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Stanley and Tramel Win the Lucas Oil Tournament of Champions
by: Dominick Schenewerk
Matt Stanley and Brandon Tramel took top honors at the 2018 Lucas Oil Tournament of Champions hosted on Kentucky Lake with a one-day limit totaling 21.67 pounds.
“We practiced on Monday and it wasn't too good,” said Tramel “We only had one keeper fish, and we didn't fish a lot of spots that we knew. We were just hitting some new stuff to see what we could come up with.”
Despite slow fishing conditions on both Kentucky Lake for their practice, the duo with a previous USA Bassin Aluminum Cup title under their belt fished some more familiar spots on tournament day.
“We had a limit by noon and then culled up from there,” said Tramel “We had about 19 pounds and then caught two more fish to bump us up to our total weight.”
Stanley and Tramel fished the shallows in multiple cuts spanning between the Kentucky Lake Dam and the Highway 68 Bridge using a green pumpkin jig to catch their first five fish. The two then headed out to a few choice main lake spots to cull up using a 6-inch shad-colored swimbait.
Stanley and Tramel we able to hold the hot seats once they weighed in, and ultimately beat out the runner-ups by 1.56 pounds. The duo took home their first Lucas Oil Tournament of Champions win and $10,000 for their efforts.
