There aren't too many lakes that Gary Yamamoto hasn't visited in his long career, but he'd never been to Alabama's Neely Henry prior to this week. He sure acted like he was right at home on day 1 of the final PAA Tournament Series event of 2011.
The venerable angler and bait manufacturer busted a 15.73-pound sack to put himself more than a pound and a half ahead of everyone else in the 58-angler field. Only Steve Kennedy, who bagged 14.20, was within 3 1/2 pounds of Yamamoto's opening mark.
The weights tightened up considerably from there. Brian Snowden was 3rd with 11.89 and Takahiro Omori, who's Yamamoto's travel partner for this event, was 4th with 11.83.
In 5th was Todd Auten, who took a big step toward wrapping up the Angler of the Year (AOY) title with 11.72. Auten came in as the points leader and his two closest pursuers (defending AOY Tommy Biffle and Mike McClelland) are in 24th and 26th, respectively, with stringers that weighed less than 9 pounds.
Here's a look at the bottom half of the Top 10:
6. Randy Howell -- 5, 11.61
7. Terry Butcher -- 5, 11.17
8. Mike DelVisco -- 5, 11.15
9. Adam Brown -- 5, 10.97
10. Douglas Jones -- 5, 10.69
It was a typical summer day in the Gadsden, Ala. area as air temperatures climbed into the 90s. That may have toughened up the bite somewhat, considering that the 3 practice days were quite a bit cooler.
Less than a third of the field (16 anglers) managed to surpass the 10-pound barrier. The 20th-place cut position is 9.66, and weights are almost sure to be at least slightly lower tomorrow.
Friday's forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with a high temperature of 95 and a slight breeze out of the west/southwest to 5 mph.
Yamamoto Keeps Quiet
> Day 1; 5, 15.73
Not only did Yamamoto arrive with no past experience on the lake, he also had a lackluster practice. He did get a couple of good bites on the first day, though, so he stuck with that tactic (which he declined to reveal) on day 1.
Big days at Neely Henry are nothing new for Steve Kennedy.
"I just fished my strengths and it seemed to work out just fine," he said. "I caught a lot of fish, so I feel pretty good that I can at least catch a decent limit tomorrow."
His bag contained all largemouths, each just slightly over or under 3 pounds. He said he didn't lose any that would've helped him.
"I pretty much stayed in one area, and I was all by myself most of the time."
2nd: Familiar Waters for Kennedy
> Day 1: 5, 14.20
Kennedy won two BFL Super Tournaments at Neely Henry about a decade ago and returned to the same area that produced those triumphs today. It's far back in a creek arm and he accessed it with an aluminum boat.
"I only practiced on Monday – I went and checked on the spot to see if (the fish) were there. I got two or three good bites and that was all I needed to see. It's not a real secret place and there's potential to get a big boat in there, but it takes a long time to get to."
His bag consisted of four spotted bass in the 2 1/4- to 2 1/2-pound range and a largemouth that pushed 5 pounds.
"Once I got far enough back in there, I started getting bit and it was fun. Those fish were super-aggressive – I had them trying to eat the blades on a spinnerbait.
"Then coming back out I needed one big one, so I threw a swimbait for about 30 minutes and that (5-pounder) choked it."
He doesn't plan to make any changes for day 2.
"It's not a big area and it has to last for 3 days, but I'm confident I can get 8 or 10 pounds. I cranked up and left at 10:20 today, but I won't quit tomorrow unless I've got at least 12."
4th: Omori Feels Fortunate
> Day 1: 5, 11.83
Omori said he got somewhat lucky to be among the day-1 leaders.
Takahiro Omori got only five keeper bites and filled out his limit in the day's final minutes.
"I had a really tough practice and I didn't expect it to be this good for me," he said. "I got my first bite at 9:30 and I didn't get my last one until 5 minutes before I came in. I only caught five keepers all day.
"I only had two fish at 1:00, but then the water started moving and I caught three more.
His stringer consisted of two fish that pushed 4 pounds each, along with three that were barely legal. All were largemouths.
"It wasn't easy – I just caught one here and one there. I'm real happy with what I had today but I don't know what I can catch tomorrow."
5th: Auten Junk-Fishing
> Day 1: 5, 11.72
Auten, who competed all 4 days at the Forrest Wood Cup en route to a 6th-place finish and thus got only a day and a half of practice for this event, was forced to rely on his junk-fishing skills.
"It just kind of suits my style – just fishing shallow," he said. "I got a few bites on the second practice day and then quite a few more on the third day, and I just found a couple other areas that were holding some fish. That gave me a little more confidence."
He had a limit by 8:00 and culled up throughout the day. He went through about 12 keepers.
"The two biggest fish I had were spots, but all of them were about the same. I kind of think I know what to look for now, but it doesn't always work. I know there's some bigger fish around."
7th: Butcher could've Gone Bigger
> Day 1: 5, 11.17
Butcher landed high on the leaderboard, but said he would've been at the very top had he not lost three big fish (a 5-pounder and a pair of 3s).
"I could've had a real big bag," he said. "It was a frustrating day. I'm happy to be where I'm at, but golly, I could've been out front. It's probably the worst day of tournament fishing I've had as far as execution."
Todd Auten's solid bag moved up one step closer to the Angler of the Year title.
He said the biggest one he lost broke the hook on his bait. One of the 3s pulled downward to free itself and the other came to the surface, shook its head and spit the hook.
Despite all that, his bag still contained a couple of good ones – a 4 3/4 and a 3.
"I'm not getting a lot of bites but when I do get one, for the most part, it's a decent one. I'm looking forward to some better execution tomorrow."
42nd: Grigsby couldn't Capitalize
> Day 1: 5, 7.37
Grigsby said he had a solid practice, but suffered from the same execution issues that hindered Butcher.
"I was catching plenty of decent fish (in practice), to the point that I thought I could get 10 to 12 pounds today," he said. "I got three good bites, but unfortunately two of them came unbuttoned.
"It was a lot warmer today than it was the last three mornings and the fish didn't seem to be as frisky or aggressive. Tomorrow I'll go to an entirely different area that I chose not to go to today, and I'm hoping I won't be stepping on anyone's toes. I'll have to wait and find out."
Notable
> Brian Snowden (3rd, 11.89) didn't have high expectations, but caught a couple of good fish right away this morning. "The first one I caught was a 2-pounder and the second was a 3 1/2, and that got my day going pretty good," he said. "Nine or 10 pounds was what I realistically thought I could catch."
> Guy Eaker caught a small limit, but lost all of his weight because he was 8 minutes late in arriving back at the launch (the penalty is a pound per minute). PAA communications director Alan Clemons said Eaker's tardiness was due to him mistakenly thinking he had a later check-in time.
Day 1 Standings
1. Gary Yamamoto -- 5, 15.73
2. Steve Kennedy -- 5, 14.20
3. Brian Snowden -- 5, 11.89
4. Takahiro Omori -- 5, 11.83
5. Todd Auten -- 5, 11.72
6. Randy Howell -- 5, 11.61
7. Terry Butcher -- 5, 11.17
8. Mike DelVisco -- 5, 11.15
9. Adam Brown -- 5, 10.97
10. Douglas Jones -- 5, 10.69
11. Mark Menendez -- 5, 10.60
12. Chad Morgenthaler -- 5, 10.44
13. Randy Qualls -- 5, 10.38
14. James Watson -- 5, 10.20
15. Joey Nania -- 5, 10.12
16. Gary Clouse -- 5, 10.07
17. Cody Bird -- 5, 9.88
18. Russ Lane -- 5, 9.81
19. Derek Remitz -- 5, 9.71
20. Jake Dixon -- 5, 9.66
21. Doc Seger -- 5, 9.65
22. Lance Vick -- 5, 9.60
23. Brian Travis -- 5, 9.10
24. Tommy Biffle -- 5, 8.95
25. Greg Hackney -- 5, 8.69
26. Mike McClelland -- 5, 8.55
27. Terry Tucker -- 5, 8.40
28. Greg Vinson -- 5, 8.37
29. Troy Morrow -- 5, 8.30
30. Dave Mansue -- 5, 8.29
31. Matt Reed -- 5, 8.22
32. Duke Jenkel -- 5, 8.17
33. Steve Wisdom -- 5, 8.17
34. Harold Allen -- 5, 8.09
36. Kelly Power -- 4, 8.09
36. Bo Cross -- 5, 7.99
36. John Crews -- 5, 7.99
38. Clifford Pirch -- 5, 7.82
39. Justin Rackley -- 5, 7.70
40. Scott Canterbury -- 5, 7.51
41. Kent Cella -- 5, 7.47
42. Shaw Grigsby -- 5, 7.37
43. Tommy Martin -- 5, 7.19
44. Paul Marks -- 5, 7.07
45. Jonathan Black -- 5, 7.03
46. Shane Long -- 3, 7.01
47. Chris Brasher -- 5, 6.67
48. Chris Jackson -- 5, 6.65
49. Bradley Hallman -- 5, 6.48
50. Patrick Pierce -- 5, 6.44
51. Charlie Ingram -- 4, 6.15
52. David Hendrick -- 4, 5.74
53. Jonathan Collins -- 3, 5.46
54. David Nichol -- 5, 5.31
55. Craig Dowling -- 2, 4.53
56. Jeff Hager -- 1, 1.25
57. Guy Eaker -- 5, 0-00
58. Bobby Collums -- 0, 0-00
