Pro Jason Lambert of Michie, Tennessee, brought five bass weighing 27 pounds, 3 ounces, to the FLW weigh-in stage Sunday to win the FLW Tour at Kentucky Lake presented by Costa Sunglasses by a margin of 28 pounds even – a new all-time FLW Tour record for margin of victory. Overall, Lambert’s four-day total of 101 pounds, 9 ounces, was the most weight to ever win an FLW Tour event at Kentucky Lake, and the tenth-largest total-tournament catch in FLW Tour history. For his dominant performance on the water this week, Lambert earned $100,000.
“To catch over 100 pounds here – that’s history. It’s something that will last forever,” said Lambert, who claimed his third career win on Kentucky Lake in FLW competition. “This whole week has been phenomenal – this lake is special to me.”
Lambert’s first stop on championship Sunday was a point protruding from the mouth of Pisgah Bay, the location where he upgraded his limit with a 9-pounder Saturday. With a 19-pound advantage heading into today’s competition, Lambert knew that all he needed was a few keeper bites to shut the door.
“I started out this morning and got like two 3’s and a 5 on my first three casts, and immediately the pressure was off,” said Lambert. “I knew at that point in time that the game was over.”
As the morning progressed, Lambert moved to an area that produced for him both on Thursday and Saturday – a south-facing point on a main-lake ridge, just north of the U.S. Highway 68 bridge.
“I caught around five there, including a few 4-pounders that didn’t help and a giant,” said Lambert. “The fish were in about 24 feet of water and right on the break of the point.”
Lambert’s main lure for the week was a 5- and 7-inch Green Shad-colored Castaic Jerky J soft jerkbait on a 1-ounce Scrounger Head-type jig on 18-pound-test Sunline Super FC Sniper Fluorocarbon line with a 7-foot, 11-inch Duckett White Ice II swimbait rod and a Duckett 360RW reel. On Friday, Lambert also used a Gene Larew Tattletail Worm on a jighead to catch his limit south of Paris from a ditch on a shallow roadbed.
“For me, the Jerky J is a confidence bait more than anything. Everybody throws a paddle tail swimbait and it’s got that big wide wobbling tail on the back, but the Jerky J has a sleeker, more subtle approach – it really looks like a shad swimming in the water. I have the confidence in it to throw it, and I love it.”
The final 10 pros finished on Kentucky Lake:
1st: Jason Lambert, Michie, Tenn., 20 bass, 101-9, $100,200
2nd: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 20 bass, 73-9. $30,100
3rd: Josh Douglas, Isle, Minn., 20 bass, 72-12, $25,000
4th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 19 bass, 72-3, $20,000
5th: General Tire pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 19 bass, 71-11, $19,000
6th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 18 bass, 67-13, $18,000
7th: Jeff Gustafson, Keewatin, Ontario, Canada, 20 bass, 67-0, $17,000
8th: Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 20 bass, 64-8, $16,000
9th: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 19 bass, 59-8, $15,000
10th: Pennzoil Marine pro Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 19 bass, 55-2, $14,000
