GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (March 19, 2018) – Boater Kane Hackemack of Georgetown, Indiana, caught a five-bass limit Saturday weighing 29 pounds, 8 ounces, to take top honors at the Bass Fishing League (BFL) LBL Division tournament on Kentucky and Barkley lakes. Hackemack earned $4,915 for his win. Hackemack said he focused on deep points with current breaks, and caught his first two keepers within 20 minutes at his first area, on the north end of Kentucky Lake.
“The current breaks had a lot of shad and bass were feeding on them,” said Hackemack, who notched his first career win in FLW competition. “I hooked my first two on a ¾-ounce Strike King Red Eye Shad and stuck with the lure the rest of the day.”
Hackemack said he caught nine keepers from the area, averaging one every 20 to 30 minutes. He said his last good fish – a 7½-pounder – came at 11:30 a.m. From there, he said the bite slowed down.
“I’ve caught many 20- to 25-pound limits on Kentucky Lake, but to get almost 30 is awesome,” said Hackemack. “It truly is one of the best fisheries in the country.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Kane Hackemack, Georgetown, Ind., five bass, 29-8, $4,915
2nd: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, five bass, 27-1, $3,408
3rd: Rick Shannon, Woodlawn, Tenn., five bass, 18-3, $1,640
4th: Matt Robertson, Kuttawa, Ky., three bass, 16-3, $1,147
5th: Tommy Williams, Shepherdsville, Ky., five bass, 16-12, $983
6th: Stuart Eversole, Middletown, Ohio, five bass, 16-1, $901
7th: Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 15-11, $819
8th: Austin Brown, Benton, Ky., four bass, 15-9, $837
9th: Ray Barga, Benton, Ky., four bass, 14-14, $955
10th: Chris Beaudrie, Princeton, Ky., four bass, 14-7, $573
Floyd weighed a 9-pound, 9-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $750. Greg Henry of Hixson, Tennessee, won the Co-angler Division and $2,458 Saturday after catching three bass weighing 12 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Greg Henry, Hixson, Tenn., three bass, 12-8, $2,458
2nd: Ryan Kirkpatrick, Benton, Ky., three bass, 12-4, $1,329
3rd: Roger Kirby, Owensboro, Ky., three bass, 10-7, $817
4th: John Lovin, Fayetteville, Ohio, two bass, 10-5, $573
5th: Craig Middleton, Harrodsburg, Ky., two bass, 9-10, $492
6th: Chuck Rounds, Benton, Ky., two bass, 9-6, $826
7th: Kevin Webb, Clayton, Ohio, two bass, 8-15, $410
8th: Claude Cobb, Lexington, Ky., two bass, 8-13, $369
9th: Roger Richardson, Saint Louis, Mo., three bass, 8-12, $328
10th: Luke Lamb, Nicholasville, Ky., two bass, 8-8, $287
Rounds caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $375.