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Championship Monday’s Mer-Guk Show from Kentucky Lake
Dave Mercer and Alan McGuckin check in from the dock at Kentucky Lake shortly after Championship Monday’s take off. Looks like this could be any ones derby to win!
Swindles Are Leaning on Church
Given the massive number of miles he planned to pilot his Triton, there’s a good chance that by the time you’re reading this, Gerald Swindle will have just arrived at his first fishing spot Sunday morning at the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on Kentucky Lake.
“We’re fixin’ to put a little Church on and make about a 1-hour run,” said Swindle under a gorgeous but foggy sunrise, as he pushed earphones in, and the throttle down.
However, the Church he was referring to didn’t involve a preacher’s sermon on this particular Sunday, but instead the music of one of his all-time favorite artists, Eric Church as he made the mega-long haul down the Tennessee River.
Most fans know Swindle for his world-class humor and two Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year titles, but many may not realize his love of music and meaningful lyrics. “We’re fixin’ to do some “Creepin’,” said Swindle in reference to Eric Church’s 2012 hit single by that title.
Meanwhile, 60 miles away from where Swindle is slinging crankbaits from a Quantum reel this morning, his best friend and bride, “Lulu” is taking in church on her laptop, saying lots of prayers, and cleaning-up the couples 5th wheel RV, partly to find peace, and partly to keep her mind off a very trying time with their sweet old dog, Myrick.
The couple’s 12-year-old Weimaraner has traveled the Elite Series for a dozen years, but is of poor health, and has had a very tough week here at Kentucky Lake. Understandably, Myrick’s struggles have led to a deeply emotional tournament for Gerald and LeAnn.
“People say pro anglers aren’t athletes, but I’ll promise you the willpower and focus that Gerald is showing this week is every bit as much as a top athlete,” says LeAnn. “He didn’t get as many bites yesterday, and I know that allows his mind to wonder and think about Myrick, so I’m hoping he gets a lot of bites today.”
Whether from a sermon on her laptop in the 5th wheel, or lyrics in his ears along a very lengthily boat ride, all who know and love the Swindles are praying this particular Sunday grants them plenty of bites, and a whole lot of peace.
Skeet Reese Takes Second-Round Lead In Bassmaster Elite At Kentucky Lake
PARIS, Tenn. — When Bassmaster tournament emcee Dave Mercer noted that Skeet Reese was “making it look easy” during the morning’s Bassmaster LIVE coverage, the veteran pro gave a simple explanation for the seemingly tranquil performance that pushed him into the lead with 45 pounds, 5 ounces on Day 2 of the Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Kentucky Lake presented by Abu Garcia.
“It’s easy when you have 20 pounds in the boat,” Reese said.
Indeed, the Auburn, Calif., Elite angler got the party started early and quickly added 21-10 to his 23-11 from yesterday. Noting that he was more dialed in on his pattern today, Reese had his limit by 8 a.m. and had caught his day’s weight by about 10.
This early productivity bore consistent with the morning shad spawn that had bass rallying around key areas awash with reproducing baitfish.
“The shad spawn was everything,” Reese said. “They’re feeding for the first four hours of the day, but the last two days we’ve had cloud cover, which probably extended the bite.”
Reese caught his fish on a mix that included a jerkbait, swimbait and squarebill crankbait. The latter did most of the work, but presentations had to be specific.
“The whole key is getting the bait to deflect,” Reese said. “If your bait’s not deflecting off the bottom, for the most part, you’re not getting the bites. The key is triggering these fish. It’s typical postspawn.”
Once his morning action subsided, Reese struggled the rest of the day. With clearer conditions and more sun in tomorrow’s forecast, he’s contemplating his options.
“I definitely have to change how I fish in the afternoons because I pretty much drove the suck bus the last two afternoons,” Reese said.
Reese said he fished a lot of new water today. Not everything produced, but he found himself in a position to experiment, so he took advantage of the opportunity.
“I was fortunate to have a good bag in the boat early. That allowed me to ‘prefish’ and fine-tune something and find that one little sweet spot,” Reese said. “Obviously, I found one sweet spot yesterday where I hooked four or five fish and I hooked four there today. If there’s one spot like that, there’s definitely a lot more like that out there.
“I don’t know if I was fishing good water or bad water, but I could have fished some amazing stuff in the afternoon that, even though I didn’t get a bite, maybe they’re chewing in the morning.”
Bassmaster LIVE, the innovative live-stream coverage of on-the-water fishing action pioneered by B.A.S.S., documented a Skeet Reese highlight reel moment when he snatched opportunity from the jaws of disaster after hooking a 6-pounder on a jerkbait and tangling his kill-switch cord around his reel handle. Calmly managing the moment, Reese unwrapped the cord and reeled the fish boatside for a clean catch.
“What a train wreck; I couldn’t make another turn on the reel handle,” Reese lamented. “When you have a 5 1/2-pounder jumping in front of you and you can’t turn the reel handle, it’s like ugh!
“I’m glad I made it look smooth, because internally, I was a wreck.”
Fred Roumbanis of Russellville, Ark., made a big second-round improvement by sacking up a limit that weighed 22-11 and moved him up from 27th place to second with a total weight of 40-10. Today’s calm conditions initially hindered Roumbanis, but a gutsy call to abandon a limit strategy and stick with his big-fish bait helped him overcome an early roadblock and hammer out an impressive day.
“I felt like I needed the wind to make my swimbait bite work,” he said. “I’m throwing my signature Boom Boom Swimbait, and I came across a certain little deal and caught what I caught.
“When I picked up a spinning rod with a shaky head and caught two keepers, I relaxed a little bit. But this is Kentucky Lake, so I put that down and picked up the swimbait and said ‘Let’s do this.’ It’s a confidence thing when I’m throwing a swimbait. I know I’m fishing for the right bites.”
Roumbanis said he identified the right areas by studying his Garmin Panoptix imaging and interpreting what he saw.
“If you look at bait and then you see bigger blobs, those are probably bass; if you don’t see bait and you see a lot of blobs, they’re probably carp,” he said. “I’m using the bait to distinguish what I’m looking at.”
In third place, Shaw Grigsby of Gainesville, Fla., rose from 11th place on Friday to third, just 1 ounce behind Roumbanis. His 20-13 limit of five bass gives him a two-day total of 40-9. Grigsby caught all of his bass by sight fishing with soft plastics. His second-round catch included a 7-11 that leads the $1,500 Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award.
Rounding out the Top 5 are Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., with 39-12 and Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., with 39-2.
Takeoff Sunday morning will be at 6 a.m. CT out of Paris Landing Marina, and weigh-ins are scheduled at Paris Landing State Park beginning at 3:15 p.m.
2018 Bassmaster Elite At Kentucky Lake Title Sponsor: Berkley
2018 Bassmaster Elite At Kentucky Lake Presenting Sponsor: Abu Garcia
2018 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2018 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Berkley, Huk, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha, Abu Garcia
2018 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Carhartt, Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Phoenix Boats, T-H Marine, Academy Sports + Outdoors
2018 Bassmaster Elite Series Elite Partner: Black Velvet Canadian Whisky
2018 Bassmaster Elite Series Local Partner: Mountain Dew
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), radio show (Bassmaster Radio), social media programs and events. For 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Series presented by Magellan Outdoors, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
Jordan Lee Says Kentucky Lake Feels a Lot Like Grand
Bassmaster Classic Champion Jordan Lee played a lot of baseball in his younger years growing up around Cullman, Alabama. And right now, the easy-going 26 year old feels a lot like one of former Yankees icon Yogi Berra’s famous quotes, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”
Go to Conroe – win a Classic. Go to Hartwell the following year – win a Classic.
Go to Grand Lake, Oklahoma last week knowing there’s bass on spawning beds poor water clarity won’t permit you to see.
Work hard. Fish hard. Notch another Top 12 finish.
Fire up the Tundra and head straight to the next event at Kentucky Lake, realize once again there’s bass on spawning beds poor water clarity won’t permit you to see.
“There’s a lot of bass on beds here, but it won’t be much of a sight fishing tournament because the water’s been high and off-colored, and beds are hard to see here, just like at Grand Lake last week,” says the Quantum pro.
And much like Northeast Oklahoma last week, the weather forecast is one to make the Chamber of Commerce proud here in Henry County, TN. Lots of sunshine and temps perfectly suited for nothing more than the Carhartt Force long sleeve shirt you seeing Lee wearing here.
After two very long but comfortable days on Kentucky Lake, Lee predicts weights very similar to Grand Lake.
“I averaged 17 pounds a day at Grand and finished 10th, and I’m guessing that’s just about exactly what it’ll take here for a Top 12,” he says.
Unlike Grand, the water is in the bushes on Kentucky Lake, but it’s falling fast. And while there’s tons of shallow habitat to cast or pitch to right now, the TVA will likely suck as much as 2-feet of water out of this massive reservoir by competition … which again, could bring flashbacks of Grand’s mostly dry shoreline habitat.
Still, just like Grand, Lee feels this will be a shallow water tournament. “The water temps are in the 60s and warming daily, fish want to be shallow. I’m not saying somebody won’t slip off the bank and win off a gravel bar or shell bar, but for the most part there’s going to be a lot of guys fishing shallow,” says Lee.
Finally, there’s the intangibles that seem so similar with Jordan Lee at Kentucky Lake, just like Hartwell, Conroe, and Grand – he’ll be one of the very last anglers to leave the boat ramp.
“It’s 6:00 p.m., and I’ll probably be out here until pretty much dark at 8:00 p.m. – I’ve got a lot of work to do,” he grinned as the sun began to fall in western sky on Day 2 of practice near Buchanan, TN.
Pipkin’s One Two Punch
Take a look at how Elite series pro Chad Pipkins approaches frog fishing. Take a look at the two baits he relies on to create the perfect one two punch when a topwater bait comes into play.