Day 1 leader Dean Rojas wasn't looking for sympathy, and he definitely wasn't going to get any from the majority of the Bassmaster Classic field that wasn't faced with the most painful part of Rojas' Day 1 — culling.
"The hardest part of my day was when I had to cull, sticking my hand in that (livewell) water," Rojas said. "About 20 minutes after that, my hand was going numb."
Bringing the sympathy quotient for Rojas even lower was this fact: On his second and final cull of the day, he swapped a 3-pound spotted bass for a 4-pound largemouth.
That's the difference between being in first place with 21-2 and being tied with Skeet Reese for first with 20-2.