Haynes is one of the best offshore fishermen in the world. Few anglers understand structure, timing and everything else that goes into catching fish from the depths better than he. Of course, Haynes’ knowledge is usually best served in the stained waters of the Tennessee River impoundments rather than Lanier’s gin-clear lower end.
But evidently, offshore is offshore, at least for Haynes.
The pro says he “played the conditions” on Thursday, which meant hitting upwards of 60 spots.
“Just playing the wind, time of day, the conditions,” says Haynes, who only caught 9 keepers.
With the conditions looking to change every day of the tournament, Haynes says he’ll continue to change with the day, though his run-and-gun pattern seems like it will be staying.
“I’m going to run-and-gun or I’ll zero,” Haynes says.
Read more on FLWFishing.com
Day 3 - 2nd Place (Final)
Kentucky Lake set up to Haynes’ liking and he seemed to catch fish everywhere he roamed, from the dam south to Tennessee waters. On the last day, however, Haynes ran out of big fish and lacked the kicker that might have rendered him bulletproof. As it was his 21-pound, 13-ounce limit was one of the best of the day.
Haynes was fishing Profound Outdoors Z-Boss 20 and 25 crankbaits on ledges inside or outside the mouths of major creeks and coves – pretty much the same sort of structure Redington was covering.
“It seemed like the fish were hitting the bait instead of eating it. I got tons of short strikes,” says Haynes of Saturday’s fishing. “The other two days, they were really nailing it. I should have done some things a little differently [Saturday] once I realized they were transitioning. Some of them moved on me too.”
Haynes came within an eyelash of making Rayovac FLW Series history. Had he won, it would have meant a record sixth Rayovac title. At present, he’s tied with Koby Kreiger and Bryan Schmitt with five Rayovac wins apiece.
Day 2 - 1st Place
Same church, different pew.
This time last year, Randy Haynes was poised to win the Rayovac FLW Series tournament on Kentucky Lake, which took place out of Kenlake State Park. This year, the event is headquartered at Moors Resort & Marina farther up the lake, but otherwise everything else is pretty much the same.
Read more: Randy finishes 2nd at Kentucky Lake | Rayovac Series
