Tournament Recap

Let your readers know how you did this past weekend.  Discuss the pattern you were on and the gear that you used.  Below is a sample of how you can do that.


Pattern Notes
Kennedy used numerous baits through the event. The list included a spinnerbait, a buzzbait, a jerkbait, a tube, a Kinami Flash and two different sizes of swimbaits.

Photo: PAA: Chris Dutton/Eagle Productions Kennedy used a wide variety of baits en route to his win at Neely Henry.

"It took about 3 hours to fish all the way back in there, and I'd go in with one or two baits and then come back out with one or two other baits," he said. "You could go through with one bait one time and do well and the next time the same bait wouldn't do squat. It was one of those places where you had to keep switching."
He said that are places in the far reaches of the creek that are as deep as 8 feet, but most of his fish came from the 4- to 5-foot range.

"You go over areas that are a foot deep to get to the holes where the better fish are. There were four places with outside bends – I call them pools – that had fish in them. They'd be in little wolfpacks of four or five fish.


"The fish were never in the same place twice. There was never enough current to get them set up on anything, so they were just kind of roaming around. There was also some kind of algae growing that was almost snotty.

You'd try to pitch a jig or something around that stuff, but once your line draped over it, you were done. Most of the bites were on reaction stuff in the more open water."

He said August-September is the only time of year when the creeks are a viable option at Neely Henry.

"Most of the time there's too much opportunity for somebody to catch 17 pounds from the main lake. But in these multi-day events in the late summer where 12 pounds is good, you can catch some big bags back there."


Winning Gear Notes
Here's a summary of some of the equipment Kennedy used on the various rigs that produced weigh-in fish.

> He employed all Kistler rods, in lengths from 7 to 7 1/2 feet.

> His reels included an older model Shimano Chronarch MG, a couple of Shimano Curados and an Abu Garcia Revo Premier.

> Lines were all fluorocarbon in pound-tests ranging from 12 to 20. He declined to name manufacturers.

> He was also mum on the specifics of some of his baits. The smaller swimbait was the same one he used at West Point. Of the jerkbait, he said, "Somebody might have won a (Bassmaster) Classic on it within the past few years."