Bass Tournament Winners

Home

Kentucky Lake Bass Tournament Winners
by The Fishman

Since I opened this site almost two years ago, I have learned a lot about fishermen and fishing tournaments. After interviewing past winners from some of Kentucky Lake's biggest tournaments, one thing becomes very evident, these guys worked their tail off to ever get to this level.

When covering my first couple of tournaments, I really didn't know what to expect. How good were these guys? Did they really know this lake that well, or are they lucky to be taking home these big checks? Well, luck had little, if anything, to do with it.

The first two Froggy tournament winners that I interviewed, John Hunt and Jim Story were definitely Kentucky Lake veterans and no strangers to big paychecks. Ray Barga, the winner I interviewed from the next tournament, proved to be the same. I thought the $10,000 paychecks these guys were taking home would be the highlight of their careers. But, these guys had seen bigger paydays before. They didn't just fall off the bass boat yesterday.

I still wasn't convinced that only the best of the best could win these tournaments. Surely a few average fishermen like myself would come up to win a few. But, after two years, the tournament winners I've had the chance to talk with continued to prove me wrong. Luck might help, but it's not going to win many trophies.

Just last week, I had the opportunity to talk with BFL tournament winner Mike Terry about his recent victory on Kentucky Lake. As I should have known, this guy isn't a casual angler either. His tournament experience includes 26 tournaments on the FLW, Everstart, BFL and Ranger M1 fishing tours, and two trips to the Bassmaster Classic. He has also brought in over $160,000 in prize money over the last 6 years, including a $100,000 first place win at the Forrest Wood Open in 1996.

Mike is from Obion, Tennessee, and even though recent family and farming obligations have cut down his fishing time, he still has plenty of experience fishing Kentucky Lake. He won the recent BFL tournament with a five bass stringer of 17 lbs. 12 ounces to beat out the previously mentioned Ray Barga by 2 ounces. Mike also won the St. Jude's tournament out of Gilbertsville, KY earlier this year.

Mike says the names on the leaderboards of these Kentucky Lake tournaments are very familiar to him and they usually consist of the areas top fishermen. He knows who the competition is and he knows, just like I finally know, that luck isn't going to win these tournaments. It takes a lot of know how and a lot of hard work.

Home

*Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley Outdoor Guide- Fishing, Hunting and everything outdoors......*