The constant refrain during the Day 1 weigh-in at the St. Johns River concerned time, and a lack thereof. The fog delay, which sent the anglers out at 10:15 a.m. instead of 7:00 a.m. Thursday, was the main reason cited for the mixed bag of a weigh-in: two bags over 22 pounds, 54 five-bass limits among 99 anglers and a big bass of 9 1/2 pounds.
But optimism abounds. Once the fog burned off, blue skies and 80-degree temperatures sparked some big fish catches and should further propel a bass spawning run to the shallows. Gary Clouse’s first-place bag of 25-12 included three 5-pound-plus bass and all five fish he weighed-in were caught between 12:15 p.m. and 2:37 p.m. Derek Hudnall’s second-place limit of 22-5 included the 9-8 big bass of the day, which was caught at 1:59 p.m.
The afternoon big bass catches didn’t end there. Hank Cherry landed an 8-1 at 12:39 p.m., and Greg DiPalma caught a 7-11 at 1:59. There’s a new moon tonight and nighttime temperatures aren’t predicted to fall below 60 degrees the remainder of the week. With some full days to fish, there are certain to be fireworks over the next three days of the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at the St. Johns River.