Ledge-Fishing Shootout Sets Stage for Dramatic Championship Sunday
– The Walmart FLW Tour at Kentucky Lake presented by Mercury Marine will come down to a nail-biting finish Sunday – six anglers known for their Tennessee River prowess competing alongside four of the most versatile fisherman in the country. The event that started with 162 of the best bass-fishing anglers in the country has now been trimmed to 10 as the anglers compete for the title of Kentucky Lake champion and the top prize of $125,000.

Jason Lambert of Pickwick Dam, Tennessee, who started the day in second place, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 25 pounds, 5 ounces – the largest limit of the tournament – to take the lead with a three-day total of 68-2.
Local pro Brandon Hunter of Benton, Kentucky, (66-10) sits in second, with Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, (63-2) in third. Day Two leader Terry Bolton of Paducah, Kentucky, (61-11) fell to fourth after bringing in a limit weighing 16-14, and Walmart pro Mark Rose of West Memphis, Arkansas, (58-8) rounds out the top five.
With just 6-7 separating Lambert from fourth place angler Terry Bolton, the tournament has turned into an old fashioned Kentucky Lake ledge-fishing shootout.
“Today was as good of a day that I could ask for,” said Lambert, who finished in second place when the FLW Tour last visited Kentucky Lake in 2014.
“This lake is really turning on more every day. I got a good start early – I caught a five-pounder and a couple of fours, and it seemed that every stop that I made for the next couple of hours I was upgrading. I probably caught 30 to 40 fish today, the most fish that I’ve caught any day of this tournament. More fish are coming to the ledges and there is less fishing pressure now.”
Lambert said that he had started the tournament with 14 rods on the deck of his boat, but had narrowed it down to just eight today. When he broke off his drop-shot rig today, he said that he didn’t re-tie, opting to remove it from his arsenal.
“There are getting to be less and less rods on my front deck,” Lambert said. “I’m keyed in on three baits, and I’ve been cycling through them. I’ll hit them from different angles and change how I line things up, but I’m really dialed down to three.
“If we can get some wind or a breeze to get the water moving around a little bit, I think we can wreck them tomorrow,” Lambert continued. “The lake has really opened up now with only 10 of us fishing, so the opportunity of getting more places to fish and bouncing around are going to be a lot better.
“I’ve been coming up here fishing for a long time and had a lot of success on this lake,” Lambert went on to say. “I’ve had a couple of second place finishes, a couple of thirds and quite a few top-10s. But, I’ve never gotten the win. It’d be special to win $125,000 anywhere, but it would really be nice to win up here and I would love to pull it off tomorrow.”
The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Kentucky Lake are:
1st: Jason Lambert, Pickwick Dam, Tenn., 15 bass, 68-2
2nd: Brandon Hunter, Benton, Ky., 15 bass, 66-10
3rd: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 63-2
4th: Terry Bolton, Paducah, Ky., 15 bass, 61-11
5th: Walmart pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 15 bass, 58-8
6th: Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 55-4
7th: Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., 15 bass, 54-13
8th: Jacob Wheeler, Indianapolis, Ind., 15 bass, 54-0
9th: Quaker State pro Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 15 bass, 53-14
10th: Brad Knight, Lancing, Tenn., 15 bass, 53-10
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 15 bass, 53-10, $12,000
12th: Quaker State pro Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 51-11, $12,000
13th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 15 bass, 51-10, $12,000
14th: Randy Haynes, Counce, Tenn., 14 bass, 51-1, $12,000
15th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 50-14, $12,000
16th: Jim Jones, Big Bend, Wis., 15 bass, 48-10, $12,000
17th: Yamamoto Baits pro Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas, 15 bass, 48-0, $12,000
18th: Todd Hollowell, Fishers, Ind., 13 bass, 46-2, $12,000
19th: TH-Marine pro Luke Dunkin, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 15 bass, 44-12, $12,000
20th: Pete Ponds, Madison, Miss., 15 bass, 43-11, $12,000
Overall there were 98 bass weighing 331 pounds even caught by pros Saturday. Nineteen of the final 20 pros weighed in five-bass limits.
Mark Horton of Nicholasville, Kentucky, won the co-angler division and $25,000 Friday with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 33 pounds, 8 ounces, followed by Kevin King of Blountville, Tennessee, who finished in second place with 10 bass weighing 32 pounds, 6 ounces worth $7,500.
In addition to casting for top awards of up to $125,000 cash in the pro division and up to $25,000 cash in the co-angler division, anglers are also competing for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing. The 2016 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Huntsville, Alabama, Aug. 4-7 on Wheeler Lake.
Anglers will take off for the final day of competition from Kentucky Dam State Park located at 7792 U.S. Highway 641 N. in Gilbertsville at 6:30 a.m. CDT Sunday. Sunday’s final weigh-in will also be held at the State Park, beginning at 4 p.m.
Fans will also be treated to the FLW Expo Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. at Kentucky Dam State Park before the final weigh-ins. The Expo includes a 100-yard Lew’s Casting Lane, the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.
Coverage of the Kentucky Lake tournament will premiere in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) Sept. 28 from 1 p.m.-2 p.m. EST. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs on NBCSN, the Pursuit Channel and the World Fishing Network and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
The Walmart FLW Tour at Kentucky Lake presented by Mercury Marine is hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros.
By: Joe Opager, Director of Public Relations
