BENTON, Ky. (May 11, 2006) - Team Tyson Pro Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 40 pounds, 10 ounces to lead round one of the $900,000 FLW Tour bass fishing tournament on Kentucky Lake. The top 10 pros and co-anglers advance to Friday's round. Pros are competing for a top award of $100,000, which will be determined Saturday, while the co-angler first-place prize of $20,000 will be awarded Friday.
Moynagh, who has three wins and nine top-10 finishes on his tournament-fishing resume, caught his day-two leading bag, anchored by two largemouths weighing more than 6 pounds, by fishing jigs on ledge-type structure.
"I fished a 3/8-ounce jig shallow and a 3/4-ounce jig in the deep spots," said Moynagh, who finished second on Pickwick Lake earlier in the season. "I fished shallow points and ledge-like structure today and didn't go to my best two spots."
Moynagh, who has more than $600,000 in career earnings with FLW Outdoors, didn't go to his best fishing areas because he had a 4-pound smallmouth and a 6-pound, 12-ounce largemouth in the boat early and wanted to save his best areas for day three.
"With two good kicker fish in the boat, I didn't want to go to those fish," he said. "I went to new water I've never been to before, not even in practice, and caught another 6-pounder. I went to my secondary spots after that."
David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., and Terry Bolton of Paducah, Ky., both ended the day with 10 bass weighing 36 pounds, 7 ounces.
"It was tough fishing out there today," said Walker who has 30 top-10 finishes to his credit. "You couldn't move around a lot and when you did, someone else was fishing the spot. I thought the high winds would have kept the weights down."
Walker is fishing offshore like many other anglers, however, he's not fishing the deep portions of infamous Kentucky Lake ledges.
"I'm not fishing particularly deep. About 10 feet deep," said Walker who has earned more than $400,000 fishing FLW Outdoors events. "The little points are the key spots on the ledge. Spots like that hold multiple fish."
Walker said he's using crankbaits, Carolina-rigs and jigs to catch his fish.
"I'm doing a little bit of everything," he said. "My big fish today came on a crankbait, and a jig yesterday."
Rounding out the top five pros are Bolton; Toshinari Namiki of Mineola, Texas (10 bass 35 pounds, 11 ounces) and Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala. (10 bass, 34 pounds).
Moynagh also landed the Big Bass Award and $750 for his 6-pound, 12-ounce lunker.
Todd Lowe of Greensboro, Ga., leads the Co-angler Division with 10 bass weighing 26 pounds, 15 ounces.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark. (10 bass, 24 pounds, 11 ounces); Brian Hickey of Cadiz, Ky. (10 bass, 23 pounds, 13 ounces); George Polosky of Alliance, Ohio (nine bass, 22 pounds, 5 ounces) and Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C. (10 bass, 22 pounds, 4 ounces).
Chad Parks of Memphis, Tenn., earned $375 and Snickers Big Bass honors in the Co-angler Division with a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass.
Overall, 1,121 bass weighing 2,713 pounds, 6 ounces were caught Wednesday, including 125 five-bass limits.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 each morning from Kentucky Dam Marina. Friday and Saturday's weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 310 West Fifth Street in Benton beginning at 4 p.m.