier berths for next year’s Forrest Wood Cup. He didn’t do anything to hurt his standing today as he went through about 12 keepers, several of which were better than what he saw in practice.

“It was major to get a good start this week,” he said. “We’re all trying to make the Cup for next year and to have a good start today, that’s huge for me. Today was a better day than what my practice was. I didn’t have the best practice in the world. I didn’t set the hook on a lot and there was a little better quality fish than what I thought was there. That helps.”

He thinks the warm-up that’s followed last weekend’s drastic cold front is helping to improve the bite. All of his fish today were grass related in the mid-lake area and he doesn’t anticipate any major changes for day 2.

“I’m not catching lots and lots of fish, but the better quality is the key,” he said. “They bit a little better in the afternoon and I think I figured something out that I can key in on a little in terms of what they’re holding on. We’ll see how that pans out.”

8th: Flurry Helped Hibdon

> Day 1: 5, 14-07

Dion Hibdon had a better day compared to his practice, but he was mystified by his inability to pull any quality bites out of the grass.

“The grass was crazy,” he said. “It just let me down completely. It had been good. You could just catch them at will, wherever you wanted to go. As long as you had a little dab of hydrilla and pepper grass, you were going to catch them. I caught several 3-pounders in practice.”

However, at 11 today he had just two fish in his livewell so he opted to move out deep and proceeded to stick a 3-pounder, a 5-pounder and another 3 on consecutive casts.

“They were right where they were supposed to be,” he added, saying those fish were likely still in their summer routine. “I caught a 7-pounder out of the same place the other day.”

He moved off the area after the quick flurry, but couldn’t bring another keeper into the boat the rest of the day.

“I don’t know what to expect out of tomorrow,” he said. “I’m tickled with what I had after getting to the weigh-in and hearing everybody griping and complaining. I still expect a local to bust ‘em and win this thing. It won’t surprise me if one of those guys just creams them.”

11th: Ware Won’t Waver

> Day 1: 5, 13-13

Landon Ware doesn’t see much reason to deviate from his day-1 game plan tomorrow.

He picked off several keepers early on throwing topwaters over grass, then moved out and finished out his limit cranking deep brush piles, including a 6-pounder that accounted for nearly half of his weight.

He caught nine keepers, but lost a couple 3-pounders that would’ve helped. He knows mixing it up is almost a necessity this week.

“That’s the deal,” he said. “We’re catching them from 2 feet of water down to 20. They’re scattered out right now. The lake’s fishing probably the worst that I’ve ever seen it. I’m going to basically do the same thing. I’m going to start in the same area. It seems like where I was at was a lot better than the other side of the lake for whatever reason.”

76th: Cecil Stumped

> Day 1: 5, 8-00

Things didn’t go exactly how Russell Cecil expected them to and that has the Willis, Texas, resident scratching his head. He has three EverStart Series Top-10s at Rayburn, including a win in 2009, on his résumé so it stands to reason why he was puzzled by his result today.

“It was extremely disappointing for me,” he said. “I knew going into this deal that Rayburn’s off and it’s been fishing tough all year. I haven’t spent a lot of time out here this year, but I fished the EverStart back in April and usually the first week in April, it’s a smash-ola. I was 3rd or 4th after day 1 with 14 1/2 pounds. I think it’s like that again where 15 or 16 pounds is a hero sack when normally, it’s maybe 30th or 40th out here.”

He boxed a limit early on by focusing on vegetation and then moved offshore looking for upgrades.

“There are fish from 30 feet of water to 3 feet,” he said. “I thought I could catch some good ones late in the day, but I had an early check-in and they were really biting when we left. I thought I could go around and throw a crankbait the rest of the day and get two or three good bites. That was my plan coming in because in practice I was able to do that. Most of those bites had been after 2 p.m., though. I thought if I just wore on those places that I’d get one every so often but I never had a chance at a big one.”

Notable

> Day 1 stats – 110 anglers, 69 limits, 18 fours, 7 threes, 8 twos, 5 ones, 3 zeroes.

> George Cochran, who announced a few weeks ago that he will be retiring from tour competition after this event, got off to a solid start with 11-06. He sits in 27th place, just 1 1/2 pounds out of the Top 20.

> Open points leader Larry Nixon (12th, 13-10) is off to a good start and has a shot at another Top-20 cut.

Weather Forecast

> Fri., Oct. 12 – Mostly Sunny - 86°/65°
- Wind: From the SSE at 6 to 9 mph

> Sat., Oct. 13 – Mostly Sunny - 87°/68°
- Wind: From the S at 9 to 15 mph

> Sun., Oct. 14 – Partly Sunny - 86°/67°
- Wind: From the SSE at 6 to 9 mph

Day 1 Standings

1. J.T. Kenney -- Palm Bay, Fl -- 19-06 (5)

2. Tommy Durham -- Whitney, Tx -- 17-02 (5)

3. Phil Marks -- Dallas, Tx -- 17-01 (5)

4. Keith Combs -- Huntington, Tx -- 16-12 (5)

5. Bill McDonald -- Greenwood, In -- 15-03 (5)

6. Matt Herren -- Trussville, Al -- 14-13 (5)

7. Art Ferguson III -- St. Clair Shores, Mi -- 14-11 (5)

8. Dion Hibdon -- Sunrise Beach, Mo -- 14-07 (5)

9. John Cox -- Debary, Fl -- 14-00 (5)

9. Kevin Walker -- Buna, Tx -- 14-00 (5)

11. Landan Ware -- Jewett, Tx -- 13-13 (5)

12. Larry Nixon -- Bee Branch, Ar -- 13-10 (5)

13. Chad Grigsby -- Maple Grove, Mn -- 13-07 (5)

14. Joe Don Setina -- Pittsburg, Tx -- 13-05 (5)

15. Brent Ehrler -- Redlands, Ca -- 13-04 (5)

16. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, La -- 13-02 (5)

17. Darrell Davis -- Dover, Fl -- 13-01 (5)

17. Michael Williamson -- Fort Smith, Ar -- 13-01 (5)

19. Dave Lefebre -- Erie, Pa -- 12-14 (5)

20. Scott Suggs -- Bryant, Ar -- 12-13 (5)

21. Tommy Dickerson -- Orange, Tx -- 12-03 (5)

21. Russell Parrish -- Riesel, Tx -- 12-03 (5)

23. Jason Wells -- Center, Tx -- 12-00 (5)

24. Todd Castledine -- Nacogdoches, Tx -- 11-10 (5)

25. Justin Morton -- Etoile, Tx -- 11-07 (5)

25. Mike Surman -- Boca Raton, Fl -- 11-07 (5)

27. George Cochran -- Hot Springs, Ar -- 11-06 (5)

28. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, Al -- 11-05 (5)

29. Randall Tharp -- Gardendale, Al -- 11-04 (5)

30. Greg Bohannan -- Rogers, Ar -- 11-02 (5)

31. James Kiser -- Cypress, Tx -- 11-01 (5)

32. Shinichi Fukae -- Palestine, Tx -- 10-12 (5)

33. Todd Faircloth -- Jasper, Tx -- 10-11 (5)

34. Jonathan Newton -- Rogersville, Al -- 10-06 (5)

34. Derek Yamamoto -- Boulder City, Nv -- 10-06 (5)

36. Arnie Lane -- Lakeland, Fl -- 10-01 (5)

36. Thomas Martens -- Cedar Park, Tx -- 10-01 (5)

38. Philip Jarabeck -- Lynchburg, Va -- 10-00 (4)

39. Keith Caka -- Montgomery, Tx -- 9-15 (5)

39. Clark Reehm -- Shreveport, La -- 9-15 (5)

41. Wesley Strader -- Spring City, Tn -- 9-14 (5)

42. Ricky Guy -- Humble, Tx -- 9-13 (5)

42. Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, NC -- 9-13 (5)

42. Jacob Wheeler -- Indianapolis, In -- 9-13 (5)

45. Chris McCall -- Brookeland, Tx -- 9-08 (5)

45. Jay Yelas -- Corvallis, Or -- 9-08 (5)

47. Chris Baumgardner -- Gastonia, NC -- 9-07 (5)

47. Rick Clunn -- Ava, Mo -- 9-07 (5)

49. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, Ok -- 9-03 (5)

49. Craig Dowling -- Franklin, Tn -- 9-03 (5)

51. Mark Hooker -- Montgomery, Tx -- 9-02 (5)

52. David Harvey -- Beaumont, Tx -- 9-01 (4)

52. Tommy Robinson -- Westland, Mi -- 9-01 (4)

54. Wil Hardy -- Harlem, Ga -- 9-00 (5)

55. Chad Prough -- Chipley, Fl -- 8-13 (5)

56. Jim Tutt -- Longview, Tx -- 8-12 (5)

57. Jimmy Houston -- Cookson, Ok -- 8-11 (5)

57. Justin Lucas -- Guntersville, Al -- 8-11 (5)

57. Harry Moore -- Valley, Al -- 8-11 (5)

57. Tim Reneau -- Del Rio, Tx -- 8-11 (5)

57. Alton Wilhoit -- Harrah, Ok -- 8-11 (5)

62. Brad Drake -- Paris, Tx -- 8-07 (4)

62. Ray Hanselman -- Del Rio, Tx -- 8-07 (5)

62. Kelly Jones Jr -- Deer Park, Tx -- 8-07 (4)

65. Ralph Logan Sr. -- Magnolia, Tx -- 8-06 (5)

65. Chris Neau -- New Orleans, La -- 8-06 (5)

65. Mark Rouse -- League City, Tx -- 8-06 (5)

65. Ray Scheide -- Dover, Ar -- 8-06 (5)

69. Nicholas Albus -- Trinity, Tx -- 8-05 (5)

70. Cody Woods -- Jacksonville, Tx -- 8-04 (5)

71. Jeff Gustafson -- Keewatin, On -- 8-03 (5)

72. Takahiro Omori -- Emory, Tx -- 8-02 (5)

72. Mark Rose -- West Memphis, Ar -- 8-02 (5)

74. Robert Collett -- Zapata, Tx -- 8-01 (2)

74. Robert Collins -- Morrow, Oh -- 8-01 (4)

76. Russell Cecil -- Willis, Tx -- 8-00 (5)

77. Shane Long -- Willard, Mo -- 7-12 (4)

78. Darrel Robertson -- Jay, Ok -- 7-11 (4)

79. Brett Hite -- Phoenix, Az -- 7-09 (4)

79. Kris Wilson -- Montgomery, Tx -- 7-09 (4)

79. Gary Yamamoto -- Palestine, Tx -- 7-09 (4)

82. Matt Pennington -- Springdale, Ar -- 7-03 (4)

83. Paul Elias -- Laurel, Ms -- 6-14 (3)

84. Matt Reed -- Madisonville, Tx -- 6-12 (4)

84. Fred Roumbanis -- Bixby, Ok -- 6-12 (4)

86. Luke Clausen -- Spokane, Wa -- 6-08 (3)

87. Blake Nick -- Adger, Al -- 6-07 (3)

88. Jason Reyes -- Huffman, Tx -- 6-04 (4)

89. Randy Cisler -- Mesquite, Tx -- 6-02 (1)

90. Ed Melton -- Houston, Tx -- 6-01 (3)

91. Koby Kreiger -- Okeechobee, Fl -- 5-15 (4)

92. Anthony Gagliardi -- Prosperity, SC -- 5-13 (4)

93. Scott Canterbury -- Springville, Al -- 5-08 (3)

94. Donald Randall -- Nacogdoches, Tx -- 5-01 (2)

95. Tommy Martin -- Hemphill, Tx -- 5-00 (4)

95. Jim Moynagh -- Carver, Mn -- 5-00 (2)

97. Cody Bird -- Granbury, Tx -- 4-14 (3)

97. Charlie Hartley -- Grove City, Oh -- 4-14 (3)

99. Kevin Stewart -- Elk Grove, Ca -- 4-13 (2)

100. Boyd Duckett -- Demopolis, Al -- 3-10 (2)

101. Burt Briggs -- Universal City, Tx -- 3-06 (2)

102. Zach Caudle -- Shreveport, La -- 3-02 (2)

103. Tony Dumitras -- Wnston, Ga -- 3-00 (2)

104. Aaron Presley -- Moore, Ok -- 2-11 (1)

105. Dean Perkins -- Broaddus, Tx -- 1-15 (1)

106. Joe Gerard -- Concordia, Ks -- 1-08 (1)

107. Robert Morin -- Seymour, Tn -- 1-06 (1)

Tony Chachere -- Opelousas, La -- 0-00 (0)

Elbia Ebert -- Porter, Tx -- 0-00 (0)

Lamonte Loyd -- Gilmer, Tx -- 0-00 (0)