Top 5 Lures That Dominated the 2025 Bass Pro Tour on Kentucky Lake

From deep crankbaits to football jigs, these are the baits that helped Jacob Wheeler and the top pros cash in on classic summer ledge fishing.

These are the Top 5 baits that helped Jacob Wheeler and other top anglers produce at the 2025 Bass Pro Tour on Kentucky Lake. Classic ledge fishing at its best. | Photo by Phoenix Moore | MLF

It’s great to see that after several years of not-so-great fishing, legendary Kentucky and Barkley Lakes appear to be on an upswing for this 2025 Bass Pro Tour event. As you’ll see from the lures that did the most damage, this was pretty classic summer ledge fishing, with both largemouth and smallmouth coming into play.

Top Baits From the Last BPT Event on Kentucky Lake

Surprisingly, this is the first time the Bass Pro Tour has competed on Kentucky Lake. So, with no history to evaluate, let’s dig into the results from this 2025 event.

Top 5: What Lures Worked Best on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes

Following is a breakdown of the five most effective baits used by the Top 10 finishers at the 2025 BPT on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes in Kentucky.

1. Deep Crankbaits for Aggressive Bass on Summer Ledges

Cole Floyd shows off the deep-diving crankbait he used for a Kentucky Lake Top 10 finish. | Photo by Phoenix Moore | MLF

When you think classic summer ledge tournament you think deep-diving crankbait. A solid, seven out of the top ten anglers credited a deep crankbait as part of their successful lure arsenal.

While a lot of pros included the crankbait, seventh place Cole Floyd was the angler who made it sound like that was his go-to. “I did the normal summertime ledge fishing stuff, fishing the drops that were anywhere from 10 to 16 feet deep,” he said. “I was mixing it up with different baits, but probably 90 percent of my fish came on a chartreuse and blue back Strike King 6XD.”

2. Carolina Rigs for Bass on Hard Bottom Structure

“I was looking for hard-bottom areas offshore – places where the current hits and gives them a place to feed,” John Hunter said. | Photo by Phoenix Moore | MLF

Once again, picture classic ledge fishing. If you’re not picturing a deep crankbait you’re probably thinking Carolina rig. So were five of the Top 10 pros—a full half of the field.

Fifth place finisher John Hunter was the only guy who held up his Carolina bait for his photo—a 3/4-ounce Googan Tungsten weight and a green pumpkin Googan Baits Dart.
“I was looking for hard-bottom areas offshore – places where the current hits and gives them a place to feed,” he said.

3. Football Jigs Delivered Key Bites

Winner Jacob Wheeler credited several baits including a football-head jig and a jig and minnow (you can see it if you look closely just down and to the right of the footbal jig). | Photo by Phoenix Moore | MLF

I told you these were going to be some classic ledge fishing baits. If you’ve thrown your crankbait and your Carolina rig, pick up a football-head jig with a craw trailer.

Winner Jacob Wheeler threw a 3/4-ounce Jewel football head jig with a CrushCity Cleanup Craw, both in green pumpkin shades. Third place Brent Ehrler, sixth place Adrian Avena, and eighth place Spencer Shuffield also credited a football jig for their success.

4. Jig and Minnow for Forward-Facing Sonar

Now we’re getting away from “classic” old-school ledge fishing, but nobody is surprised that using a jig and minnow on scoped fish works here too.

Four of the final day leaders, including Jacob Wheeler shook a minnow for some of their fish. Wheeler’s bait rotation consisted of several options, including a 5.4-inch green shad Rapala CrushCity Freeloader. “That’s a new size that will be out at ICAST, and I fished it with a 5/16-ounce VMC Hybrid Swimbait head,” he said.

5. Drop-Shot for Finesse Clean-Up

The drop shot was critical for picking up less aggressive bites. | Photo by Phoenix Moore | MLF

When conditions called for a subtler and more precise approach, the dropshot delivered for four of the top ten anglers.

Third place finisher Brent Ehrler said, “After throwing the reaction baits, I’d slow down with … a drop-shot with a morning dawn 6-inch Roboworm Straight Tail Worm on a 1/0 Roboworm Rebarb hook and a 1/4-ounce Ark Tungsten drop-shot weight.”

Where to Fish These Baits for Success

What do you look for and where do you go for summertime deep ledge fishing on Kentucky Lake? Nearly all of the top ten said approximately the same thing as Michael Neal, “I was looking for places where the schools were set up, and that seemed to be points, bends and on straight bars,” he said. “I spent a lot of time in practice idling and looking for those places, and it seemed like the best depths for me were between 12 and 14 feet.” Classic.