PARIS, Tenn. — With Day 2 of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship postponed before Day 1 even concluded, competitors on Kentucky Lake wanted to make a strong statement Wednesday in the final Bassmaster event of 2024.
Tyler and Blake Campbell, of the Lake Hartwell 5 Alive Sunday Series, did that with a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 13 ounces. That put them in the pole in the tournament, which will (quite literally) be put on ice for a day with extreme weather descending upon the northwest corner of the Volunteer State.
B.A.S.S. officials postponed Thursday’s Day 2 competition due to expected high north winds and freezing temperatures that could create unsafe conditions for anglers. The competition will begin again Friday, with the two-day Classic Fish-Off shortened to a single-day battle on Saturday. That sets up a dramatic finish for the final spot in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour scheduled for March 21-23 at Lake Ray Roberts in Fort Worth, Texas.
But to have a chance at that last Classic berth, every one of the 430-plus anglers in the Team Championship spent Wednesday dealing with less-than-hospitable conditions already in effect at Kentucky Lake. Temperatures didn’t climb out of the 40s on Day 1 and stiff winds blew a consistent 15 mph across the massive 160,000-acre lake.
For the Campbells, Day 1 began with a trio of waves crashing over the bow of their boat, soaking them entirely before they even made a cast in the Team Championship. The nephew-uncle duo shook off the frigid start, however, catching an unexpected 4-pound largemouth after running into a pocket off the main river to dry off and collect their senses.
Then, they went to work on their original game plan.
“That largemouth wasn’t anything we’d even practiced,” Tyler Campbell said. “But it told us ‘OK. We can do this.’
“So, we moved out and got onto our main deal. We caught two 4-pounders on the first place we pulled up to. The next spot was another 4-pounder. And then another one later on.”
The Campbells’ Day 1 bag included four smallmouths and that early largemouth.
Tyler said their best bass came on breaks in the main-river current. On Wednesday, they focused on a single, 5-mile stretch of the massive reservoir.
“Every single place I stopped was just loaded with them,” he said. “I’m excited to get back out here on Friday without all this wind to see what we can do with them. The hardest thing has been staying on the fish. But once you get a bait on them, it’s game on. My lure has been a Zoom Winged Fluke 5-inch minnow in Tennessee Shad color.”
The 23-year-old, who honed his skills competing in the Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops for Emmanuel University, said choosing that lure was just about the only easy thing on Wednesday.
“This might have been the roughest day of fishing I’ve ever had,” Tyler said. “To catch a good limit … we have confidence.”
The Campbells said they won’t spend Thursday inside, despite the higher winds and freezing temperatures expected.
“Having tomorrow off was music to my ears,” Tyler said. “We’re gonna drive about an hour north of here and go duck hunting. We’ll get in the woods and shoot some ducks, then we’ll get back out here Friday and catch some fish. I’m looking forward to all of it.”
Noah Morgan and Clint Knight, Kentucky residents repping the National Team Bass Association, are just behind the Campbells with a limit weighing 21-12. Rounding out the Top 5 are third, Alex Korol and Cameron Alldredge, of New York’s Empire Team Trail, 21-6; fourth, Preston and Jaden Bovee, of the Michigan B.A.S.S. Nation Team Trail, 21-3; and fifth, Ryan Ollard and Braxton Hopper, of Alabama’s Coosa River Team Trail, with 21 pounds.
Korol and Alldredge had the Big Bass of the Day — a 7-11 largemouth that helped them into third place overall, only 7 ounces from the lead.
Eight teams weighed more than 20 pounds on Day 1. A total of 72 teams that qualified for the championship zeroed or did not fish on Wednesday.
A total of $120,000 will be awarded Friday, including $25,000 to be split by the winning tandem. The Top 3 teams (six anglers in all) will compete in the Classic Fish-Off on Saturday. Their weights will be zeroed and the individual angler who has the best day on Kentucky Lake will qualify for the Bassmaster Classic in March.
Take-offs on Friday and Saturday will be held at Paris Landing State Park at 6:30 a.m. CT with weigh-ins each day back at the park at 2:30 p.m. Bassmaster LIVE will be streaming on Bassmaster.com.
The City of Paris, Tenn., is hosting the event.
