Terry Scroggins, who has about four decades of experience on the St. Johns River, was the near-unanimous pre-tournament pick to win here. So it was a bit of a surprise to see Scroggins in 37th place with 16-14 at the end of Day 1. However, Scroggins wasn’t discouraged overall, just disappointed in a big one that got away.
“I caught that (16-14) pretty early, then I went sight-fishing,” Scroggins said. “I fished for a big one for about two hours, finally got her to bite and lost her.”
He estimated the weight of the miss at 7 1/2 to 8 pounds.
“If I’d caught that fish, I’d be close to leading the tournament,” Scroggins said. “I’m on the right stuff.”
Scroggins is backing up his words today. BASSTrakk shows him with the biggest bag of the day so far – 17 1/2 pounds, which has him currently in third place.