Last week, Hank Cherry offered road roommate Brock Mosley some of his magic grubs.
Mosley, who has appeared in five Bassmaster Classics and won an Elite event on the Sabine River in 2023, declined, but still managed to finish a more-than-respectable 28th by staying in his lane.
“Sometimes Hank does stuff that only Hank can do,” he reflected onstage today.
Nevertheless, there are seemingly some things that Mississippian Mosley understands uniquely, too, as he finds himself atop the leaderboard after Day 1 at Lake Martin. His 15 pounds 7 ounces is head and shoulders above most of the field, who complained of an endless parade of pound to pound-and-a-half bass.
But is it safe? Not at all, unless he’s doing something a little bit off the wall, like his friend was last week. Time will tell. There are still hundreds of line-burners to be tempted, landed, measured and possibly weighed in.
In the interim, here’s what I saw, heard, thought and speculated on a day when the term “grind” was heard less than complaints about raw thumbs:
Teen Wolf – Last week at Guntersville, a 20-pound bag was the mark of greatness, but on Martin’s sliding scale we have to lower our expectations. Only three anglers had over 13 pounds today. They are kings among men, at least for one day. Recall that in 2018 Cliff Prince had 19-13 on Day 1 here before adding just 4-5 on Day 2 and 6-7 on Day 3. He finished 46th.
Emil Wagner (19th, 11-1) — “Ounces are literally everything out here.”
It Goes to Eleven – Twenty-two anglers weighed in 11 pounds or more today, but they shouldn’t assume that their spots on Saturday are secure. Nine pounds, just a bite away, is good for 80th place.
Cut Weight Math – In some respects, there is no 50th place weight today as three anglers – Tucker Smith, Jake Whitaker and Tyler Williams – are tied for 49th with 10-1. That puts them exactly 1 pound behind another three-way tie for 19th, and 30 places ahead of Hall of Famer Mike Iaconelli, in 79th, who weighed in 9-1.
McKinney Doubles Down on Nines – Trey McKinney had one top ten finish in the first two events of each of his first two Elite seasons. He narrowly missed making it two-for-two in his rookie season of 2024 by ending up a more-than-respectable 12th at Toledo Bend before winning at Lake Fork. Now he has a chance to make up for unfinished business: McKinney was 9th last week at Guntersville and is 9th again after Day 1 at Martin.
Cinco – Catching fish was not a huge issue, but size was. All 101 of the 101 anglers weighed in five, but 21 of those quintets totaled less than 9 pounds. “My hands are all chewed up and it’s all from a pound and a quarters,” Jason Williamson (86th, 8-11) said. Justin Hamner (14th, 11-7) put it in a more positive light: “If you like catching fish, this is the place to be.”
Dave Mercer — “If you have a drink every time I say ‘limit of fish,’ you’re not watching anymore.” That was less than a third of the way through weigh-in.
What’s In a Name? – Everyone named Brandon (Card, Cobb, Lester, Palaniuk) is outside the top 50, while everyone named Kyle is inside of it.
Alex Redwine (28th, 10-11) – “I almost spun out, but I didn’t.”
First Years – No rookie is in the top 10 after Day 1, although seven of ten “true rookies” (Russ Lane is excluded) are in the top 10. Fisher Anaya (15th, 11-6) is top among them, just 9 ounces outside the top 10.
Recent Rookie Heroes – The past seven Elite Series Rookies of the Year are all inside the top 50, with Drew Cook, Joey Cifuentes and Trey McKinney all in the top 10.
Tough Day for the Veterans – Of the 13 pros over 50 years old, only Bill Lowen (T36th, 10-9) is in the top 50. Scott Canterbury, who will turn 50 in May, is in 22nd.
Revisiting 2018, Uno – After Day 1 in 2018, 10th place was 13-15 and 50th was 10-8. After two days, 10th was 25-1, nearly 3 pounds less than twice the Day 1 mark. After two days, 50th was 21-4, 4 ounces more than twice the Day 1 mark.
Revisiting 2018, Dos – When Takahiro Omori won here in 2018, he was one of three members of the top ten on Day 1 who were still standing on Day 4. The other two were Jared Lintner, who went from 10th to 5th, and Mark Menendez, who went form 3rd to 8th. None of the members of the top ten had their best day on Day Four, while runner-up Roy Hawk and 4th place finisher Luke Clausen had their worst days.
Omori’s Primary Lure – Lucky Craft 1.5 square bill crankbait in his signature TO Craw color.
Jamie Hartman (T86th, 8-11) — “I don’t know what else to do, bro.” He caught 57 cookie cutters today.
Round Mound of Rebound – Today’s big fish of the day was Wesley Gore’s 4-6 largemouth. Gore also had the big fish of Day 1 last week, although it weighed nearly twice as much. Just like Auburn legend Charles Barkley, though, today’s bass held its own as a heavyweight.
It’s Olympics Week – Among the international contingent, only Australia’s Carl Jocumsen (5th, 12-11) is inside the top 10, although Jeff Gustafson (12th, 11-9) is only 6 ounces out. Taku Ito (T28th) and Kyoya Fujita (T32nd) are both just over a pound out of the top 10, and an ounce apart.
Return to the Podium — Since Tak won the last time, if one of the international pros were to win this week it would mark the second time an international angler has won here. Other BASS venues where international anglers have won two or more times include Knoxville (Gussy both times), Kentucky Lake (Norio Tanabe, Morizo Shimizu and Yui Aoki), Sam Rayburn (Takahiro and Masayuki Matsushita), St. Lawrence/1000 Islands (Cory Johnston three times, plus his brother Chris once, and Taku Ito), Lake Erie (Kota Kiriyama and Mike Desforges) and Lake Champlain (Shin Fukae and Kyoya Fujita).
Home Cooking – Jordan Lee (T7th, 12-6) is the only Alabama resident in the top ten. Of the 17 residents of the state competing, nine are currently outside the top 50, including five ranked 81st or worse.
Davy Hite — “It’s a good sign you’re catching them when you leave the scales on the deck.”
Last Year’s Hammers – Of the final top ten in the 2025 AOY standings, eight anglers are inside the top 50 today, the exceptions being Chris and Cory Johnston, who were 1st and 10th last year. Trey McKinney is the highest placed of the bunch, in 9th.
Spotted Bass Singer – Most famous person from Sylacauga, Alabama, other than Will Davis Jr. (19th, 11-1) and David Gaston (74th, 9-6): Jim Nabors. Also, Polly Holiday (aka, Flo “Kiss my grits!”).
Mark Zona on the TnZ Podcast – “Kyle Welcher, I believe, is going to be another headache for Angler of the Year this year, looking at the schedule.” Today is Welcher’s 33rd birthday, but it started off as a dud. He did not have a fish in livewell at 10:20, but rallied back with 10-14 to land in 26th. That keeps his AOY dreams very much alive.
Jacob Powroznik (45th, 10-3) — “You’re looking for that dinosaur, you know?”
The Big Hurt – Of the bottom 10 anglers from last year’s AOY standings who managed to get another shot to compete this year, only Matt Robertson (T23rd, 10-15) is inside the top 50. Eight of the others are between 79th and 98th so far at Martin.
Consistency Matters — Of the top 10 finishers from Guntersville, only five are in the top 50 today, and only Trey McKinney (9th last week, 9th today) is in the top 10 so far at Martin.
Brandon Palaniuk (96th, 8-1) – “The crappie fishing is incredible as well. They’re way bigger than the bass.”
The Last Folk Hero – “Three boats came back in here and none of them started on what I thought was the best spot,” Steve Kennedy reported this morning. The Martin favorite caught one over 3 pounds off the bat and then things slowed down. With 8-14 he finds himself in a three way tie with Texans Keith Combs and Brad Whatley.
Who Wore it Best? — Ronnie Moore described the outerwear worn by Will Davis Jr. as an “old school Reebok jacket.” Later Ronnie added, “I thought it was Mike Iaconelli for a minute.” Then Tommy Sanders chimed in: “I get most of my clothes from a vintage place. It’s also known as my closet.”
We saw no grubs, Hellbenders, Shannon Twin Spins or grape-flavored Jelly Wagglers today, but that doesn’t mean they won’t show up tomorrow.
