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FLW Series: Lake Cumberland, KY

Tour Event # 2 of 5

Preview: FLW Series to Visit Lake Cumberland

SOMERSET, Ky. - The $6.5 million Wal-Mart FLW Series will stop in Somerset, Ky., May 3-6 for its second regular-season tournament, which will be held on Lake Cumberland. Hosted by the Somerset/Pulaski Convention & Visitors Bureau, the tournament features 400 anglers from 31 states, Japan, Canada and Australia, with 200 of the world's best bass pros fishing for a top award of $100,000 cash. Two hundred co-anglers will compete for a top award of $20,000 cash.
Local pro Keith Monson of Burgin, Ky., believes anglers competing in the $900,000 event will have their pick of patterns throughout the tournament.
"Sight-fishing, flipping brush or an early morning topwater bite could hold for a solid four days," said the FLW Outdoors veteran, who has 26 top-10 finishes to his credit. "Any of those patterns will produce quality fish this time of year."
Another local favorite, Mike Devere of Berea, Ky., says weather and water conditions will be a determining factor throughout the course of the tournament.
"We've had a lot of rain recently," Devere said. "The water is so muddy in the upper end on the river, you could walk on it. With a little sun, the smallmouth will pull off the beds, and that will open up a good spinnerbait bite or Fluke pattern."
While both anglers agree targeting largemouths by flipping flooded bushes will be a heavy-weight pattern, Monson believes even spotted bass will produce respectable limits.
"We've had a good population of spots pop up in the last couple years," he said. "It wouldn't surprise me a bit if some anglers get on them."
Anglers will take off at 6:30 each morning from the General Burnside State Park. Wednesday, Thursday and Firday's weigh-ins will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday's weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 177 Washington Drive in Somerset beginning at 4 p.m. Children will be treated to the Fujifilm trout pond and rides in the Kellogg's Ranger boat simulator beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday prior to the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart. All events are free and open to the public.
The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three by the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The total purse for the Cumberland Lake tournament is $900,000, including $10,000 through 50th place in the Pro Division.
The new $6.5 million FLW Series features five $900,000 qualifying tournaments, each with a top award of $100,000, that advance anglers to the $2 million, 2007 Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million cash.
Coverage of the Lake Cumberland FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the "FLW Outdoors" television program airing June 4. "FLW Outdoors" airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. "FLW Outdoors" is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary, the United Kingdom, among other others, making it the most widely viewed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

Day 1: Crase Leads FLW Series on Cumberland

SOMERSET, KY. - Following a three-hour fog delay Wednesday morning, pro Johnny Crase of Lexington, Ky., caught a five-smallmouth bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 3 ounces to lead day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Lake Cumberland near Somerset, Ky. The four-day event has a total purse of $900,000, with $100,000 cash going to the Pro Division winner and $20,000 awarded to the co-angler winner.
Many anglers are running from General Burnside State Park to the dam, which made a short day even shorter, considering it takes nearly an hour to travel that distance by boat. On top of the fog delay, several aspects are affecting the bite. Recent rains caused the lake to rise considerably and washed in a lot of wood debris into the lake. Bass were already spawning when the water level increased, which made beds much deeper than they were several days prior. The debris is also getting in the way of anglers sight-fishing. Despite the tough conditions, dozens of smallmouths weighing between 4 and 5 pounds were caught.
Crase, who has a strong Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League record on Lake Cumberland with three top-10 finishes, leads by about 1 pound.
"I'm targeting smallmouths, but smallies on this lake are tough," Crase said. "They are there one day and gone the next. I culled once today."
"I've got about 10 spots, and I fished about four or five today," Crase explained. "I caught a couple on a drop-shot, and all of them came on finesse baits. I m using 8-pound line. The fish are spawning about 15 feet deep. If it rains tomorrow, it could help me."
Kellogg s pro Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas, one of the most accomplished anglers in the sport, caught a limit consisting mostly of smallmouths weighing 16 pounds, 14 ounces.
"I like this lake; it fits my style," Wendlandt said, who has never fished Cumberland prior to this event. "The lake reminds me a lot of Beaver Lake, and I do well there.
I caught two that I could see, and the others were bedding also, because I shook off the same type of bite in the same exact places in practice, but I couldn't see then. I'm catching them on a unique bluff, and the fish are bedding in the cracks of the bluff.
I'd like to say I could catch 16 pounds again tomorrow, but I don't think I can. I can probably do 10 pounds each day, but I m not sure I can do much more than that. I've got some big largemouths on beds, but it is unreal how hard the largemouths are to catch in this lake when they're on the bed."
Wendlandt caught seven keepers Wednesday.
Rounding out the top five pros are Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas (five bass, 14 pounds, 11 ounces); Mike Hawkes of Sabinal, Texas (five bass, 14 pounds, 4 ounces); and Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif. (four bass, 13 pounds, 3 ounces).
Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., landed the day s Snickers Big Bass in the Pro Division, a 6-pound largemouth worth $750. He caught the bass sight-fishing with a white lizard.
Kevin Koone of Greenbrier, Ark., winner of the season s first FLW Series event on Lake Lanier, leads the Co-angler Division with three bass weighing 10 pounds, 1 ounce. Koone, a rookie co-angler in the professional ranks, is a senior at Arkansas Tech University.
I was using the same finesse worm that I used at Lanier, Koone said. I ve just been getting good draws. I only caught three smallmouths and broke off two big fish. Light line, big rocks and big smallmouths just don t mix. I caught my fish in 10 to 12 feet of water.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jim Smith of Georgetown, Ky. (five bass, 7 pounds, 11 ounces); Ken Cothran of Locust Grove, Ga. (four bass, 7 pounds, 3 ounces); Arch Cornett of Huntsville, Ala. (three bass, 6 pounds, 1 ounce); and Matt Arey of Shelby, N.C. (two bass, 5 pounds, 11 ounces).
Mike Miller of Somerset caught the day s biggest bass in the Co-angler Division with a 5-pound, 5-ounce smallmouth and earned $250.
Overall, 531 bass weighing 1,084 pounds, 14 ounces were caught Wednesday, including 32 five-bass limits.
The new $6.5 million FLW Series features five $900,000 qualifying tournaments, each with a top award of $100,000, that advance anglers to the $2 million, 2007 Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million cash.
Anglers fishing the FLW Series tournament on Lake Cumberland will take off each morning at 6:30 from General Burnside State Park. Thursday and Friday s weigh-ins will also be held at the park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 177 Washington Drive in Somerset beginning at 4 p.m. Children will be treated to the Fujifilm trout pond and rides in the Kellogg s Ranger boat simulator beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday prior to the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart. All events are free and open to the public.
The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three by the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers.
Coverage of the Lake Cumberland FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the FLW Outdoors television program airing June 4. FLW Outdoors airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. FLW Outdoors is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely viewed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

Day 2: Hawkes Leads FLW Series Event on Cumberland

SOMERSET, KY. - Yamaha pro Mike Hawkes of Sabinal, Texas, caught a five-bass limit Thursday weighing 14 pounds, 6 ounces to give him a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 28 pounds, 10 ounces to lead day two of the Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Lake Cumberland near Somerset, Ky. Pros are competing for a first-place award of $100,000.
The bite has been tough on Lake Cumberland this week, and many anglers feel blessed to land three solid keepers each day. The minimum length limit for bass at this event is 18 inches for smallmouth bass, 15 inches for largemouth bass and 12 inches for spotted bass. Despite the trophy length limit placed on smallmouths, they have contributed to a vast majority of quality keepers. Smallies in the 4-pound range have been common this week.
"I decided yesterday to fish for smallmouths and go for the win," Hawkes said. "I went out and practiced for three hours this morning before I went to my best spot. I caught one keeper smallmouth and one keeper spot and found a couple more places to go. At 10:30 a.m. I had a limit and picked a new creek and went practicing some more. There are very isolated spots about the size of a pontoon boat in about 8 to 12 feet of water that are holding fish. But those spots are rare. I fish these spots slowly for about 20 minutes working my way all around them. Then I let them rest for an hour and come back to them. The fish are there, and you just have to beat those spots to death to get the bites."
Hawkes is using finesse baits on 6-pound-test line. It takes him several minutes to land each keeper smallmouth.
Kellogg's pro Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas, maintained his second-place position with a five-bass limit weighing 10-12 His two-day total weighs 27-10. Wendlandt is sight-fishing and fishing cracks in bluff lines.
Yamaha pro Jay Yelas of Tyler, Texas, jumped up six places to third with a limit weighing 14 pounds, including his biggest smallmouth ever weighed in a tournament 5 pounds, 2 ounces. His two-day total of 10 bass weighs 25-9.
"I'm using 6-pound-test Berkley Vanish, and it s taking me forever to land these big smallmouths. It took seven to 10 minutes to land the largest. It was like fighting a giant salmon."
"I caught bedding fish yesterday but just went fishing today for smallmouths. I caught all three of my big smallies on one point. I'm totally out of bedding fish, but that point is loaded with fish. I think they're postspawn fish, because they re not very active. They re just sitting on the bottom 19 to 23 feet deep recovering from the spawn. It was an early bite. We're going to need some clouds tomorrow to catch them later in the day."
Rounding out the top five pros are Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas (eight bass, 25 pounds, 6 ounces) and Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif. (nine bass, 24 pounds, 13 ounces).
Kevin Koone of Greenbrier, Ark., the $20,000-winner of the season s first FLW Series event on Lake Lanier, leads the Co-angler Division for the second day in a row with four bass weighing 14 pounds, 1 ounce. Koone, a college senior who won a boat fishing a tournament when he was 16 years old, leads by 18 ounces.
"I was doing the same thing I did yesterday and the same thing I did at Lanier 1/8-ounce Shaky Head on a watermelon-candy worm. You have to pick up something you are confident in and stick with it."
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are John Wilson of Hazelwood, N.C. (six bass, 12 pounds, 15 ounces); David Hudson of Jasper, Ala. (five bass, 11 pounds, 5 ounces); J.B. King of Byrdstown, Tenn. (five bass, 11 pounds, 3 ounces); and Matt Arey of Shelby, N.C. (four bass, 10 pounds, 8 ounces).
The new $6.5 million FLW Series features five $900,000 qualifying tournaments, each with a top award of $100,000, that advance anglers to the $2 million, 2007 Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million cash.
Anglers fishing the FLW Series tournament on Lake Cumberland will take off each morning at 7 from General Burnside Island State Park. Friday s weigh-in will also be held at the park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 177 Washington Drive in Somerset beginning at 4 p.m. Children will be treated to the Fujifilm trout pond and rides in the Kellogg s Ranger boat simulator beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday prior to the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart. All events are free and open to the public.
The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three by the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers.
Coverage of the Lake Cumberland FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the FLW Outdoors television program airing June 4. FLW Outdoors airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. FLW Outdoors is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely viewed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

Day 3: Texans on Top on Lake Cumberland

SOMERSET, Ky. - Pro Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas, caught three bass Friday weighing 9 pounds, 6 ounces to give him a three-day total of 11 bass weighing 34 pounds, 12 ounces to lead day three of the Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Lake Cumberland near Somerset, Ky. The top 10 pros advance to Saturday s final day of competition where the winner receives $100,000 cash based on the four-day accumulated weight.
"The whole key this week is fishing secondary points in small pockets in the lower third of the lake," Hoernke said. "In highland lakes like Cumberland, the most mature smallmouths and spots live in the lower third of the lake, and they are main-lake fish by nature. They don t like to go five miles to spawn, so they hit the first pockets on the main lake. The whole deal for me was studying the map before the tournament."
"I'm finesse fishing, but I'm using 10-pound-test line so I can really drive the hook in. I have caught nearly every fish that bit this week. A lot of guys are using lighter line and missing a lot of fish because they re not getting a good hook-set. But I practiced with 10-pound line and lighter line, and it didn't make a difference. I'm using a 1/8-ounce Shakey Head."
Mike Hawkes of Sabinal, Texas, is in second with 13 bass weighing 34-8.
"At 12:30 p.m. I didn't have a fish and completely changed everything," Hawkes said. The clouds came in, and it started raining, so I went shallower. I threw a reaction bait and covered a lot of water. I had 100 spotted bass come up to look at the bait but only a few would hit."
Rounding out the top five pros are Steve Wright of Oskaloosa, Iowa (14 bass, 31 pounds, 13 ounces); Jay Yelas of Tyler, Texas (12 bass, 31 pounds, 12 ounces); and Kellogg s pro Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas (11 bass, 29 pounds, 9 ounces).
Local angler David Lawson of Richmond, Ky., earned $20,000 as the winner of the Co-angler Division. He caught six bass over three days weighing 20 pounds, 15 ounces, winning by more than 6 pounds.
"I was throwing a brown 3/8-ounce round-head jig on 12-pound line," Lawson said. "That's what I do 90 percent of the time. We were fishing 8 to 20 feet deep."
"I fished with Terry Baksay today, and he was fishing exactly where I practiced for two days. The fish were there all week, and I knew it. I didn't tell him anything. He fished exactly where I wanted to."
Baksay, who finished second at the season s first event on Lake Lanier, weighed in 14-3 Friday, but finished in 72nd place.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are J.B. King of Byrdstown, Tenn. (six bass, 14 pounds, 10 ounces, $10,000); Jacques Fleischmann of Valencia, Calif. (four bass, 14 pounds, 5 ounces, $9,000); Kevin Koone of Greenbrier, Ark., who won the season s opening even in the Co-angler Division (four bass, 14 pounds, 1 ounce, $8,000); and Craig Johnson of Martinez, Ga. (four bass, 14 pounds, $7,000).
The new $6.5 million FLW Series features five $900,000 qualifying tournaments, each with a top award of $100,000, that advance anglers to the $2 million, 2007 Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million cash.
Anglers fishing the FLW Series tournament on Lake Cumberland will take off at 7 Saturday morning from General Burnside Island State Park. Saturday s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 177 Washington Drive in Somerset beginning at 4 p.m. Children will be treated to the Fujifilm trout pond and rides in the Kellogg s Ranger boat simulator beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday prior to the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart. All events are free and open to the public.
The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three by the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers.
Coverage of the Lake Cumberland FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the FLW Outdoors television program airing June 4. FLW Outdoors airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. FLW Outdoors is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely viewed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

Day 4: Hawkes Wins in a Landslide on Cumberland

SOMERSET, Ky. - Yamaha pro Mike Hawkes of Sabinal, Texas, caught a five-bass limit Saturday weighing 12 pounds, 7 ounces to give him a four-day total of 18 bass weighing 46 pounds, 15 ounces to win the Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Lake Cumberland near Somerset, Ky. Hawkes, who qualified for the 2005 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship, won by more than 10 pounds to earned $100,000.
Anglers did not experience Lake Cumberland at its finest this past week. Numerous factors contributed to challenging conditions: sluggish, recently spawned bass; water levels that recently increased dramatically; wood debris covering sections of the lake, which was washed in from heavy rains; and changing weather conditions. FLW Series pros, nevertheless, are the best bass anglers in the world and caught quality fish particularly dozens and dozens of impressive smallmouth bass weighing between 4 and 6 pounds.
Most competitors pulled out the finesse tackle for the event. Using finesse worms on drop-shot rigs and 1/8-ounce jigheads was the primary tactics during the event. Most anglers used 6- and 8-pound-test line on spinning tackle. A few pros focused on sight-fishing.
"I went to all new water today," Hawkes said. "I did it a little yesterday when I was struggling, but you have to have confidence that you can catch fish no matter where you go. In this tournament, you couldn't stay on one spot because there weren't enough fish stacked up."
"When the sun was out this week I was using a Reaction Innovations Flirt a finesse worm in watermelon-candy color. I rigged it wacky style and on a jighead. When the clouds came out I switched to Zoom Fluke Jr. in shad color and pitched it in the backs of pockets."
Hawkes started the first two, sunny days fishing a handful of isolated areas in 8 to 12 feet of water that were about the size of a pontoon boat. He would work each area very slowly with the finesse worm, let it rest for an hour, and return later. He caught about 14 pounds each of the first two days. On day three, however, his areas ran dry and Hawkes moved shallower to try to take advantage of the rainy conditions but only caught 5 pounds, 14 ounces. That is when he utilized the Fluke. On day four, which was sunny, Hawkes went back to the deeper water with the finesse worm.
Hawkes has two top-10 finishes in Wal-Mart FLW Tour competition and two top-10s in Stren Series competition. This win boosts his FLW Outdoors career earnings to nearly $300,000.
Rounding out the top five pros are Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif. (10 bass, 36 pounds, 8 ounces, $50,000); Chevy pro Luke Clausen of Spokane, Wash. (15 bass, 36 pounds, 3 ounces, $40,000); Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas (12 bass, 36 pounds, 2 ounces, $30,000); and Steve Wright of Oskaloosa, Iowa (15 bass, 34 pounds, 14 ounces, $20,000).
Local angler David Lawson of Richmond, Ky., earned $20,000 Friday as the winner of the Co-angler Division. He caught six bass over three days weighing 20 pounds, 15 ounces, winning by more than 6 pounds.
The new $6.5 million FLW Series features five $900,000 qualifying tournaments, each with a top award of $100,000, that advance anglers to the $2 million, 2007 Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million cash.
The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three by the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers.
Coverage of the Lake Cumberland FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the FLW Outdoors television program airing June 4. FLW Outdoors airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. FLW Outdoors is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely viewed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.
The next FLW Series event will be held on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin, Tenn., May 31-June 3.

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President/Publisher: Brandon Shook.