Boater Jake Lawrence of Paris, Tennessee, won the Costa FLW Series at Lake Barkley presented by T-H Marine Saturday after bringing a limit of bass weighing 19 pounds, 11 ounces to the scale. Lawrence’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 72-4 gave him the win by a 7-pound, 5-ounce margin and earned him the top prize of $48,300.

Lawrence said that he knew most of the bass would be located offshore on the deeper ledges, where they would be easy to locate but challenging to catch. He also knew the early combination of heavy rain and high water coupled with the strong current would send some fish seeking shallower cover. That’s where he trained his efforts; specifically an area near the mouth of a small creek south of the Highway 79 bridge.

Lawrence was targeting fish in the 8-12 foot zone. He primarily threw a 10-inch V&M J-Mag Worm in red bug (either on a Neko Rig or a swing head), but he says he also caught fish on a Scrounger with a Castaic Jerky J, as well as a custom-made hair jig, a football jig and a spoon.

Most of Lawrence’s fish came each morning from the same area following a nearly 90-minute run from the Lake Barkley State Park launch site. The day one morning result was a fantastic 28-pound 15-ounce limit. He collected a 21-10 limit on day two. On day three he had a winning limit in the boat by 7:30 and caught his last fish around 11 o’clock.

“Conditions are changing,” he said. “This was about the last day of it. I’m glad it lasted as long as it did.”

The top 10 pros on Lake Barkley finished:

              1st:          Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 15 bass, 72-4, $48,300
              2nd:         Garrett Paquette, Canton, Mich., 15 bass, 64-15, $18,500
              3rd:         Mike Roller, Purdy, Mo., 15 bass, 58-10, $13,500
              4th:         Marcus Sykora, Osage Beach, Mo., 15 bass, 57-7, $11,600
              5th:         Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 15 bass, 55-9, $10,500
              6th:         Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 55-8, $8,750
              7th:         Brandon Hunter, Benton, Ky., 14 bass, 54-13, $7,600
              8th:         Cody Harrison, Tuscumbia, Ala., 13 bass, 52-11, $6,600
              9th:         Adam Craig, Buchanan, Tenn., 12 bass, 44-6, $5,600
              10th:       Stacey King, Reeds Spring, Mo., 12 bass, 41-10, $4,300

Full results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.