Kennedy rockets up the leaderboard

It took Steve Kennedy only 30 minutes to demonstrate how quickly things can change at Lake Hartwell. He caught a 4-pound, 1-ounce bass at 11:08 and followed it with the big bass of the day so far, a 6-3 at 11:38. It moved him up to third place on BassTrakk, less than a pound out of the lead.

More importantly, Kennedy has two of the fish it takes to separate yourself from the crowd on this lake. In the three previous Classics at Lake Hartwell the biggest bass weighed was 6 pounds, 11 ounces – one in 2015 and another in 2018.

Kennedy has a history of doing well in the Classic, and he was confident after practice this week. He was second after two days at Ray Roberts last year before finishing 13th. He finished second at Lake Conroe in 2017 and was eighth at Lay Lake in 2007.