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Kentucky Lake To Host Toyota Bonus Bucks Team Championship
Competitors will take on Kentucky Lake during the Toyota Bonus Bucks Team Championship held out of Paris, Tenn., Nov. 30-Dec. 3, 2016.
PARIS, Tenn. — As a Bassmaster Elite Series angler, Mark Menendez fishes all over the United States, crisscrossing the continent in search of winning limits of bass.
But when Menendez fishes for fun, he heads home to Paducah, Ky., and nearby Kentucky Lake. At a sprawling 160,000 acres, it’s a great place to wet a line and enjoy time alone, with family, or a few friends. Ranked No. 12 on Bassmaster Magazine’s 100 Best Bass Lakes list this year, it’s also a popular fishery for tournament anglers.
On Nov. 30-Dec. 3, amateur anglers from around the U.S. will get to experience Kentucky Lake during a competition of their own — the 2016 Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship.
The first two days of the tournament will attract around 200 two-person teams to the fishery. Teams are composed of anglers from various independently operated team trails sanctioned by B.A.S.S.
After the Toyota Bonus Bucks Team champions are crowned at the end of the second day, members of the top three teams will then fish individually in the Bassmaster Team Championship Classic Fish-Off, with the winning angler earning a spot in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic on Lake Conroe near Houston, Texas.
Menendez predicts that Kentucky Lake will provide a thrilling — and challenging — test for the team anglers in late November and early December.
“The fish are going to be super scattered,” Menendez said. “They’ll be in the backs of bays and off the points and in the river channels. It’s all dependent on the shad.”
Shad locations are the keys to success on Kentucky Lake year-round, but when the water level is dropped during the colder months, it makes bass act in ways you might not expect, Menendez said.
There are other variables on Kentucky Lake that Menendez said could come into play during the Bassmaster Team Championship. Recent warm weather in the area is chief among them.
“The water the first week of December typically is about 52 degrees, and it could be 48 degrees if you get a couple of really nice cold days,” Menendez said. “But the water temperature as of early November was about 68 to 70 degrees. It’s been unseasonably warm.”
While that is sure to change somewhat by tournament time, the sheer magnitude of Kentucky Lake and its more than 2,000 miles of shoreline could send anglers scrambling to find the biggest fish. There’s hydrilla on the south end of the lake to consider for spinnerbaits, and the “smallmouth factor” could come into play, as well, according to Menendez.
“There are ample smallmouth bass in the lake that are in the 4- to 6-pound range,” he said. “And at this time of year, they’re a heck of a lot easier to catch than a largemouth. Now, will the tournament be won with smallmouth? I don’t think so, unless it gets really overcast and bumpy [windy] out there. If it does, someone can take a spinnerbait or a jerkbait and do well.”
He also recommends lipless crankbaits fished in 6 to 12 feet of water.
“Everyone should be able to catch 2-pounders, but of course, it’s the 4-pounders you’re looking for,” he says. “To make the Top 3, it should take somewhere around 32 to 35 pounds [for two days]. Someone is going to catch 20, then 12 and be left out. But if you can get 17 and then 17 again, you’re probably in.”
Menendez also urged competitors in the upcoming Team Championship to exercise caution while boating on Kentucky Lake.
“Everyone’s going to be excited with a shot at the Classic on the line, but you have to be extremely careful,” he said. “On the west side of the lake, stay in between the channel markers. It gets really low in there with the winter pull, and there could be some lower units torn up beyond repair if you go full speed in there. On the east side of Kentucky Lake, the bays are fine, but be careful getting in and out of them. It’s shallow at the entrances.”
This will be the third year for the Toyota Bonus Bucks Team Championship, and the 12th time B.A.S.S. will hold a professional tournament on Kentucky Lake — a giant impoundment of the Tennessee River straddling the border between Kentucky and Tennessee. Last year’s team championship was held on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville, and approximately 400 anglers participated.
Chris Risner and Timothy Eaton of Michigan won the team championship, but Thomas Martens of Lago Vista, Texas, won the fish-off and qualified for the Classic on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in Oklahoma.
The event will be hosted by the Henry County Alliance.
“The Henry County Alliance is happy to partner with B.A.S.S. as we showcase Kentucky Lake, one of the top fisheries in the country, at the Toyota Bonus Bucks Team Championship,” said David Hamilton, CEO of the Henry County Alliance. “Previous Bassmaster anglers have brought in total weights of more than 95 pounds, and we are looking forward to seeing the big bass anglers will weigh-in at this tournament, as well.”
Paris Landing State Park will be the location for takeoffs at 6:30 a.m. CT, with daily weigh-ins following at 2:30 p.m. CT.
2016 Bassmaster Team Championship Title Sponsor: Toyota Bonus Bucks
2016 Bassmaster Team Championship Premier Sponsors: Mercury, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha, Huk, Humminbird, Minn Kota, GoPro
2016 Bassmaster Team Championship Supporting Sponsors: Livingston Lures, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Carhartt, Phoenix Boats, Rapala, Shimano, Shell Rotella
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), social media programs and events. For more than 45 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 presented by Magellan, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic.
Crankbaiting Leftover Turkey Smallmouth
The mashed potatoes were still warm on my plate when I asked for a show of hands from those seated around the table as to whether they favored mayonnaise or Miracle Whip on their turkey sandwiches.
The annual meal of thanks I treasure during my favorite holiday of the year hadn’t even reached pumpkin pie, and yet there I sat, a smallmouth addict thinking about how good the next day’s sandwiches would taste on a sunny post-Thanksgiving day that would surely have them chewin’.
Sure enough, as I made my way down the first rocky shoreline the next morning talking about an old episode of Mark Zona’s “Awesome Fishing Show” in which his special guest Bob Cobb caught a nice Smallie on that very same bank – magic happened! A 4-pound Smallmouth slammed my crankbait and jumped like a porpoise out of the 60-degree water within feet of where Mr. Cobb landed his fish that day several years ago for Zona’s cameras.
Don’t get in a Hurry
There’s no need to launch in the dark of 6:30 a.m. and risk freezing your fingers off to catch a big smallie this time of year. They’ll bite all day in late November – so nobody’s gonna take your man card if you wait until it warms up later in the morning to launch and make your day more enjoyable.
And here’s one I stress most – much like we want the bird to hurry up and finish baking in anticipation of the annual feast – typically speaking, until water surface temps finally fall to about 60-degrees, experience has taught me the big ones simply aren’t ready to bite.
Chicken or the Egg. Shad or the Smallmouth
I don’t know who comes first. I don’t know if the shad are already shallow, and then the bigger Smallmouth go to the bank to eat them. Or … are the Smallmouth sent shallow by the cooler water temps and simply gorging on any shad in the vicinity?
I’m not sure it matters. Just know they’re eating shad, and if you can find a shoreline with evidence of shad present, then buckle your chinstrap because you’re definitely in the game. Hint: Gulls will often circle and dive on shad this time of year to tip off the presence of shallow shad.
There’s No Wrong Lure as Long as It’s a Crankbait
I’m kidding. Late autumn smallmouth can certainly be caught by dragging a jig, and much the opposite – with a topwater. But for once, let’s not make it complicated. Tie on a variety of shallow to medium-running crankbaits you have the most confidence in, and know with a high degree of certainty, that one of them is sure to get eaten.
My favorites include a crawfish colored Wiggle Wart, a lipless rattling bait like the classic Rat-L-Trap or Strike King’s Red Eye Shad, a tough-to-beat Bandit 200 series, and Rapala’s DT series ranging from their DT6 to their DT14.
What Depth?
As my lure arsenal indicates, post Thanksgiving cranking for smallmouth is a full contact sport played out in mostly shallow water. I’m targeting depths ranging from a foot of water against the rocky shorelines, to a maximum depth of about 10-feet.
At times it’s a secondary point, and on other occasions I’m simply going down the bank making 45-degree casts. But I’ll say this, I’m never in one spot for long – running as much water as I can, sorting through fairly plentiful 14-inchers, with hopes of finding fish in that 4 to 6-pound class that make lasting memories for years to come.
Try Two Gear Ratios
Kevin VanDam insists on a 5.3:1 reel for all of his crankbait fishing. And when “The Man” speaks – you listen. So with the larger baits like the Rapala DT14, I certainly use the new large spooled Quantum Smoke HD in a 5.3:1 for making longer casts across the slightly deeper points with the larger lures.
However, I will mix-in a slightly faster 6.6:1 when working the smaller lures like the Bandit 200 shallower. I swear that little increase in speed triggers reaction bites when the Smallmouth are hammering shad around shallow rocks.
I use ‘old skool’ very affordable Berkley Big Game in 12-pound test on all my cranking reels. It’s highly abrasion resistant around gnarly rocks, it stretches in a healthy way when a bronze brute eats, and it behaves well on a spool.
Until Santa Gets Here
Leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches, crankbaits, rocky banks and southern smallmouth simply go together in the same way Cobb’s voice will always carry magical ties to our favorite bass fishing shows, but don’t stop cranking when the leftover turkey runs out, this bite will last at least until Santa shows up, and if you’re good boys and girls – maybe longer.
Fall Topwater with John Garrett
Bethel University’s John Garrett shares a few tips on how he fished the Strike King Sexy Dog. Garrett will be fishing the 2017 Bassmaster Classic at Lake Conroe this coming spring as the College National Champion.
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Ryan Lavigne Of Louisiana Wins B.A.S.S. Nation Championship On Conroe
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Photo by Tyler McCollum/Bassmaster
CONROE, Texas — Ryan Lavigne of Gonzales, La., pulled off a major upset at the 2016 Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Magellan Sunday on Lake Conroe.
Lavigne won the tournament as an unlikely candidate — a nonboater — and won it by an enormous margin, 16 1/2 pounds.
The Ascension Area Anglers bass club member bested the field with 58 pounds, 3 ounces over three days of competition.
As part of his win, he earned a berth in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro, March 24-26, along with his two closest competitors, Darrell Ocamica of Idaho and Timothy Klinger of Nevada.
“Making the Classic is a dream come true,” Lavigne said. “It’s something I’ve thought about since I started fishing. My dad took me fishing when I was a kid, and it’s just a passion I’ve never let go. And making it to the Classic is one of the biggest goals of my life.”
Lavigne bolted into the overall lead on the second day of competition, winning the title of Nonboater Champion, and opening up a 6 1/2-pound gap between him and the top boater, Klinger.
He made the margin even bigger in the first two hours of Sunday’s competition, putting 18 pounds of bass into the boat before 8 a.m.
“I prepared for any boater I could draw,” said Lavigne, who spent his time practicing for any scenario he thought he might encounter with his boaters, which are drawn at random.
Lavigne qualified as a nonboater because of the way the Louisiana B.A.S.S. Nation assembled its state team. The Top 10 anglers in the qualifying tournament were assigned boater spots on the state team; the anglers who placed 11th through 20th were assigned nonboater spots.
Competing as a nonboater in the B.A.S.S. Nation Central Regional on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville, he won his division. Then he did it again here on Conroe, and when he was mixed in with the boaters (an honor only the Nonboater Champion earned), he beat them, too.
“Every nonboater out there should see this and realize it’s worth their while,” Lavigne said. “If you’ve been thinking about competing as a nonboater, come out and do it. I just did something nobody thought could happen.”
The boater in the championship has ultimate control of where the boat goes, but the nonboater can offer suggestions. Lavigne had a plan for anywhere his boaters may take him, but he also had waypoints marked that he suggested, and his boaters listened.
“I had decided that I could do really well flipping boat docks or cranking offshore,” Lavigne explained.
When he was on boat docks, which he mostly was the first two days of competition, he flipped a Stand-Up Jighead with a Trick Worm or Missile Baits Tomahawk Worm. In offshore areas, he cranked a Strike King 5XD.
His final day, when Lavigne was in control of the boat, he chose a small hard, hump in the main lake. He was sitting over 13 feet of water, but the top of the hump was 6 feet. In practice, he had found this spot and caught a 16-inch bass on it. He knew it was a place he could go back to if he needed.
“I went there this morning and caught a limit using a Missile Baits Twin Turbo [a twin-tail grub] in green pumpkin,” Lavigne said. Then he left the area alone until noon, when he came back and culled three of the bass he had already caught there in the morning.
For his double win, Lavigne earned two prize packages worth a combined $131,820. As the Nonboater Champion, he won paid entry into the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens division of his choice, a Skeeter/Yamaha boat package with a Minn Kota trolling motor and Humminbird electronics, and a spot as a marshal in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
As one of the Top 3 anglers, he earned the B.A.S.S. Nation’s Best prize package, which is the use of a Toyota Tundra truck and a fully rigged, tournament-ready Phoenix boat for one year, as well as paid entry into the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens series of the angler’s choice, and a berth in the 2017 Classic. As the overall winner, he was invited to compete on the 2017 Bassmaster Elite Series with part of his entry fees paid.
Darrell Ocamica and Timothy Klinger will join him here on Conroe in March for the 2017 Classic.
Ocamica caught 41 pounds, 12 ounces for second place, and Klinger caught 37 pounds, 11 ounces for third.
The biggest bass of the tournament was 7 pounds, 3 ounces. On the boater side, Jason Vaughn of Delaware caught a 7-3, and on the nonboater side, Michael Lebsack of Minnesota caught one of the same size. Both won $500.
Klinger received the Livingston Lures Leader Award of $250 for leading the boater division on Day 2. Finishing as the Day 2 leader on the nonboater side, Lavigne also received $250.
Follow Lavigne, Ocamica and Klinger at Bassmaster.com/Nation as they prepare for the 2017 Bassmaster Classic. All three will be competing in their first Classic.
The B.A.S.S. Nation Championship was hosted by the Conroe Convention and Visitors Bureau.
2016 B.A.S.S. Nation Title Sponsor: Academy Sports + Outdoors
2016 B.A.S.S. Nation Presenting Sponsor: Magellan
2016 B.A.S.S. Nation Premier Sponsors: Toyota, Mercury, Yamaha, Berkley, GoPro, Huk, Humminbird, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats
2016 B.A.S.S. Nation Supporting Sponsors: Power-Pole, Rapala, Shell Rotella, Lowrance, Nationwide, Shimano, A.R.E. Truck Caps, Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Livingston Lures
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), social media programs and events. For more than 45 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 presented by Magellan, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
Kentucky’s Boggs Takes First Round Lead In B.A.S.S. Nation Championship
Michael Boggs II of Kentucky caught 20 pounds, 10 ounces to take the lead on the first day of the Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Magellan on Lake Conroe in Conroe, Texas.
Photo by Craig Lamb/Bassmaster
CONROE, Texas — Michael Boggs II of Kentucky surprised everyone at the 2016 Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Magellan with his 20-pound, 10-ounce limit of bass, heaviest of the day.
It was a surprise because it was near the end of the first-day weigh-in on Texas’ Lake Conroe, and no one else had even come close.
“I’m tickled to death,” said Boggs, who is representing Kentucky but lives in Portsmouth, Ohio.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good all week,” Boggs added. “I caught some 5- and 6-pounders in practice, so I knew they were there. But today was a tough day, and I really had to work for it. And I worked all day long!”
He means that sincerely. In the last hour-and-a-half, he and his nonboater partner, Bradley Rilling of Georgia, caught at least 20 fish. Boggs was still culling 20 minutes before he checked in at Lakeview Marina.
Boggs was one of only eight anglers out of 113 to bring in a limit of five bass. The minimum length limit on Lake Conroe is 16 inches, which proved difficult for many competitors, who measured multiple 15 1/2-inch fish. Forty-one anglers failed to weigh in a single bass, many of them citing the length — not the quantity caught — as the reason.
“If someone would come up with a fish stretcher of some sort, they’d make a million dollars,” said Scott Green of Vermont, one of the competitors who zeroed.
Boggs’ closest competitor was Greg Vance of Iowa, who weighed in 15 pounds, 11 ounces, nearly 5 pounds behind Boggs.
“I thought I could get 15 pounds, but I didn’t think it would put me near the top,” Vance said. “I thought it would just keep me in the Top 15.”
Several anglers said the wind kept them on the move; it was hard for them to hold still on one spot for long. Boggs had the same experience.
“The wind made it tough,” he said. “But I fished a lot of spots today, and I still have a lot left for tomorrow.”
Boggs credits baits from Power Team Lures for his Day 1 lead, although he’s keeping the type and color of lures a secret for now. Other anglers said jigs were key and that crankbaits were moderately successful. But most are staying tight-lipped, hoping to divulge their perfect bait after the final-day weigh-in on Saturday, while holding the trophy.
The trophy comes with a special prize — a berth in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro, in March 2017 on this same body of water.
“I’ve dreamed of going to the Classic since I was 8 years old,” Boggs said through tears, with his son, Nicholas, tearing up next to him.
To do that, though, Boggs has to keep up the hard work for the next two days.
“I’ve got to do it again tomorrow,” he said. “Hopefully, it will hold up.”
On the nonboater side, Rick Hamer took the lead with 14 pounds, 7 ounces. He was the only nonboater to catch a limit of five bass.
“I was matching the hatch,” said Hamer, referring to matching the color of the forage with his soft plastics, which were made by a new lure company, FYAO.
Hamer and his boater partner, Andrew Sams of Maryland, spent lots of time on Thursday moving around, dodging the wind.
“We were getting crushed by the wind,” Hamer said. “We just kept going places to keep out of the wind.”
Despite the relatively low weights outside of the Top 10, Jon Harshbarger of Kaufman, Texas, said he knows the lake and the quality of bass it holds.
“Conroe produces one-day limits of 18, 21 and 24 pounds sometimes,” he said. “It’s got ’em; they’re not eating.”
Maybe the bass will eat on Friday, which will be the last day of competition for most anglers. The only remaining competitors for the final day will be the Top 10 boaters, the nonboater champion (the top nonboater at the end of Day 2) and the best two boaters from each of the three regions (Eastern, Central and Western) if they have not already qualified as part of the Top 10.
The Top 3 at the end of Saturday will earn berths in the 2017 Classic, as well as paid entry into the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens series of their choice, and the B.A.S.S. Nation’s Best prize package, which is the use of a Toyota Tundra truck and a fully rigged, tournament-ready Phoenix boat for one year. A 2017 Bassmaster Elite Series berth is on the line, too.
The nonboater champion will also win paid entry into the Opens division of choice, a boat and a spot as a marshal in the 2017 Bassmaster Classic.
Two bright spots in the first day of competition were a few big bass brought in that lit up the crowd.
Jason Vaughn of Delaware caught the biggest of the day, a 7-pound, 3-ounce bass. The biggest on the nonboater side was a 6-pound, 14-ounce bass by Justin Barnes of Alabama.
Competition resumes Friday from Lakeview Marina, 880 Beach Boulevard, in Conroe at 6:45 a.m. CT when the anglers take off for Day 2. The weigh-in will begin at 3 p.m. CT at the same place. All events are free and open to the public.
The tournament is hosted by the Conroe Convention and Visitors Bureau.
2016 B.A.S.S. Nation Title Sponsor: Academy Sports + Outdoors
2016 B.A.S.S. Nation Presenting Sponsor: Magellan
2016 B.A.S.S. Nation Premier Sponsors: Toyota, Mercury, Minn Kota, Berkley, GoPro, Huk, Humminbird, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha
2016 B.A.S.S. Nation Supporting Sponsors: Lowrance, Nationwide, Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Livingston Lures, Power-Pole, Rapala, Shell Rotella, Shimano, A.R.E. Truck Caps
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), social media programs and events. For more than 45 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 presented by Magellan, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.