Thompson tops 30 pounds for early Pickwick lead
Ken Thompson leads the way after Day 1 on Pickwick Lake with a five-bass limit of 31 pounds, 3 ounces. Photo by Jody White. Angler: Ken Thompson.
FLORENCE, Ala. – For the first time seeing the fishery, Ken Thompson sure could be doing a lot worse than leading by nearly 4 pounds at the Toyota Series Central Division opener at Pickwick Lake.
Thompson, who hails from Roaring Springs, Pennsylvania, and who completed his first year on a national touring trail with the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals last season, first laid eyes on Pickwick just a few days ago when he arrived for practice. Two of those days didn’t even go very well as Thompson got acquainted with the Tennessee River reservoir that’s been fishing about as hot as possible this winter.
The end of the second day, though, opened his eyes a bit. The third day let him know he was in the right area. The first day of competition absolutely cemented in his mind that he’s around the right fish.
“The third day (of practice) I found an area that had big ones, but it was the day before the tournament; I wasn’t setting the hook,” he said. “I told the guys I’m staying with that if I can catch five, I can have 20 to 30 (pounds), but I didn’t know if I could even catch five.”
Catch five he did, and the result was 31 pounds, 3 ounces of hefty Pickwick bass for a 3-pound, 11-ounce lead over Hayden Marbut heading into Day 2.
Thompson’s spot isn’t one that’s necessarily sneaky – he said he’s fishing alongside a lot of other boats in his area – but he’s fishing a different section of the community area with a lot of cover and structure for him to pick apart.
“I’m fishing around boats, but I’m fishing a little bit different area within that area,” he said. “There’s people around, but nobody’s fishing the same stuff I’m fishing.
“I don’t just have one brushpile or hard spot – it’s multiple pieces of cover. It’s just going through enough to talk five of them into eating.”
To do that, Thompson is relying on what basically everyone else is: forward-facing sonar. And while he’s also wielding the tried-and-true jighead minnow, Thompson said he’s using something a little different than many of his competitors and didn’t want to reveal too much information.
Suffice it to say, Thompson is pushing all the right buttons. Forty-three pros weighed in at least 20 pounds on Day 1 – an absurd amount of 20-pound bags for a tournament with 158 boats – and no one got relatively close to Thompson’s impressive limit. Of course, it helps to weigh in an 8-13, which won Thompson the $500 Berkley Big Bass bonus for the day.
As for Thompson’s prospects on Thursday, he’s pretty confident he’ll be able to relocate his fish. Then, it’ll just be a matter of getting the right five to bite again.
“They might move 50 yards, but they’ll be there,” he said. “To be honest with you, I think there’s more coming to what I’m doing than going away from it.”
With the 37-year-old Thompson having just made the jump to MLF’s regional circuit in 2023 (and then to the Invitationals in 2024), he’s spent the last couple years trying to get a feel for what it takes to compete, though 16th in Fishing Clash Angler of the Year points last season would suggest he’s already there. For Thompson, though, last year was an eye-opener to the value of forward-facing sonar in general.
“I’ve spent the last three or four years dedicated to [‘Scoping],” he said. “It’s what hurt me on the Invitationals last year. There’s times in practice that I would still go traditional fishing because I thought that lake would set up for it. If I would have dedicated all my time to the ‘Scope, I would have competed a lot better.”
He’s doing more than just competing so far this week. Thompson has given himself a nice cushion that another solid day tomorrow could turn into his third Top 10 – and possibly first win – with MLF. And on a fishery he’s just starting to figure out.
Top 10 pros:
1. Ken Thompson – 31-3 (5)
2. Hayden Marbut – 27-8 (5)
3. Jake Lawrence – 27-7 (5)
4. Dylan Nutt – 26-13 (5)
5. Broderick Luckey – 26-8 (5)
6. Cal Lane – 26-7 (5)
7. Buddy Benson – 26-5 (5)
8. Jake Lee – 26-4 (5)
9. Bailey Gay – 25-1 (5)
10 Carter Nutt – 24-12 (5)