Bassmaster Elite Series angler Clifford Pirch laid a strong foundation for his third career WON Bass U.S. Open title on Monday as he weighed a 15.47 sack on day 1 at Nevada's Lake Mead.
Pirch's stringer, which included a 6 1/2-pound largemouth, was nearly 4 pounds better than anyone else's on a day that featured dramatic weather changes, including a significant amount of rain and much lower temperatures than the Nevada desert normally experiences in early September.
"I had a stretch that I thought I could get a pretty strong limit on first thing, but by 1 o'clock I still only had 7 pounds in the boat," said Pirch, who won the event in 2007 and again 3 years later. "I saw the weather changing and the wind and rain picking up and I started moving around more. Within a couple hours I had caught the big one and two other really good fish that got me to 15 pounds."
He said he had water that he couldn't fish today because of the conditions.
"The water I ran today was all stuff that I had planned on as my B grade stuff and maybe it turned out to be a little better than I had thought. I've got some other water that I'm planning on running tomorrow and hopefully I'll be able to put it together again tomorrow."
Brett Leber, who was 2nd with 11.54, reported using reaction baits and covering a lot of water, but said he didn't have the kind of day he'd hoped for.
"I had over 13 pounds in practice on Friday and another good day on Saturday," he said. "I didn't do as well today because the wind wasn't right for my areas – there was too much on it to do what I wanted to do. If I get a little bit better conditions tomorrow, I should be able to improve my weight."
Rusty Brown, the 2013 champion, weighed just 3.38 and is in 135th place in the 167-angler field.
Here are the critical numbers for the initial Top 12:
1. Clifford Pirch: 15.47
2. Brett Leber: 11.54
3. John Morrow: 11.17
4. Zachary Elrite: 10.84
5. Todd Woods: 10.80
6. Johnny Johnson: 10.17
7. Joe Uribe Jr.: 10.07
8. Shawn Lee: 9.89
9. Chris Kinley: 9.82
10. Mark Rauenzahn: 9.81
11. Luke Clausen: 9.78
12. Kona Borja: 9.75
For complete day-1 standings, click here.
