GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (July 14, 2025) – Boater Clint Knight of Russellville, Kentucky, caught a three-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 9 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Kentucky-Barkley Lakes. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL LBL Division. Knight earned $3,779 for his victory.
Knight is absolutely on fire on the Kentucky-Barkley system. He won the LBL Division Angler of the Year title in 2023, finished runner-up in 2024 and is now in second place again for 2025. Plus, he’s now won two LBL Division tournaments in a row to cap a streak of three consecutive top-three finishes.
“Today, we fished from the dam all the way to the Paris bridge,” he said. “Last month, I won the BFL, but it was completely different and things have changed a lot in the last month or so. I had 31 schools and now on all 31 of those spots, all my fish have moved. I went back and re-idled a lot of the stuff. I came down and practiced Friday, and all the way from the dam to the Paris bridge I only had seven legit schools. And when I say a school, I’m considering a school of 25 fish or more.”
In practice and in the tournament, Knight noticed his fish moving around on him. They’d move 250 or 300 feet overnight or even during the same day, often sliding up on top of the bar instead of setting up on the edge of the ledge. He attributes that to the fishing pressure and slow current. As a result, he had to make a shift midday during the tournament.
“I fished ledges until 10 or 11,” he said. “After that, I realized everything had been beat on pretty good. So I got on top of the bars. I caught a 5-opunder in the last hour in 4 foot of water, and it really surprised me because I started out the morning catching fish in 22 feet. It shows that true transition factor of Kentucky Lake in July.”
While Knight’s best school was in 8 to 10 feet of water, he spent the rest of his day targeting fish up on the bars where they were feeding on massive schools of fry. He worked through a pretty typical ledge-fishing lure rotation, except he left out a crankbait because he says it busts the schools up too much this time of year. Key lures included a Carolina rig, spoon and 5-inch minnow – ledge fishing staples for one of the hottest hands in ledge fishing right now.
“It feels weird because I’ve been second through 10th in the BFLs here, and now I finally can win two of them,” Knight said. “I’ll take it any way I can get it. I’m just gonna enjoy the ride.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Clint Knight, Russellville, Ky., three bass, 13-9, $3,779
2nd: Sam Lashlee, Camden, Tenn., three bass, 13-2, $1,840
3rd: Levi Kohl, Edinburg, Ill., three bass, 12-6, $1,225
4th: Dustin Vaal, Farmington, Ky., three bass, 11-14, $859
5th: Matt Robertson, Kuttawa, Ky., three bass, 11-12, $736
6th: Ron Smith, Walton, Ky., three bass, 11-9, $644
6th: Drew Morgan, Murray, Ky., three bass, 11-9, $644
8th: Harlan Thomas, Paducah, Ky., three bass, 11-7, $552
9th: David Hames, Trezevant, Tenn., three bass, 11-5, $491
10th: Kane Hackemack, Georgetown, Ind., three bass, 11-2, $429
Ben Wade of South Fulton, Tennessee, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 2 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $480.
Tim Rampaul of Dickson, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and $2,090 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 11 pounds, 12 ounces.
The top 11 co-anglers finished:
1st: Tim Rampaul, Dickson, Tenn., three bass, 11-12, $2,090
2nd: Dave Willmore, West Frankfort, Ill., three bass, 10-10, $920
3rd: Trent Gooch, Yuma, Tenn., three bass, 9-10, $612
4th: Joshua Smith, Benton, Ky., three bass, 9-6, $429
5th: Gary Huber II, Saint Charles, Mo., two bass, 8-15, $368
6th: Brendan Murphy, Cape Girardeau, Mo., three bass, 8-11, $337
7th: Kyle Cavitt, Paducah, Ky., three bass, 8-4, $307
8th: Wesley Jennings, Clarksville, Tenn., three bass, 8-2, $276
9th: Corey Green, Paducah, Ky., three bass, 7-7, $245
10th: Peyton Nolen, Lexington, Tenn., three bass, 7-1, $204
10th: Cowboy Tidwell, Madisonville, Ky., three bass, 7-1, $204
Jeff Johnston of Nashville, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $240, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 15 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After four events, Levi Kohl of Edinburg, Illinois, now leads the Fishing Clash LBL Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 995 points, while Zach Falder of Sedalia, Kentucky, leads the Fishing Clash LBL Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 942 points.
The next event for BFL LBL Division anglers will be held Sept. 27-28, at Kentucky-Barkley Lakes out of Gilbertsville, Kentucky.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-kentucky-71425.html
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