Severe Weather Hits
Jones Catches 17-12 Alone, Omori Bags 17-08 In Crowd

Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito Alton Jones said he practiced for the stable conditions the field experienced this morning, and that made a huge difference.

Also, severe weather descended upon the area late in the afternoon and produced some of the strongest winds and rains ever encountered in a tour-level event.

The field still caught a ton of fish. Weights were slightly better than expected and only three of the 100 pros failed to weigh a limit.

In front after 1 day of fishing is Alton Jones. Earlier this season, Jones told BassFans that Angler of the Year (AOY) had always been a goal of his, but it was a true focus for him this season. He entered the event at 2nd in the BASS AOY race, and aided his quest significantly with a 17-12 limit that included the day's big bass (a 7-pounder).

Especially notable about Jones is he's fishing relatively alone, while 60% to 70% of the field is jammed inside three creeks down by the dam.

Right behind Jones is Takahiro Omori with 17-08, who benefited from a brief flurry just before the severe weather rolled in.

Next comes Mike Iaconelli, who appears to have made the predicted turnaround after his near-last-place disaster last week at Dardanelle that dropped him from 6th to 46th in the AOY race. Ike boxed 17-01 and trailed Jones by 11 ounces.

In 4th is Rick Morris, who seems to thrive anytime the water's dirty and the current's whirling. His 16-13 limit puts him 15 ounces in back of Jones.

In 5th is Randy Howell with 16-06, who like Omori benefited from a flurry. Howell's whacking, however, took place in heavy current.

Here's a look at the Top 12 after day 1. Total weight is followed by distance from leader in red.

1. Alton Jones: 17-12
2. Takahiro Omori: 17-08 (0-04)
3. Mike Iaconelli: 17-01 (0-11)
4. Rick Morris: 16-13 (0-15)
5. Randy Howell: 16-06 (1-06)
6. Tommy Biffle: 16-02 (1-10)
7. Mark Menendez: 16-01 (1-11)
8. Skeet Reese: 15-10 (2-02)
9. Jason Williamson: 15-07 (2-05)
10. Timmy Horton: 15-02 (2-10)
10. Ish Monroe: 15-02 (2-10)
12. Todd Faircloth: 14-15 (2-13)

A little less than 3 pounds separates 12th from 5th, so the weights are close.

Tomorrow's weather is expected to be partly cloudy and seasonable, with west winds to 16 mph. However, the heavy rains here today will almost certainly push the lake level up overnight, which should flood shallow cover and keep the heavy current flowing.

While good weight is coming from current-driven areas, the pocket-bite could turn on tomorrow if fish move up into the inundated cover, which would seem to favor the flippers like Tommy Biffle, or the proficient ChatterBaiters like Morris.

Although no one expects a full-on spawn this week, fish are moving up throughout the day – evidenced by several pros who noted they caught fish from the same cover element at different times throughout the day.

Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito Takahiro Omori ho-hummed his way through the morning, but whacked good fish right before the storm, then had to take shelter under a tree.

Jones took the same tack this week as he did at Amistad – another event that experienced severe weather swings. He practiced for the coming weather at Amistad and scored a 2nd-place finish. He did the same thing here and leads after day 1 with 17-12.

As noted, he's not with the crowds – he's doing something off by himself, which gives him "free rein" to move around and adjust, he said. And he noted that could be the difference-maker this week, since conditions will be radically different tomorrow, and probably again either on day 3 or 4 when another set of storms moves in.

"I'm actually amazed I'm leading the tournament," he said. "My practice really wasn't that stellar, but I kind of fished a risky practice. I didn't really practice for what the fish were doing, but for what I thought they'd be doing if the weather stabilized a little bit. It paid off."

The weather, of course, de-stabilized this afternoon, but by then Jones was a-okay. He caught four of his weigh-fish from a single spot, including a 7- and 4-pounder within 15 minutes of each other.

"This is just going to be a great tournament," he added. "With the storm, I imagine the lake will probably be up tomorrow. The conditions are changing to fast that whoever's going to win will have to change with the fish every single step of the way.

"I had really hoped, starting out, that it was going to be a high-water tournament, so I was kind of disappointed at first. Of course, after today, I kind of feel like more stable conditions would benefit me. But the thing I like is nobody gets to practice for this. You have to take it as it comes."

2nd: Omori and the Pre-Frontal Flurry

The storm front was both a blessing and a curse for Omori. He had a ho-hum bag until the storm approached, then got to whacking them. He wasn't doing anything differently, he said - the weather just triggered the bite.

Then came the bad. Because of the lightning, he sought shelter under a tree for a half-hour.

"I caught them just right before the storm, so I feel real fortunate," he said. "I didn't have that kind of fish found in practice, (but) my biggest fish today was 6-09. Somehow I need bad weather to get those quality bites."

He's fishing with the crowds in the dam end and said he's using "a fast-moving bait" and "fishing a lot of places with a lot of boats in them."

"I don't have anything special like a spot or anything – I'm around everybody," he added.

Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito The difference-maker in Mike Iaconelli's bag was a 6 1/2-pounder.

After last week's Dardanelle debacle, Ike said he "needed" a day like this. "I really needed it," he added.

His practice here wasn't very good, so today went a lot better than he expected. His bag included a 6-09 and a 3-pounder.

"Those types of bites out here really help," he said. "What you have going on right now is a lot of small fish – just 12- and 13-inchers. You really need to be able to get that better caliber in this tournament."

He's not fishing within the crowds – he's doing "something a little different" – but did see boats on and off today. Basically he's running banks. If he sees something that looks good without a boat on it, he stops and fishes. He described it as "sort of junk-fishing," and did disclose that he caught his two best fish on a LaserLure.

For tomorrow, he just wants one or two more key bites. "But tomorrow's going to be a different day. Tomorrow's going to be a post-frontal, bluebird day, and the wind will actually shift to a totally different direction. I'll probably have to change a little and stay alert. I'm pretty excited."

5th: Howell Connected Late In Current

Howell spent nearly his whole day fishing the dam-crowd madness. He eventually left with about 12 pounds in his box and began to battle the winds back toward launch. As he rounded a bluff he saw the current "ripping" by and decided to crank a practice spot where he'd connected with quality smallmouths.

"I pulled up there and caught a 3 3/4-pound smallmouth," he said. "Then something happened that was a real blessing. I fished the area for 10 or 15 more minutes, left, and came back to it a little later. When I pulled back up I caught a 3 3/4-pound largemouth, a 3-pound largemouth and a 2 3/4-pound largemouth."

Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito Randy Howell's 16-06 included three different species of black bass.

"Without catching a big one, that's about as good as you can get here," he added. "I wasn't pleased at all with how my day was going for the most part – all I could catch was real small ones – but I'm real pleased with the way it ended up. I'm very thankful and satisfied."

Tomorrow he plans to focus more on current. With the deluge of rain late this afternoon and tonight, he expects the current to be "ripping again tomorrow. And hopefully the water will come back up more. That can really change stuff around if the water comes back up and the current's running."

24th: Griffin Dumped Helpers

Rookie Chad Griffin has cashed one of two checks so far and sits at 42nd in the points. He caught 13-09 today and is just 1-04 off the Top-12 pace. It could have been a whole lot better day though.

"I feel good about it, but I could have had 16 pounds," he said. "I swung two fish off that were 2 1/2 to 3 pounds. I weighed two little fish that were barely a pound apiece. I'm on some pretty good fish, but I'm fishing around a lot of boats.

"I've been throwing a 7/16-ounce EZ jig in the Brazos craw color – it's a football head," he added. "I'm in the back of a creek fishing for staging fish. There were probably 30 boats in that creek with me. I just slowed down and fished some stuff that everybody else isn't fishing."

41st: Browning Ready for Another 'Grind'

Stephen Browning came into the event at 3rd in the AOY points. He didn't exactly shine today, but caught an average sack (11-11) that puts him in position to play catch-up tomorrow and perhaps retain his Top-10 points standing.

"It was about what I expected," he said of his day. "I caught a lot if fish and had to weed through them to get those 2s and 2 1/2s. It was one of those days where you stick your head down and if you get a good bite you definitely have to take advantage of the opportunity. I haven't had a good bite since I've been here, so I think it's all in my favor to catch a big one tomorrow."

He spent his day within the crowds near the dam. He plans to fish a few different areas tomorrow, but continue to fish the way he's fishing, because he thinks "it's the right way to fish to get a big bite."

54th: Fulks Ditched Docks

Rookie Vince Fulks from Oklahoma took a his lumps the first two events and has yet to cash a check, but with 11-03 today he's right around the 50th-place final money spot.

"I missed a couple of fish – one for sure that would have helped me – but other than that I fished pretty clean," he said. "And I caught a 3 1/2 in an area that I wasn't expecting. I was able to fish the wind with a Power-Pole – that allowed me to slow down and nitpick away at places."

In practice, his best bite had been in the mornings on docks. But his docks were pretty much a bust today, and his day didn't "kick off" until about 12:30, when he caught five keepers in a row.

"The lake looked like it came up 6 inches in the lower end where I was at," he noted. "I don't know if that moved my dock fish or not. But they repositioned and everything went real shallow. I finally made that adjustment, but it took until 12:30."

68th: Jordon Found Mud

Kelly Jordon's one of the many anglers mired in the 10-pound range, but could easily climb back up with one or two big bites tomorrow.

He's not sure what happened overnight, but his best spot was blown out this morning.

"I ran to some stuff where I was managing to get bigger bites the first 2 days of practice," he said. "One of them had muddied up – I guess with the water they were pulling, the muddy water came back up in there, but I don't know.

"So I ran to my other area where I figured I could get 12 to 14 pounds real quick flipping, and never caught one in an hour and half. I went to my fallback stuff at about 1:00 and caught a bazillion fish. I ended up with a 3, a 2 1/2 and a bunch of rats. It changed up big time and it's a crazy deal – I don't know why the bigger fish aren't biting well. It blows my mind."

The Storm

Here's what some of the pros had to say about the storm and heavy winds: