The leaders just went fishing

Anglers began fishing at 6:30 am knowing that they needed to string two good days together to win Cabela’s King Kat Northern Championship on Old Hickory Lake. The Captains Meeting the night before was filled with stories from anglers that said they could have one if only they could have gotten two good days in a row.

Optimism was high, that this would be the year. When the fishing day ended at 3:00 pm it was time to see who won the day one competition. Anglers were allowed to fish the Cumberland River (Old Hickory Lake) from Cordell Hull Dam, South to the Old Hickory Dam.

At the end of day one it was Kenneth McKenzie and David Hill leading the King Kat anglers with a weight of 104.70 pounds. A humble McKenzie said they practiced yesterday and did not do any good.

“When the spot we were gonna’ start on was already taken I just told David that we would just go fishing,” reported McKenzie. “And we did. We just went fishing.”

“We were just glad to catch some fish, continued McKenzie. We were using skipjack for bait. Our biggest fish weighed 42 pounds.”

“The same thing happened to us in practice,” added Hill. “We picked our spots and got pushed off of them. We picked another spot to fish and got pushed off it. So, it was just luck.”

“This is the first time I fished this Old Hickory,” concluded Hill.  “It is an incredible feeling to be leading day one. That’s why we came down here, for the adrenaline rush.”

Second-place after day one went to the team or Bruce Paulk and Brian Vohol. Their five fish pulled the scales to 102.22. They also had Big Kat of the day with a 47.20-pound blue.

In the third-place spot was Steve and Lisa Douglas. The Monster Rod Holder team weighed in a total of 92.88 pounds. The Kentucky team’s big fish weighed 29.74 pounds. They use planner boards to fish tightly on the ledges.

The remaining top ten teams with weights are:

Fourth Place – David Shipman and Brooke Wilbanks – 78.90

Fifth Place – Chris Sowders and Nick Conaway – 77.78

Sixth Place – Frank White and Aaron Preece – 77.56

Seventh Place – William West and Ronnie Duncan – 68.08

Eighth Place – Steve Collins and Shannon Sizemore – 67.90

Ninth Place – Phillip Johnson and Tyler Sapp – 67.54

Tenth Place – Danny Sapp and Pete Moreland – 60.78

The final competition kicks of Saturday at 6:30 am. The leading anglers will be trying to break the “one good day, one bad day” jinx of Old Hickory Lake.

The final day event will be live streamed on the Cabela’s King Kat Facebook page beginning at 3:00 pm.

Information on the championships and other King Kat activities can be found on their website at www.kingkatusa.com. Anglers can follow the trail on the Cabela’s King Kat Facebook Page.