The talk all week was that a cold front would slow the fishing and anglers would be lucky to bring 15 or 16 pounds to scales at the Harris Chain of Lakes in the first Bassmaster Southern Open of 2012. The talk was mostly right, but fortunately for Tim Frederick, he wasn't listening.
The Leesburg, Fla., pro (center in photo) had a limit weighing 28-03 ounces to take a commanding lead over 196 other anglers. He is nearly 8 pounds ahead of Bassmaster Elite Series pro Chris Lane.
Frederick was mostly tight-lipped about his day. After all, there are still 2 days of competition left, tens of thousands of dollars and a berth in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic at stake. He did say that he was expecting the tournament to be a sight-fishing event, but that a recent cold snap had thwarted most of the bass's spawning efforts.
"I decided to play a hunch and go to a staging area I know about," he said. "Within half an hour I had about 20 pounds."
Frederick said he caught his limit fishing a variety of ways and noted that another 20-pound-plus catch is possible in his area tomorrow. In fact, most of the top anglers from day 1 were optimistic that fishing would improve as the tournament went on.
Lane, who sacked 20-08, believes the bass are beginning to move shallower to spawn. He's hopeful he can repeat his success tomorrow, but said that "the Harris Chain is notorious for good fishing one day and tough fishing the next." He admitted that his most successful area had been heavily pressured on the first day and that he'd need to make adjustments to his location and methods if he was to do as well on day 2.
Steve Wisdom took big-bass honors with an 8-15 brute that bit a 1/2-ounce Strike King Redeye Shad (gold with a black back).
