Bassmaster Elite Series pro Boyd Duckett caught a 20-04 sack on Thursday to lead day 1 at the James River Bassmaster Northern Open.
“I burned lots of fuel today,” said the 2007 Bassmaster Classic champion. “I hit a lot of one-fish spots. The tide is everything here; you have to hit your best places at the right time. There are lots of boats running the areas that I’m fishing. Every place I fished had 29 boats on it. But it’s the way that I’m fishing it that makes the difference.”
Mike Iaconelli, who sits in seventh place with 15-09 and has made two final-day cuts here before, said that he was surprised to see a 20-pound bag brought to the scales. There might have been two such bags had Pennsylvania pro Dave Lefebre capitalized on all of his chances. Instead he weighed in 18-66, putting him in 3rd, less than 2 pounds behind Duckett.
Like Duckett, Lefebre said he’s “doing something a little bit different,” and had the bites to have a 23-pound limit.
In between those two pros sits Chris Dillow of Waynesboro, Va., with 18-13. Dillow is taking a break from his real estate business and “just going fishing.”
Despite being a relative local, Dillow said he’s not running the tides, but rather waiting out his fish throughout the changing water levels.
“I didn’t have a plan today,” he said. “Tomorrow my only plan is to keep Dillow’s Perfect Jig in my hand and not put it down.”
Here's a look at the initial Top 12:
1. Boyd Duckett: 20-04
2. Chris Dillow: 18-13
3. Dave Lefebre: 18-06
4. Ryan Powroznik: 17-03
5. Frank Poirier: 16-04
6. Paul Malone: 15-11
7. Mike Iaconelli: 15-09
8. Michael Simonton: 14-14
9. Shane Lineberger: 14-10
10. Jim Dillard: 13-13
11. John Murray: 13-06
12. Gerald Spohrer: 13-04
