Hank Cherry caught only three bass on Day 1, but one of them weighed 8 pounds and an ounce. It was the bulk of his 13-3 total that day, which put him in 16th place. The defending Bassmaster Classic champion fished other spots yesterday morning, then made one of those decisions that tournament anglers dream about.
“I ran down to where I caught ‘em (Thursday) not knowing what was going to happen,” he said. “I went to the two beds I’d caught them off of yesterday and there was nothing. I’d seen one more (Thursday) around the next dock, so I thought I’d go take a look. And there were two of this bed, two on that one, one over there and one over there.”
Cherry said he caught both fish on the two beds that had pairs on them, caught one off another bed, came back and there were two more bass on each of those beds. He weighed 17-1, which put him in 17th place.
“That all happened in a matter of 40 minutes,” Cherry said. “I never saw another boat in that canal. It’s not a typical spawning place. It surprised the heck out of me. That 8-pounder came from there. And one that was almost 6 came from there.”
Apparently, it’s continuing to replenish, as Cherry is reported to have over 20 pounds today, which would put him in the top 5 when his BassTrakk updates.