Greenville Fishing Takes on Kentucky Lake

Written and Media by Chris Brooks.


With rising waters, the Greenville University Bass Fishing Team knew that they would be in for a struggle as Kentucky lake went from a winter pool of 354.0 to 5ft above normal summer pool at 364.0. Greenville anglers were right as 110 of the 216 boat field failed to bring in a fish including all 5 of Greenville’s boats. Greenville competitors were Cordell Beckmann and Evan Seggerman, Ricky Huge and Ryan Rakers, Chris Brooks and Ben Fouts, Taylor Moeller and Ethen Glasson, and finally Quinten Brown and Hannah Hill.

On day one of the tournaments, held by Fishing League World Wide (FLW), the water started off calm, but as the day went on, the winds increased, stirring up the water. With waves on Kentucky Lake that went over 5 feet, many boats were forced to come in earlier than their original check-in time. The leading bag of fish for the first day of the tournament was caught by Adrian College with a bag that weighed in at 24 lbs and 15 ounces. They also had the second largest bag of the day with one that weighed 23 lbs and 13 ounces. Not a single Greenville boat weighed in fish on day one.

Day two started the same as day one ended, with Kentucky Lake being windy with huge waves. To go with the wind and the waves, temperatures dropped from highs of 55 degrees the day before to a morning that was 36 degrees at take-off. The highest temperature of the day was 46 degrees. The weather progressively improved, as did the fishing.

Cordell Beckmann and Evan Seggerman.
Media by Chris Brooks.

This proved to be the case as 4 of the 5 Greenville boats weighed in fish. To lead Greenville, Huge and Rakers had a good day on the water with 3 fish that weighed in at 13 lbs and 10 ounces and a 5 lb 9-ounce kicker that pushed them all the way up to 50th place. The next highest finisher for Greenville was Moeller and Glasson as they weighed in 3 fish as well for a total weight of 11 lbs and 7 ounces. This put them into 61st place. Greenville’s third highest boat was Beckmann and Seggerman as they weighed in 2 fish for a total weight of 6 lbs and 10 ounces, putting them into the 87th spot. The final boat to weigh fish for Greenville was Brooks and Fouts. They weighed in one fish for a total weight of 3 lbs and 1 ounce and finished the day in 118th place.

Winning the tournament was the same team that led day one: Adrian College. They beat their own big bag of the previous day and weighed in 25 lbs and 4 ounces to take the victory at a margin of 7 lbs and 6 ounces.

Taylor Moeller and Ethen Glasson.
Media by Chris Brooks.

Greenville fisherman Ricky Huge said, “Day one was tough, but we decided on day two that we needed to change things up and try something a little bit different. I think the key to catching those big smallmouths on a crankbait was a faster retrieve. Most people use a 5.4:1 gear ratio, but my 6.3:1 gear ratio Daiwa Tatula reel got the bait moving a little faster than normal, triggering a reaction bite from the smallmouth.”

In addition, Taylor Moeller stated, “Day one we missed quite a few fish in which I think could have helped us. We didn’t change up too much today and were able to get a few hooks into fish. The fish were just taking the bait a little better today and that showed with our weight.”

Be sure to tune in next week as I recap our next tournament on Kentucky Lake in Paris, TN as the GU fishing team takes on Big Bass Bash presented by Cabela’s!

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