MURRAY, Ky. (June 13, 2009) - David Young of Mayfield, Ky., caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 1 ounce Saturday to capture the lead. Young now holds a 9-ounce edge over his closest competitor, Larry Nixon, heading into the final day of competition in the FLW Tour bass fishing tournament on Kentucky/Barkley Lakes. If he holds on for the win, Young will pocket $125,000.
"I'm feeling real good," said Young, who has posted 37 top-10 finishes in FLW Outdoors events. "I have some areas I haven't even been to yet. A couple of those areas I caught them really good in practice. If those fish are still there it could be real good. You know fishing. Anybody could go out and catch 12 pounds or 20 pounds. And these guys could go out and catch a 28-pound sack on this lake today. You have to go out tomorrow and see what you can do and see how it finishes up."
Young said he had only one fish at 10 a.m. and he relied on a later bite that is related to current. Young said he has been rotating baits between a big worm, a jig, a crankbait and a spoon. He said he couldn't get an early bite on fast baits like crankbaits and spoons, so he slowed down with a worm and had better success. Young said he targeted ledges 17 to 24 feet deep with the boat sitting in 40 feet of water in both bays and in the river.
"I have one place that is absolutely awesome, and I haven't been to it yet," Young said. "More than likely I will go there tomorrow."
Nixon remained tight-lipped about his methods for the third day in a row, although he did rule out crankbait fishing.
"I'm fishing deep," Nixon said. "Everybody's fishing ledges in 18 to 22 feet of water and everybody's kind of got their own bait and own lure going.
"I've got two or three areas that have some good fish in them, and if they'll hold up until tomorrow, I'll be alright," Nixon added.
Rounding out the top 10 pros are Travis Fox of Springdale, Ark. (five bass, 17-15); pro Keith Williams of Conway, Ark. (five bass, 17-13); Mark Rose of Marion, Ark. (five bass, 14-0); Kenneth Woods of Hazard, Ky. (five bass, 13-12); Bobby McMullin of Pevely, Mo. (five bass, 13-3); pro Ron Shuffield of Bismarck, Ark. (three bass, 12-13); pro Ott Defoe of Knoxville, Tenn. (five bass, 12-12) and Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla. (five bass, 11-7).
Overall there were 48 bass weighing 152 pounds, 10 ounces caught in the Pro Division Saturday. The catch included nine five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup and BP, which will be held July 30-Aug. 2 on the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Brandon Hunter of Benton, Ky., won the Co-angler Division and $25,000 Saturday in front of his hometown crowd with a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 11 ounces followed by Frank Divis, Sr. of Fayetteville, Ark., in second place with five bass weighing 18-0 worth $10,000.
Hunter opened the tournament in eleventh place Thursday with five bass weighing 16-4 while fishing with pro Greg Bohannan of Rogers, Ark. On Friday he advanced to seventh place with a five-bass catch weighing 14-8 while fishing with Tom Mann Jr. of Buford, Ga. He wrapped up his win while fishing with pro Keith Williams of Conway, Ark.
"We got to do what I love to do, and that's fish a big worm on this lake," said Hunter, who is fishing in his second season of FLW Tour competition. "I live on the north end of the lake and I got to see water I've never seen before. It's a lot different. The quality of fish is so much better down there."
Hunter said he had a limit by 10:30 and caught a total of six keepers throughout the course of the day. Hunter's rig consisted of a 5/16-ounce bullet weight and a plum-colored Berkley PowerWorm Texas rigged on 12-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon.
"It's tough to make a living as a co-angler, but this is just a learning experience for me," said Hunter. "If you catch them, that's just a bonus. It's awesome to be able to win one of these.
"I really thought I'd have to cull another fish and catch another 3- or 4-pounder to get it done, but it turns out I didn't," Hunter added.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are Dirk Davenport of Delaware, Ohio (five bass, 12-12 , $7,500); Scott Gibson of Wiggins, Miss. (five bass, 12-10, $5,000); Mark Horton of Nicholasville, Ky. (five bass, 11-10, $4,000); Chuck Lee of South Bend, Ind. (five bass, 10-5 , $3,500); Shawn Murphy of Nicholasville, Ky. (three bass, 10-3 , $3,000); Larry Carter of Little Rock, Ark. (four bass, 10-0 , $2,500); Rodney Brown of Eddyville, Ky. (one bass, 3-10 , $2,000) and Matt Hoffman of Cold Spring, Ky. (zero bass, 0-0 , $1,500).
Overall there were 38 bass weighing 108 pounds, 13 ounces caught in the Co-angler Division Saturday. The catch included six five-bass limits.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 Sunday morning from Kenlake State Park Marina located at 542 Ken-Lake Rd. in Hardin, followed by a 4 p.m. weigh-in at the Regional Special Events Center at Murray State University located at 1401 State Route 121 North in Murray, Ky.