KENTUCKY LAKE, KENTUCKY (June 10) – Will he do it? Can he do it? After consecutive third place finishes, just missing out on a trip to the Hobie Fishing Worlds each time, Jay Wallen is in range of fulfilling a dream.
Wallen leads all comers at the Hobie Bass Open at Kentucky Lake with 58.75 inches. When asked if he was expecting it, he confidently answered yes. His near misses have him hungry for a victory. And he knows the lake. He came up as a backseater fishing bass tournaments here.
He pegged a 20.5-inch smallmouth right off the bat. “The fish went berserk, it jumped five feet in the air. I fought it for four minutes,” he said. After such an exhilarating catch, it was just time to go fishing, he said.
Joshua Stewart isn’t far behind Wallen – just one inch. He compiled his 57.75 inch 3-fish tally by searching out unpressured water away from the boat traffic. Like Wallen, he’s confident too, and eager to earn a trip to the Hobie Fishing Worlds. First and second place both win invitations.
Drew Russell is in third place with 55.5 inches, all caught on plan B. Plan A fizzled when the school he’d been tracking through the pre-fish days came up missing. His quick thinking paid off. “I caught 5 fish in 5 casts. I didn’t catch many fish but the quality was there,” he said.
Who will win it? Will it be Wallen, Stewart, Russell, or someone else? A good twenty anglers remain in the hunt with day one limits of 50 inches or greater.
Tournament sponsors include the Kentucky Lake Dam Village Convention Center and Pavilion, Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau, Kentucky Lake Dam Village State Resort Park, the host city of Calvert, Hobie Polarized, Lowrance, YakAttack, Bassin’ Magazine, RAM Mounts, St. Croix, Daiwa, Power-Pole, Mustad and Gerber.
