Lawrence Wins Bass Fishing League Super Tournament on Kentucky-Barkley Lakes

BUCHANAN, Tenn. (Oct. 2, 2023) – Boater Jake Lawrence of Paris, Tennessee, caught 10 bass weighing 36 pounds, 14 ounces, to win the two-day MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League tournament on Kentucky-Barkley Lakes in Buchanan, Tennessee. The tournament was the fifth and final regular-season event for the Bass Fishing League LBL Division. Lawrence earned $6,398 for his victory.

“There are a lot of fish out there, but they’re just not in a good mood,” Lawrence said. “I’ve never in my life had so many fish come up and follow my bait and not finish the deal.”

Lawrence said a cool snap a couple of weeks before the tournament dropped the water temperature by about eight degrees to near 70, and a recent warm trend raised temps back up to around 80. He said he thinks if the warmer temps had held off, tournament weights would have been better.

“I really had to make the most of what I had,” Lawrence said. “I didn’t have a specific area or spot. I had a generalized pattern, but I was more or less covering a tremendous amount of water to come across them. The key this week was to find more than one bass.

“I could find single bass all over the place, but I could not get them to bite,” Lawrence continued. “So, I would cover ground until I found a little wolfpack of two to six fish. I could get those to bite. Once one went after it, the others would try to take the bait from them.”

Lawrence said he spent the first of competition fishing 15 miles in either direction of the Paris area but felt he couldn’t go back to the same water Sunday.

“Once they get wise to you, they’re done,” Lawrence said. “So, Sunday I ran up to the Moors area and spent half my time up there. It really didn’t pan out the way I had envisioned up there, so I ran back to the Paris area and finished it out fishing new ground.”

Lawrence said he caught the majority of his fish on an unnamed Jenko Fishing prototype bait that is slated for a spring release, although he did catch one of his weigh fish on a Jenko Fishing Booty Shaker Swimbait.

“I don’t know if that bait needs to be a prototype bait much longer after winning a couple of events here recently,” said Lawrence, who also won the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Pickwick Lake Super Tournament on Sept. 10. “This week just topped off a few good weeks for me. I really enjoyed this tournament. I didn’t know if I was going to win this one. Every win is special, and this was just a cool way for things to work out lately.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

                1st:        Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 10 bass, 36-14, $6,398
                2nd:       Matteo Turano, Puryear, Tenn., 10 bass, 36-1, $2,824
                3rd:       Dustin Vaal, Farmington, Ky., 10 bass, 33-0, $1,882
                4th:        Clint Knight, Lewisburg, Ky., 10 bass, 31-1, $1,518
                5th:        Harrison Terry, Burns, Tenn., nine bass, 30-12, $1,630 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
                6th:        Richard Meuth, Henderson, Ky., 10 bass, 25-7, $1,035
                7th:        Hunter Fillmore, Waynesville, Ohio, 10 bass, 25-1, $941
                8th:        Toby Corn, Paducah, Ky., eight bass, 25-1, $847
                9th:        Sam Boss, Paducah, Ky., 10 bass, 24-13, $753
                10th:     Bill Schroeder III, Benton, Ky., seven bass, 23-14, $659

Lawrence also had a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $750. David Workman of Harrisburg, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $2,995 Sunday after catching a two-day total of eight bass weighing 17 pounds, 11 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

                1st:        David Workman, Harrisburg, Ill., eight bass, 17-11, $2,995
                2nd:       Jeff Akers, Benton, Ky., eight bass, 17-9, $1,422
                3rd:       Ryan Luper, Bowling Green, Ky., five bass, 14-14, $948
                4th:        Todd House, Hawesville, Ky., six bass, 13-15, $864
                5th:        Ethan Wheeler, Water Valley, Ky., three bass, 10-12, $1,140
                6th:        Jedidiah Baggett, Tennessee Ridge, Tenn., three bass, 9-6, $522
                7th:        Sean Obrien, McKenzie, Tenn., five bass, 8-13, $474
                8th:        Rodney Childerson, Pocahontas, Ill., three bass, 8-3, $427
                9th:        Matt Chumbler, Carbondale, Ill., three bass, 8-3, $379
                10th:     Dennis Taylor, Murray, Ky., three bass, 7-3, $332

Ethan Wheeler of Water Valley, Kentucky, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 10 ounces. The catch earned him the Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $371.