Bassmaster Elite Series pro Marty Robinson weighed a 23-11 stringer to take the day-1 lead at the Harris Chain Bassmaster Southern Open in Leesburg, Fla.
Eight competitors in the 200-angler pro field scaled at least 20 pounds. Closest to Robinson are Hunter Shryock (22-01) and former Elite Series pro Ken Iyobe (21-14). Others catching 20 pounds or more were veteran pro Paul Elias (21-12), Justin Lucas (21-11), Jordan Lee (21-00), John Pollard (20-11) and Chris Heath (20-08).
A couple of options were available to the anglers Thursday, as both pre-spawn and bedding fish were located on the 80,000-acre network of lakes. Partly cloudy skies, temperatures in the low 80s and light winds made conditions similar to what the rest of the U.S. finds in spring.
Robinson had the right mix. His bag included two 6-pounders he caught sight-fishing and three other sizable bass caught by other means later in the day. He said he’ll have to start someplace different Friday, because it’s likely the beds he hit Thursday won’t replenish in time for him to turn the trick on back-to-back days.
Still, being in the lead is a nice problem to have.
“I wasn’t sure I would be able to get to my big fish because of my draw (No. 95 of 200 boats to launch this morning),” Robinson said. “But I was able to reach them in time, and the spots were pretty close together. I didn’t have to run far at all after I got the first one. That helped to be able to put those two in the boat early.”
Shryock was one of the pros taking advantage of the near-ideal conditions. Like Robinson, he caught some big bass while sight-fishing, and then lit into the rest of his limit in several different areas he found in practice. He was encouraged by what he saw Thursday.
“I didn’t get to go to the area I wanted to today, being in (boat No.) 165,” Shryock said. “So I went to a backup area and it turned out to be better than I expected it to be. I was around a lot of activity and a lot of shallow fish.”
Lee, another Elite Series pro, weighed the biggest bass – a 9-04 monster which is the largest he’s ever caught. The catch came at about 10 a.m. when he only had a few small bass in the livewell.
“I was just pitching a worm around, and all of a sudden line was coming off,” Lee said. “Then ‘Boom!’ I was shaking a little bit. You can’t help it when you catch one that big … It wasn’t bedding, so it was a bit of good fortune, for sure. I just went to an area where I had caught a few fish (in practice). But the rest of them were small. I’ll have to go back to work tomorrow.”
The winner on the boater side will be awarded $51,400 in cash and prizes. The champ also will earn a berth into the 2018 Bassmaster Classic, provided he or she fishes in all of the three Southern Open events this year.
Here's how the initial Top 12 stacks up:
1. Marty Robinson: 23-11
2. Hunter Shryock: 22-01
3. Ken Iyobe: 21-14
4. Paul Elias: 21-12
5. Justin Lucas: 21-11
6. Jordan Lee: 21-00
7. John Pollard: 20-11
8. Chris Heath: 20-08
9. Scott Martin: 19-14
10. Tim Arnold: 19-10
11. Brandon Card: 19-09
12. Derek Hudnall: 18-11
