By MLF Communications Staff
Clabion Johns and Tommy Dickerson each weighed a five-bass limit totaling 21-12 to sit tied atop the leaderboard after day 1 of the Lake Murray FLW Pro Circuit. The pair holds a 3-ounce lead over Matt Becker whose 21-09 sack left him in 3rd place.
With anglers having numerous patterns available to them across the fishery, day 1 saw pros catching fish down the lake, up the river, sight-fishing, chasing the herring spawn, throwing topwater baits and more. However, with 34-degree air temperatures making for a cold morning bite, Dickerson said he was pretty worried halfway through the day.
The Texan had hoped to get on a herring-spawn bite first thing, only to find no herring up shallow due to the cold. He then decided to try sight-fishing, to no avail, and found himself without a fish at 11:30.
“I was starting to get negative,” said Dickerson. “I kept thinking I’ve got to stick with what I know worked, because I was catching some big fish in practice with the herring spawn. Even if I caught two today, they could weigh 10 pounds and I’d have a chance for another day.”
The sun finally peeked out and Dickerson said it didn’t take him long to get dialed in.
“I pulled up on one place and I caught four in about 10 minutes, and one of those was over 5 pounds. After that, I knew what I was doing the rest of the day.”
Surprisingly enough, Johns had almost the exact opposite day as Dickerson.
“I spent the day blind bed-fishing, (catching) fry-guarders, fished a little bit of the shad spawn and fishing bank grass. Today fit perfectly in my wheelhouse,” said Johns. “I did a little swim-jigging, flipping, threw a frog and a spinnerbait – it all worked and worked right away. I figured I could catch 15 pounds easy. But when I caught a 4-pound and a 5-pound fish early, I figured I’d just go for big bites the rest of the day.”
Johns said he typically finds remote areas serve him the best, but he didn’t even go to his best area on Thursday.
“I fished the water everyone else leaves alone,” said Johns. “I fished the mud and the nastiest stuff I could because that’s what gets left alone. I went to areas I looked at on Google Earth – I knew it was going to be scary, but I knew that I could get there.’”
Those secluded areas provided Johns some unpressured fish, making him all the more excited to get back out on the water on Friday to see what his best area may hold.
Dickerson said he’s a little less enthused going into Friday.
“Tomorrow is calling for clouds, and I need the sun,” said Dickerson of his herring-spawn pattern. “So, we’ll just see what happens. I may have to figure out how to get them to bite, but if the herring are still there, the bigger bass will be, too.”
Dean Rojas, in 5th place with 21-00m won the day's $500 Berkley Big Bass award in the pro division after bringing a largemouth weighing 6-12 to the scale.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. ET Friday through Sunday from Dreher Island State Park, located at 3677 State Park Road in Prosperity, S.C. Weigh-ins will also be held at the park daily at 3 p.m. Attendance is limited to competing anglers, family, essential staff and media covering the event. Fans are encouraged to follow the action online through the MLF NOW! livestream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Day 1 Standings
1. Tommy Dickerson -- 21-12 (5)
1. Clabion Johns -- 21-12 (5)
3. Matt Becker -- 21-09 (5)
4. Miles Howe -- 21-02 (5)
5. Dean Rojas -- 21-00 (5)
6. Jim Tutt -- 19-08 (5)
7. Lance Crawford -- 18-09 (5)
8. Cody Meyer -- 18-08 (5)
9. Chase Serafin -- 18-04 (5)
10. Joseph Webster -- 17-13 (5)
11. Evan Barnes -- 17-12 (5)
12. Matthew Stefan -- 17-10 (5)
13. David G. Williams -- 17-09 (5)
13. Casey Ashley -- 17-09 (5)
15. Derrick Snavely -- 17-07 (5)
16. Mitch Crane -- 17-04 (5)
17. Jon Canada -- 17-03 (5)
18. Josh Butler -- 17-02 (5)
19. Jimmy Reese -- 17-00 (5)
20. Brad Knight -- 16-14 (5)
20. Cody Huff -- 16-14 (5)
22. James Niggemeyer -- 16-13 (5)
23. Jeremy Lawyer -- 16-12 (5)
24. Cole Floyd -- 16-07 (5)
25. Chad Warren -- 16-04 (5)
26. Skeet Reese -- 16-03 (5)
27. Bobby Lane -- 16-02 (5)
27. Nick Lebrun -- 16-02 (5)
29. Kurt Mitchell -- 16-01 (5)
29. Jason Wilson -- 16-01 (5)
31. Lane Olson -- 16-00 (5)
32. Josh Bragg -- 15-15 (5)
33. Jim Moynagh -- 15-14 (5)
34. Kyle Cortiana -- 15-13 (5)
35. Jamie Horton -- 15-10 (5)
36. Adrian Avena -- 15-09 (5)
37. Jason Reyes -- 15-08 (5)
37. Gary Yamamoto -- 15-08 (5)
37. Ron Nelson -- 15-08 (5)
37. Tim Frederick -- 15-08 (5)
41. Justin Lucas -- 15-07 (5)
42. Cody Nichols -- 15-06 (5)
43. Alex Davis -- 15-05 (5)
44. Takayuki Koike -- 15-04 (5)
45. Nick Gainey -- 15-03 (5)
46. Rusty Salewske -- 15-01 (5)
47. Wesley Strader -- 14-15 (5)
47. Tom Monsoor -- 14-15 (5)
47. Kevin Riney -- 14-15 (5)
50. Ryan Salzman -- 14-14 (5)
51. Josh Douglas -- 14-11 (5)
51. Jacopo Gallelli -- 14-11 (5)
53. Michael Neal -- 14-10 (5)
53. Kyle Hall -- 14-10 (5)
55. Blake Smith -- 14-09 (5)
56. Darrel Robertson -- 14-07 (5)
57. Scott Dobson -- 14-06 (5)
57. Kevin Martin -- 14-06 (5)
59. Chad Grigsby -- 14-04 (5)
60. Jesse Wiggins -- 14-03 (5)
61. Larry Nixon -- 14-02 (5)
61. Steve York -- 14-02 (5)
61. Ryan Davidson -- 14-02 (5)
61. John Voyles -- 14-02 (5)
61. Bradford Beavers -- 14-02 (5)
66. Mike McClelland -- 14-01 (5)
66. Terry Bolton -- 14-01 (5)
66. Spencer Shuffield -- 14-01 (5)
69. Laramy Strickland -- 14-00 (5)
70. Scott Ashmore -- 13-15 (5)
71. Brian Latimer -- 13-14 (5)
71. Darrell Davis -- 13-14 (5)
73. Anthony Gagliardi -- 13-12 (5)
73. Jason Lambert -- 13-12 (5)
75. Chris Neau -- 13-11 (5)
76. Troy Morrow -- 13-10 (5)
77. Corey Neece -- 13-09 (5)
77. Joe Wieberg -- 13-09 (5)
79. Charlie Evans -- 13-08 (5)
80. Keith Poche -- 13-07 (5)
80. Tai Au -- 13-07 (5)
80. Jimmy Washam -- 13-07 (5)
83. Greg Bohannan -- 13-06 (5)
83. Clark Reehm -- 13-06 (5)
83. Cody Pike -- 13-06 (5)
86. Ramie Colson Jr -- 13-02 (5)
86. Kyle Weisenburger -- 13-02 (5)
88. Randy Despino -- 13-00 (5)
88. Joey Cifuentes -- 13-00 (5)
90. Erik Luzak -- 12-14 (5)
90. Jacob Wall -- 12-14 (5)
92. David Walker -- 12-13 (5)
92. Mark Fisher -- 12-13 (5)
92. Jared McMillan -- 12-13 (5)
95. Scott Wiley -- 12-12 (5)
95. Grant Galloway -- 12-12 (5)
95. Kyle Gelles -- 12-12 (5)
95. Billy Hines -- 12-12 (5)
99. Pete Ponds -- 12-11 (5)
100. Clayton Batts -- 12-09 (5)
100. Joshua Weaver -- 12-09 (5)
102. Colby Schrumpf -- 12-06 (5)
102. Justin O'Brian Cooper -- 12-06 (5)
104. Trevor Fitzgerald -- 12-05 (5)
104. Grae Buck -- 12-05 (5)
106. Jake Ormond -- 12-04 (5)
107. Daryl Biron -- 12-03 (5)
107. Aaron Britt -- 12-03 (5)
109. Matt Reed -- 12-02 (5)
110. Scott Towry -- 12-01 (5)
111. Rusty Trancygier -- 11-13 (5)
112. Bill McDonald -- 11-12 (5)
112. Bradley Dortch -- 11-12 (5)
114. Chris Lane -- 11-11 (5)
114. Troy Stokes -- 11-11 (5)
116. Jason Vance -- 11-10 (4)
117. Dion Hibdon -- 11-09 (5)
117. Brandon McMillan -- 11-09 (5)
119. Mike Surman -- 11-07 (5)
119. Brandon Mosley -- 11-07 (5)
119. Miles Burghoff -- 11-07 (5)
122. Kerry Milner -- 11-06 (5)
123. John Hunter -- 11-04 (5)
124. Tom Redington -- 11-03 (5)
124. Colby Miller -- 11-03 (5)
126. Shin Fukae -- 11-01 (5)
126. Ricky Robinson -- 11-01 (5)
128. Jason Lieblong -- 10-15 (5)
128. Jon Englund -- 10-15 (5)
130. Tyler Woolcott -- 10-13 (5)
131. Cal Lane -- 10-11 (5)
132. Dicky Newberry -- 10-09 (5)
132. Dylan Hays -- 10-09 (4)
132. Matt Greenblatt -- 10-09 (5)
135. Richard Lowitzki -- 10-08 (5)
135. Tyler Stewart -- 10-08 (5)
137. Kurt Dove -- 10-06 (4)
138. Casey Scanlon -- 10-04 (5)
139. Zell Rowland -- 10-01 (5)
140. J Todd Tucker -- 10-00 (3)
141. Jordan Osborne -- 9-15 (5)
142. Shannon Abbott -- 9-13 (5)
143. Randy Ramsey -- 9-12 (5)
143. Lawson Hibdon -- 9-12 (5)
145. Dakota Ebare -- 9-08 (4)
146. Jason Abram -- 9-07 (5)
147. Dave Parsons -- 9-05 (5)
148. Jim Neece Jr -- 8-11 (4)
149. Brett Hite -- 8-10 (5)
150. Robert Nakatomi -- 8-09 (5)
151. Barron Adams -- 8-05 (3)
152. Terry Luedtke -- 6-11 (3)
153. Todd Walters -- 6-10 (3)
154. Braxton Setzer -- 6-08 (4)
155. Ron Farrow -- 5-02 (2)
156. Lendell Martin Jr -- 4-14 (3)
157. Kevin Meeks -- 4-05 (2)
158. Mark Blevins -- 4-03 (2)
159. Jason Blair -- 1-05 (1)
Danny Kirk -- 0-00 (0)
Zack Birge -- 0-00 (0)
