By BassFan Staff

With conditions at Beaver Lake altered dramatically since the start of practice last weekend, several anglers spoke on the eve of competition about the need to "stumble into" quality fish during the FLW Tour event. That's pretty much what Cody Meyer did on day 1.

The Californian pulled four of his five weigh-in fish from a single offshore locale en route to a 16-01 stringer that gave him the initial lead. He'll start day 2 with a 6-ounce advantage over Christopher Brasher, who boxed 15-11.

John Cox, the reigning Forrest Wood Cup Champion who won last week's Lake Chickamauga Bassmaster Southern Open, was 3rd with 14-04. Johnny McCombs, who's back on the circuit this season after a 14-year absence, was 4th with 14-03.

Daniel Kweekul, a rookie who's yet to finish higher than 81st in his four Tour events to date, rounded out the top 5 with 13-14.

Here's a look at the early top 10, with deficit margins from the leader indicated by red numbers in parentheses:

1. Cody Meyer: 16-01
2. Christopher Brasher: 15-11 (0-05)
3. John Cox: 14-04 (1-13)
4. Johnny McCombs: 14-03 (1-14)
5. Daniel Kweekul: 13-14 (2-03)
6. Jason Reyes: 13-13 (2-04)
7. Keith Bryan: 13-05 (2-12)
8. Nick Gainey: 13-04 (2-13)
9. Bryan Thrift: 12-15 (3-02)
10. Timmy Thompkins: 12-10 (3-07)

The dominant theme of the tournament is the rapidly rising water level due to recent heavy rains in northwest Arkansas. Practice was basically useless for many in the 161-angler field as the water has come up 7 feet in less than a week and a lot of the most productive areas are inundated with mud.

Day 1 was relatively placid from a weather perspective, and more of the same is expected for day 2. More heavy thunderstorms are in the forecast for Saturday, however, and the rain is expected to continue into the final day.



FLW
Photo: FLW

Meyer caught the majority of his day-best bag from a single location.

Thrift came into the derby with a massive lead in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race, and it could be even bigger come Sunday. Three-time AOY Clark Wendlandt, a former Beaver winner, was the only competitor within 50 points of him, and he caught only three small keepers Thursday and sits in 133rd place.

The field will be reduced to the top 20 after Friday's weigh-in, and half of those anglers will be eliminated on day 3. The winner will be determined Sunday based on highest cumulative weight.

Luck Was on Meyer's Side

> Day 1: 5, 16-01

Meyer's day got off to a lackluster start, but it brightened considerably when he moved away from the bank.

"Practice was real slow for me," he said. "I was kind of disgusted with the smallmouths because it was so hard to catch a keeper – there's so many little ones this year – and I really didn't think I could do any good with them. I ended up fishing for largemouths a lot and I did even worse.

"I started on a place today and caught a few – I had one keeper smallmouth and a little (spotted bass). Then I ended up pulling up on a deep place and between me and my co-angler we caught 10, and seven were good keepers. I got really lucky, to be honest."

He added a nice largemouth from another place at the end of the day that replaced his smallest brown fish. His bag was topped by two 3 1/2-pounders and the other three were in the 3-pound class.

"I milked that one spot for all it was worth – I had to get as much weight as I could and I'll worry about tomorrow when it gets here. I've been here so many times and I know how Beaver is. I doubt I'll even get a bite there tomorrow."

FLW
Photo: FLW

Christopher Brasher had all of his weight by 9:30.

It's a place that had been moderately productive for him in past Beaver events.

"On the last day of practice I pulled up there and got one bite and said 'Okay, I'll try here.' I never had any idea that kind of quality was living there."

2nd: Brasher Loaded Up Quickly

> Day 1: 5, 15-11

Brasher started the season with an 8th-place finish at Guntersville (his first top-10 in six seasons on the circuit) and followed that up with a 17th at Travis, but bombed at both the Harris Chain and Cumberland. His day-1 showing appears to have him back on the right track.

"I didn't think I'd catch a bag that big, to tell you the truth," he said. "I thought I'd catch a few, but it's just hard to tell from practice.

"I caught four of the five from the same place, where I'd caught a 3 1/2 in practice. I got one smallmouth from another spot."

He had four of his weigh-in fish by 8:30 and added the last one at 9:15 – all came from depths ranging from 8 to 16 feet. The smallmouth and one of his largemouths both weighed close to 4 pounds.

He's confident that he can catch another solid sack on day 2.

"I've got some bed-fish that I didn't have to burn today that I think I can catch by blind-casting. I don't think I'll be able to see them because the water's come up so much.

"Then I'll try to do what I did this morning – run some memories and fish some places where I've caught some in the past."

3rd: Cox Scored From 2 Beds

> Day 1: 4, 14-04

Cox's sack was one fish short of a limit, but contained some good quality. All of it came from two beds in the same vicinity.

"I just found those fish today and it took me at least an hour to catch each one," he said. "The first bed was really deep – like five to six feet – and the other one was a place that was dry land during practice. Those were the only ones I found."

His stringer contained a 4-pounder.

FLW
Photo: FLW

John Cox compiled all of his weight from two beds.

"I have no idea what I can catch tomorrow – I'll run some new stuff and see what happens. There's only going to be one more day with the chance of catching any off beds.

"I really don't know what I'm going to do because I don't really have any spots. The places I've caught them on in the past are in six or seven feet of water. I'll just have to look for new stuff."

9th: Thrift Slowed Down

> Day 1: 5, 12-15

Thrift, who's finished among the top 12 in each of the season's first four events, employed his usual style – bouncing around from place to place and catching a quality fish here and there throughout the day.

"I was pleasantly surprised by what I caught," he said. "I didn't really change much from practice, but I made myself fish slower."

He stayed close to the bank and went through 10 keepers, none of which reached the 3-pound mark. He weighed in two largemouths, two smallmouths and a spot.

He figures he hit at least two dozen places.

"I'm just running everywhere I've ever had a bite on Beaver Lake and hoping to get another one."

133rd: Wendlandt Mired in Mud

> Day 1: 3, 4-07

The massive amount of mud coming down the White River foiled Wendlandt's plans.

"I had a good practice, but I was kind of banking on the stuff upriver," he said. "Today it was up three feet from Tuesday and it was just rolling, red mud. It looked like a paved parking lot.

"I ended up catching those three I had and then I came back down and tried to run another pattern, but it didn't work. I'm just going to wing it tomorrow – I'm re-tying everything and I'm going to sleep on it. I don't even know which direction I'll go tomorrow, I'll just go fish."

Notable

> Day 1 stats: 161 anglers, 86 limits, 35 fours, 12 threes, 11 twos, 12 ones, 5 zeroes.

Weather Forecast

> Fri., April 28 – Mostly Cloudy – 72°/61°
- Wind: From the S at 15 mph

> Sat., April 29 – Heavy Thunderstorms – 69°/52°
- Wind: From the ESE at 17 mph

> Sun., April 30 – A.M. Showers – 54°/42°
- Wind: From the SW at 18 mph

Day 1 Standings

1. Cody Meyer -- Auburn, Ca -- 16-1 (5)

2. Christopher Brasher -- Longview, Tx -- 15-11 (5)

3. John Cox -- Debary, Fl -- 14-4 (4)

4. Johnny McCombs -- Morris, Al -- 14-3 (5)

5. Daniel Kweekul -- Bryant, Ar -- 13-14 (5)

6. Jason Reyes -- Huffman, Tx -- 13-13 (5)

7. Keith Bryan -- Novato, Ca -- 13-5 (5)

8. Nick Gainey -- Charleston, SC -- 13-4 (5)

9. Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, NC -- 12-15 (5)

10. Timmy Thompkins -- Myrtle Beach, SC -- 12-10 (4)

11. Wesley Strader -- Spring City, Tn -- 12-9 (4)

12. James Watson -- Lampe, Mo -- 12-8 (5)

13. Brandon Cobb -- Greenwood, SC -- 12-7 (5)

14. Brandon McMillan -- Clewiston, Fl -- 12-2 (5)

15. Jeff Dobson -- Bartlesville, Ok -- 11-13 (5)

16. Zack Birge -- Blanchard, Ok -- 11-13 (5)

17. Joey Cifuentes -- Clinton, Ar -- 11-12 (5)

18. Joseph Webster -- Fulton, Ms -- 11-12 (5)

19. Billy McCaghren -- Mayflower, Ar -- 11-9 (5)

20. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 11-9 (5)

21. Casey Scanlon -- Lenexa, Ks -- 11-8 (5)

22. JT Kenney -- Palm Bay, Fl -- 11-7 (5)

23. Bradley Dortch -- Atmore, Al -- 11-6 (5)

24. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, Tn -- 11-5 (5)

25. Larry Nixon -- Bee Branch, Ar -- 11-4 (5)

26. Jimmy Brewer -- Marshall, Tx -- 11-1 (5)

27. Drew Montgomery -- Maiden, NC -- 11-0 (5)

28. Darrel Robertson -- Jay, Ok -- 11-0 (5)

29. Kurt Mitchell -- Milford, De -- 10-13 (5)

30. Shinichi Fukae -- Palestine, Tx -- 10-11 (5)

31. Matthew Stefan -- Junction City, Wi -- 10-10 (5)

32. Joe Holland -- Jefferson, Me -- 10-9 (5)

33. Greg Bohannan -- Bentonville, Ar -- 10-8 (5)

34. Peter Thliveros -- Saint Augustine, Fl -- 10-5 (5)

35. Brad Knight -- Lancing, Tn -- 10-4 (5)

36. Jeff Gustafson -- Keewatin, On -- 10-1 (5)

37. Jeff Sprague -- Point, Tx -- 10-0 (5)

38. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 10-0 (5)

39. Ron Farrow -- Rock Hill, SC -- 9-15 (5)

40. Braxton Setzer -- Montgomery, Al -- 9-15 (5)

41. Mark Rose -- West Memphis, Ar -- 9-15 (5)

42. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, Md -- 9-15 (5)

43. Dean Alexander -- Georgetown, Tx -- 9-15 (5)

44. Chris McCall -- Palmer, Tx -- 9-11 (5)

45. Rex Huff -- Corbin, Ky -- 9-11 (5)

46. Joshua Weaver -- Macon, Ga -- 9-10 (5)

47. Anthony Gagliardi -- Prosperity, SC -- 9-10 (5)

48. Lendell Martin Jr -- Nacogdoches, Tx -- 9-9 (5)

49. Randy Blaukat -- Joplin, Mo -- 9-9 (5)

50. Matt Greenblatt -- Port St Lucie, Fl -- 9-9 (5)

51. Charlie Evans -- Berea, Ky -- 9-9 (5)

52. Terry Bolton -- Paducah, Ky -- 9-7 (5)

53. Shawn Murphy -- Nicholasville, Ky -- 9-7 (5)

54. Jamie Horton -- Centerville, Al -- 9-6 (5)

55. Scott Canterbury -- Odenville, Al -- 9-5 (5)

56. Clark Reehm -- Huntington, Tx -- 9-4 (4)

57. Jamey Caldwell -- Carthage, NC -- 9-4 (5)

58. Carl Jocumsen -- Frisco, Tx -- 9-2 (5)

59. John Devere -- Berea, Ky -- 9-2 (2)

60. Grae Buck -- Harleysville, Pa -- 9-0 (5)

61. Pete Ponds -- Madison, Ms -- 8-15 (5)

62. Michael Wooley -- Collierville, Tn -- 8-15 (5)

63. Bob Morin -- Seymour, Tn -- 8-14 (4)

64. Tracy Adams -- Wilkesboro, NC -- 8-14 (5)

65. Billy Hines -- Vacaville, Ca -- 8-14 (5)

66. Curtis Richardson -- Belleville, On -- 8-12 (4)

67. Jason Abram -- Piney Flats, Tn -- 8-12 (4)

68. Jim Moynagh -- Carver, Mn -- 8-11 (4)

69. John Voyles -- Petersburg, In -- 8-11 (5)

70. Dan Morehead -- Paducah, Ky -- 8-11 (4)

71. Jason Johnson -- Gainesville, Ga -- 8-10 (5)

72. Jim Tutt -- Longview, Tx -- 8-10 (5)

73. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 8-10 (5)

74. Rob Kilby -- Hot Springs, Ar -- 8-9 (5)

75. Bill Day -- Frankfort, Ky -- 8-8 (5)

76. Rodney Thomason -- Maumelle, Ar -- 8-8 (4)

77. Dennis Tietje -- Roanoke, La -- 8-6 (5)

78. Kyle Weisenburger -- Ottawa, Oh -- 8-6 (5)

79. Troy Morrow -- Eastanollee, Ga -- 8-6 (5)

80. Mike Surman -- Boca Raton, Fl -- 8-5 (4)

81. Alex Davis -- Albertville, Al -- 8-3 (5)

82. Cory Johnston -- Cavan, On -- 8-3 (5)

83. Matt Reed -- Madisonville, Tx -- 8-3 (5)

84. Andy Young -- Mound, Mn -- 8-0 (4)

85. Aaron Britt -- Yuba City, Ca -- 8-0 (5)

86. Shane Lehew -- Catawba, NC -- 7-15 (5)

87. Gary Yamamoto -- Palestine, Tx -- 7-13 (5)

88. Blake Nick -- Trussville, Al -- 7-4 (4)

89. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, Mn -- 7-2 (4)

90. Tom Redington -- Royse City, Tx -- 7-2 (4)

91. Chad Warren -- Sand Springs, Ok -- 6-14 (4)

92. Justin Atkins -- Florence, Al -- 6-12 (5)

93. Wade Curtiss -- Meadow Vista, Ca -- 6-11 (5)

94. Jason Meninger -- Gainesville, Ga -- 6-11 (4)

95. Kerry Milner -- Bono, Ar -- 6-10 (3)

96. Tim Frederick -- Leesburg, Fl -- 6-10 (5)

97. Kyle Cortiana -- Broken Arrow, Ok -- 6-8 (5)

98. Jay Yelas -- Lincoln City, Or -- 6-8 (5)

99. Jay Kendrick -- Grant, Al -- 6-6 (4)

100. Todd Hollowell -- Fishers, In -- 6-5 (5)

101. Buddy Gross -- Chickamauga, Ga -- 6-4 (5)

102. Jimmy Reese -- Witter Springs, Ca -- 6-4 (5)

103. Cody Bird -- Granbury, Tx -- 6-2 (5)

104. Scott Ashmore -- Broken Arrow, Ok -- 6-0 (3)

105. Chris Johnston -- Peterborough, On -- 6-0 (4)

106. Andrew Upshaw -- Tulsa, Ok -- 6-0 (4)

107. Derrick Blake -- Rockwood, Tn -- 5-15 (4)

108. Clayton Batts -- Macon, Ga -- 5-14 (4)

109. Kurt Dove -- Del Rio, Tx -- 5-11 (4)

110. Jim Dillard -- West Monroe, La -- 5-8 (4)

111. Josh Douglas -- Mound, Mn -- 5-8 (2)

112. Jeff Cannon -- Douglasville, Ga -- 5-8 (4)

113. Brian Latimer -- Belton, SC -- 5-7 (5)

114. Bradley Hallman -- Norman, Ok -- 5-6 (3)

115. Scott Wiley -- Bay Minette, Al -- 5-6 (4)

116. Tom Monsoor -- La Crosse, Wi -- 5-6 (4)

117. Ramie Colson Jr -- Cadiz, Ky -- 5-5 (4)

118. Rusty Trancygier -- Hahira, Ga -- 5-4 (4)

119. Jordan Osborne -- Longview, Tx -- 5-4 (4)

120. Mark Fisher -- Wauconda, Il -- 5-4 (5)

121. Cody Kelley -- Conway, Ar -- 5-0 (3)

122. Jeremy Lawyer -- Sarcoxie, Mo -- 5-0 (4)

123. Scott Suggs -- Alexander, Ar -- 4-15 (4)

124. Michael Neal -- Dayton, Tn -- 4-15 (3)

125. Richard Lowitzki -- Hampshire, Il -- 4-15 (2)

126. Chris Gosselaar -- Fresno, Ca -- 4-15 (3)

127. Evan Barnes -- Hot Springs, Ar -- 4-13 (2)

128. Michael McCoy -- Mentor On The Lake, Oh -- 4-12 (3)

129. Jim Moulton -- Merced, Ca -- 4-12 (4)

130. Chris Whitson -- Louisville, Tn -- 4-11 (4)

131. Blake Smith -- Lakeland, Fl -- 4-10 (3)

132. Chad Randles -- Elkhorn, Ne -- 4-10 (3)

133. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, Tx -- 4-7 (3)

134. Bill Hutchison -- Bessemer, Al -- 4-6 (2)

135. Brandon Mosley -- Choctaw, Ok -- 4-1 (3)

136. Alvin Shaw -- Roaring Gap, NC -- 3-13 (2)

137. Jonathan Henry -- Grant, Al -- 3-12 (3)

138. William Shelton III -- La Crosse, Va -- 3-11 (2)

139. Todd Auten -- Lake Wylie, SC -- 3-9 (3)

140. Peter Cherkas -- Des Moines, Ia -- 3-9 (2)

141. Eric Jackson -- Walling, Tn -- 3-9 (2)

142. Jim Jones -- Big Bend, Wi -- 3-5 (2)

143. Jason Lambert -- Michie, Tn -- 2-15 (3)

144. Stephen Patek -- Garland, Tx -- 2-11 (1)

145. Kenneth (Boo) Woods -- London, Ky -- 2-11 (2)

146. Luke Dunkin -- Lawrenceburg, Tn -- 2-9 (1)

147. Zell Rowland -- Montgomery, Tx -- 2-7 (1)

148. Robert Behrle -- Hoover, Al -- 2-6 (1)

149. Brandon Medlock -- Lake Placid, Fl -- 2-4 (1)

150. Chris Neau -- New Orleans, La -- 2-4 (1)

151. Chase Brooks -- Iraan, Tx -- 2-3 (1)

152. Dylan Hays -- Sheridan, Ar -- 1-10 (1)

153. Barry Wilson -- Birmingham, Al -- 1-5 (1)

154. Robert Pearson -- Herndon, Va -- 1-0 (1)

155. Bill McDonald -- Greenwood, In -- 0-15 (1)

156. Harry Moore -- Valley, Al -- 0-14 (1)

157. Jimmy Houston -- Cookson, Ok -- 0-0 (0)

157. Daryl Biron -- South Windsor, Ct -- 0-0 (0)

157. Matt Wittekiend -- Angleton, Tx -- 0-0 (0)

157. Powell Kemp -- Scotland Neck, NC -- 0-0 (0)

157. David Smith -- Del City, Ok -- 0-0 (0)

Big Bass

> Day 1: John Devere -- 6-04 -- $500