Former College Fishing standout from Northwest Missouri State University takes 1½-pound lead into second day of competition Saturday
CALVERT CITY, Ky. (April 19, 2024) – As expected, it’s a smallmouth smashfest on Kentucky Lake. Starting strong, Andrew Nordbye of Guntersville, Alabama, wrangled 22 pounds, 12 ounces on Day 1 of Stop 3 Presented by Phoenix Boats. Behind him, Brookeland, Texas’ Dakota Ebare put 21-4 on the scale, and Alec Morrison of Peru, New York, slipped into third with 20-7, narrowly ahead of five other pros who caught 20 pounds or better on Day 1.
Overall, Friday was a banner day of fishing to start the event despite less than ideal weather. Though some pros ran south a long way on both Kentucky and Barkley, a strong north wind kept most from traveling too far and complicated matters when it came to fishing.
The full field of 150 anglers will conclude the two-day opening round on Saturday, with only the top 30 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight advancing to Championship Sunday. The three-day tournament, hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau, features a roster of 150 anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000 and an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2025.
Link to Photo Gallery of Day 1 Afternoon Highlights
Link to Video of Fish-Catch Highlights of Day 1 on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes
Weighing four smallmouth and one largemouth, it was a 5-15 smallie that really put Nordbye in the driver’s seat. Fishing offshore for smallmouth that he believes are spawning and postspawn, the day went great.
“It was excellent. I did lose a couple that would have helped me by a quarter pound here and there, but it’s as good as I hoped it might go,” Nordbye said. “God blessed me big time.”
While some pros rationed their fish pretty carefully on Day 1, Nordbye seems to have caught more keepers than many of his competitors. It remains to be seen how that plays out the rest of the way.
“I hope to get 18 to 20 (pounds) the next day or two,” he said. “If God blesses me with another 6-pounder, I might bump it back up again. But, when you’re fishing for smallmouth, especially ones on bed, they don’t replenish when you take them off. So, the weights will go down. But I did leave some stuff alone. I tried to be a little strategic. I probably caught 10 3- to 3 ½-pounders that I had to let go. So, we’ll see; there’s a lot of fish out there eating.”
Fishing offshore in pretty windy conditions, Nordbye thinks having a turret for his LiveScope was a difference maker today.
“Everybody dogs me for having the turret, and I always dog ‘em for not having it,” he said. “My Cornfield Fishing Gear Live Sweep turret was crucial today. It was blowing, my front end kept coming out of the water, and I was able to Spot-Lock and cast directly where I wanted to and watch it all go down. If you’re not twitching your bait or moving it at the exact time you need to, the smallmouth aren’t gonna bite it. Being able to do that in the extreme conditions we had was key to catching what I had.”
Saturday and Sunday are not supposed to be much calmer, so Nordbye may have the upper hand again. But he certainly doesn’t have much room to slack off – the whole field is bringing the heat this week.
The top 20 pros after Day 1 on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes are:
1st: Andrew Nordbye, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 22-12
2nd: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, five bass, 21-4
3rd: Alec Morrison, Peru, N.Y., five bass, 20-7
4th: Brad Leuthner, Victoria, Minn., five bass, 20-5
5th: Colby Miller, Elmer, La., five bass, 20-3
5th: Ken Thompson, Roaring Springs, Pa., five bass, 20-3
5th: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., five bass, 20-3
8th: Robby Lefere, Jackson, Mich., five bass, 20-1
9th: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, five bass, 19-14
10th: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 19-12
11th: Ethan Greene, Eufaula, Ala., five bass, 19-2
11th: Kevin Meunier, Lamar, Ind., five bass, 19-2
13th: Michael Harlin, Sunrise Beach, Mo., five bass, 18-10
14th: Connor Cunningham, Springfield, Mo., five bass, 18-2
14th: Jake Lawrence, Buchanan, Tenn., five bass, 18-2
16th: Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, five bass, 17-14
17th: Brett Carnright, Plattsburgh, N.Y., five bass, 17-10
18th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., five bass, 17-9
19th: Brad Jelinek, Lincoln, Mo., five bass, 17-5
20th: Ethan King, Wilsonville, Ala., five bass, 17-3
20th: Cole Breeden, Lebanon, Mo., five bass, 17-3
Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Greene earned Friday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award with a fish that weighed in at 6 pounds, 7 ounces.
Overall, there were 632 bass weighing 1,766 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 142 pros Friday. The catch included 104 five-bass limits.
In Tackle Warehouse Invitational competition, the full field of 150 anglers compete in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 30 pros, based on their two-day cumulative weight, advance to the final round on Championship Sunday, where they will compete for the grand prize of up to $115,000. The winner of the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 3 at Kentucky Lake Presented by Phoenix Boats will be determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative weight and will receive an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2025 on Lake Guntersville in Huntsville, Alabama.
Anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. CT each day from the Kentucky Dam Marina, located at 466 Marina Drive in Gilbertsville. Weigh-ins will also be held at the Marina and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live all three days of competition from 7 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. CT. MLFNOW! will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 3 at Kentucky Lake Presented by Phoenix Boats will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 19 on CBS Sports Network.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, Onyx, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Invitational updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
