Terry Bolton of Paducah, Kentucky, brought a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 12 ounces to the scale Friday to take the lead after Day Two of the Walmart FLW Tour at Kentucky Lake presented by Mercury Marine. Bolton will bring a 2-pound advantage into day three of the four-day competition that features 162 of the top bass-fishing anglers in the world competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.
In second place is Tennessee River-Ace Jason Lambert of Pickwick Dam, Tennessee, who weighed in a tournament-best five-bass limit totaling 24-4 Friday for a two-day cumulative total of 10 bass worth 42-13. The field is trimmed to the top 20 on Saturday, with only the top 10 anglers fishing on final day Sunday.
“I think I’ve finally gotten a little wiser than I used to be,” said Bolton, an 11-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier who has 30 previous top-10 finishes in FLW competition on Kentucky Lake. “Two years ago when the Tour came here, I finished in 90th place – the worst finish that I have ever had in a June event. I’ve always prided myself on Kentucky Lake, and that one hurt my feelings. Last summer I spent a lot of time out here trying to rethink the way I do things. I’m getting older, and my old school methods were not working as well as they once did.
“I’m really proud of what I caught today, because I’d rather be off fishing some other way in a place all to myself,” Bolton continued. “You can’t be that way anymore, you have to fish behind people now. That’s why Randy (Haynes) and Mark (Rose) are so good – they’re accustomed to fishing around people. It took me several years, but I’m trying to get over it. I even invited Bryan Thrift in this week – I’m being a friendly guy.”
Bolton said that he hit five or six different areas throughout the day Friday, cycling through five or six different lures.
“I’m catching them in 20 to 27 feet of water,” he said. “I’m looking for little clusters of fish. The schools are broke up right now from the fishing pressure and the lack of current and they really moved around a lot today.
“I think I’ve got a little bit figured out, but the way fishing is right now you just don’t know what you’re going to catch,” Bolton went on to say. “I’ve just got to keep moving and find the fish and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
The top 20 pros that made the Buck Knives Cut and will fish Saturday on Kentucky Lake are:
1st: Terry Bolton, Paducah, Ky., 10 bass, 44-13
2nd: Jason Lambert, Pickwick Dam, Tenn., 10 bass, 42-13
3rd: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 42-6
4th: Brandon Hunter, Benton, Ky., 10 bass, 41-14
5th: Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 39-14
6th: Todd Hollowell, Fishers, Ind., 10 bass, 38-10
7th: Brad Knight, Lancing, Tenn., 10 bass, 38-6
8th: Walmart pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 10 bass, 38-2
9th: Jacob Wheeler, Indianapolis, Ind., 10 bass, 37-2
10th: Quaker State pro Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 36-9
11th: Jim Jones, Big Bend, Wis., 10 bass, 36-6
12th: Quaker State pro Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 35-7
13th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 35-3
14th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 35-0
15th: Jayme Rampey, Indianapolis, Ind., 10 bass, 34-15
16th: Yamamoto Baits pro Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas, 10 bass, 34-14
17th: Randy Haynes, Counce, Tenn., nine bass, 34-8
18th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 10 bass, 34-5
19th: Luke Dunkin, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 33-15
20th: Pete Ponds, Madison, Miss., 10 bass, 33-9
Final results for the rest of the field can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Jones earned the Big Bass Award on the pro side Friday, weighing a 8-pound, 14-ounce largemouth to win the $500 prize.
Overall there were 653 bass weighing 1,990 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 154 pros Friday. The catch included 121 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.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Mark Horton, Nicholasville, Ky., 10 bass, 33-8, $25,000
2nd: Kevin King, Blountville, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-6, $7,500
3rd: Nathan Harbison, Madera, Calif., 10 bass, 31-12, $5,000
4th: Maurice Cobb, Kuttawa, Ky., nine bass, 29-12, $4,000
5th: Joe McClary, Kirkwood, Mo., nine bass, 29-6, $3,000
6th: Keith Honeycutt, Temple, Texas, eight bass, 29-2, $2,500
7th: Rex Jaeger, Hamilton, Ohio, 10 bass, 28-15, $2,000
8th: Stephen Crawley, Bush, La., 10 bass, 28-15, $1,800
9th: Logan Thomas, Calvert City, Ky., 10 bass, 28-9, $1,700
10th: Jerry Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., 10 bass, 27-15, $1,600
Bronk McDaniel of Alexandria, Louisiana, caught Friday’s Big Bass in the co-angler division, a bass weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces to win the $250 prize.
Overall there were 473 bass weighing 1,183 pounds, 11 ounces caught by co-anglers Friday. The catch included 59 five-bass limits.
