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Top lures at Kentucky Lake Open 2025

See the prespawn lure lineup used at Kentucky Lake.

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Photography by
Andy Crawford
Captions by
Craig Lamb
Yui Aoki was fishing some 6,600 miles from his home in Japan, but he looked right at home at the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley presented by SEVIIN. 
Aoki’s winning weight of 66 pounds, 14 ounces, included daily limits weighing 24-4, 18-10 and 24 pounds, all of it caught from a stretch of main river channel flooded timber. Swimbaits ruled in the Championship Saturday lure lineup, an indicator of prespawn feeding. 
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Miles Burghoff (10th; 43-0)
Burghoff used crankbaits for intercepting bass on the move. 
Depending on bite conditions he used this Berkley Frittside … 
… or an Evergreen Flat Force 4 crankbait. For both lures he switched to Hayabusa TBL930 treble hooks, depending on desired action and depth. 
Tanner Hadden (9th; 48-9)
Hadden used a jig and jerkbait as his primary lures. 
A 1/2-ounce Greenfish Tackle Bad Little Shad with a Zoom Super Fluke was a top choice. 
So was a Megabass Ito Vision 110 jerkbait. 
Ty Faber (8th; 49-6)
Faber rotated through minnow style baits and a bladed jig. 
A top choice was a Z-Man ChatterBait JackHammer, with a Hog Farmer Spunk Shad Pintail Swimbait 5.5 for a trailer. 
Faber also used a 1/8-ounce Dirty Jigs Guppy Head with a variety of soft plastic minnows. Those included the Deps Sakamata Shad, CrushCity Freeloader and others. 
Laker Howell (7th; 52-1)
Howell’s primary lure was a swimbait. 
He made the rig with a Buckeye Lures Shocker Swimbait Head and Keitech FAT Swing Impact 4.3. 
Sam Hanggi (6th; 53-5)
Hanggi relied on a jighead minnow and jerkbait to locate and catch his bass. 
A 5-inch Deps Sakamata Shad rigged on a 3/16-ounce Owner Range Roller jig head was for slower presentations. 
For reaction bites he used a Megabass Ito Vision 110+1 jerkbait.
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Jordan Hartman (5th; 55-9)
Hartman’s top lures included a bladed jig and swimbaits. 
A primary lure was a Z-Man ChatterBait with a minnow-style soft plastic trailer. 
Hartman also used a Strike King 3X Z-Too soft jerkbait or Deps Sakamata Shad on 3/16- and 1/4-ounce minnow-style jig heads. 
Clint Knight (4th; 56-0)
Knight targeted largemouth with a crankbait, using a bladed jig as a follow-up bait for reluctant fish. For a slower presentation he used a swimbait on a jig head. 
A primary lure was this Strike King Chick Magnet flat side crankbait. 
The follow bait was this Z-Man ChatterBait with a locally made minnow bait for a trailer. 
Knight also used a homemade 3/16-ounce jig head with a variety of soft plastics. 
Matt Robertson (3rd; 56-3)
Robertson covered water with a harnessed swimbait and lipless crankbait. 
The Berkley Jack lipless crankbait was a top choice. 
So was the 6-inch Berkley PowerBait Cull Shad. 
Ethan Fields (2nd; 63-5)
Fields rotated through a jerkbait, jighead minnow and hair jig. 
Leading off the lineup was this Jackall Rerange 110 jerkbait. 
Alternatively, Fields switched to a 3/16-ounce Keitech jig head with a Deps Sakamata Shad. 
Fields also used a 1/8-ounce Jenko Hair Jig. 
Yui Aoki (1st; 66-14)
Aoki used swimbaits as a primary lure, among other choices. 
A DSTYLE Virola Tail Swimbait 145 was a top choice. 
So was a DSTYLE Virola 4 or 5 rigged with a 3.5-gram jig head. 

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