Chris Zaldain didn’t weigh the biggest bag of bass on Day 1, but nobody caught more pounds of fish than he did. Zaldain stayed in the swift tailrace waters below Wilson Dam. He recounted his catches, which included about 20 drum, a big striper, a white bass, four catfish, five smallmouth bass and three largemouth bass.
Zaldain weighed-in the five smallmouth bass. They totaled 21-2 and put him in a 4th place tie with Chad Pipkens. Zaldain is in his element – throwing a big swimbait in the midst of fish – all species of fish – that are feeding on shad coming through Wilson Dam.
“On the Tennessee River, the main forage is big shad,” Zaldain said. “I saw pelicans, sea gulls, terns diving on shad that are five and six inches long. Everything is eating up there in that area. On the Tennessee River, if it’s a gamefish, it sets up where the baitfish are coming, washing down.”
Zaldain said he’s got the area mostly to himself. His puzzle to solve yesterday was the proper cast to make with a big swimbait that would successfully imitate the path of a drifting shad.
“It’s all about the cast – T-H-E cast,” he said. “It took me all day to figure out THE cast because everything changed (since practice).”
If Zaldain dials-in THE cast today, he’ll catch more fish of all species than anyone else in this tournament again, and he might have the biggest bag of bass too.