Related Stories
A huge field of over 230 boats took on Kentucky Lake for the 2014 USA BASSIN Nitro Classic
May 8th and 9th, 2014 - Kentucky Lake
Teams from across the country headed to Kentucky Lake last week for the USA Bassin Championship week. A large field took to the waters and as usual, Kentucky Lake did not dissapoint the anglers who had qualified for this great annual event,
Taking first prize and brand new Nitro Z-8 and Mercury 200 Optimax outboard was the team of Kenny Heckel and Kevin Muener. Their two day total of 38.49lbs was enough to win but not before some tense moments on the water. "We lost a big one on Day 2 and really thought that was going to cost us," said Muener. It ended up that the lost big one did not matter and they had done enough to take home the top prize. Both of the two days were good for this team and even with a winning two day total, they never caught a really big bass. "All of our fish were just solid fish, all between about 3.5lbs and 4.5lbs," added Muener. They live near the lake and fish it often and relied on that experience to take the win, to add to their title from 2012. "In my experience when the water starts to drop, the fish get out of the bushes and we were fishing near the bushes but out further from them and threw swimbaits and crankbaits to catch our fish," said Muener.
Second place was the team of Sherbert Vanmeter and John Dixon with 37.25lbs. For their winning total the team took home a Nitro Z-7 and 150hp Mercury Optimax outboard. "We caught them all deep. Each day we went shallow and caught a small limit weighing about 12 or 13 pounds and then headed to deeper water," added Dixon. They primarily used jigs and 9 of 10 fish they weighed in came on jigs fished in a variety of deep locations.
Third Place was Jeremy Knepp and BJ Worland with 37.02 pounds. They took home a Nitro Z-6 and Mercury 115 Optimax outboard for their great finish. They had almost the exact same weight each day and stayed shallow in the bushes all day long according to Knepp. "We used spinnerbaits, swimjigs and soft plastics to catch them," said Knepp. They key was finding bushes that were close to the mainlake.
The 2014 Nitro Classic awarded three Nitro boats and
