If you doubt the power of positive momentum, take a look at Fisher Anaya, the Bassmaster Elite Series rookie who won the Lippert Bassmaster Elite at Lake Martin on February 15.
Four days later, his Day 1 limit of 28 pounds, 3 ounces has him sitting in fourth place for the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Battery Tender.
A strong opening performance is always impressive, but Anaya’s efforts defined competitive fire.
“I had to run to Atlanta, Ga., to do a seminar after leaving Lake Martin, so it took me like 14 hours to get here,” Anaya said. “I drove straight through and got here at 9 o’clock Wednesday morning with no sleep. I got no practice; I just went fishing.”
Anaya, who won the 2025 Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier presented by Bass Pro Shops Angler of the Year title, targeted prespawn fish staging in timber fields. Zig-zagging through the skeletal forest, he tried to throw at as many trees as he could.
“Everything I did couldn’t go wrong,” Anaya said. “On my first spot, I caught a 7 and a 5 and I thought, ‘Okay, this could go somewhere.’ About 30 minutes before I came in, I caught a 9.
“I actually started to run in and I thought, ‘I’ll try to go back (to my main area) and try to catch one more.’ I went back through a little section I overlooked and on my second cast, I caught that 9.”
Having fished Rayburn during last year’s Open, Anaya was well-acquainted with the lake’s potential. This, he said, was a big part of his motivation.
“This place has big fish, so my expectations were high,” Anaya said. “I knew if I got around them, I could catch them and I ran across them today.”
Anaya caught most of his fish on a Rapala Mavrik 110 jerkbait. A 6.25-inch Rapala Crush City Free Loader minnow on a 1/8-ounce jig head also produced keepers.
“I was trying to (exclude) the smaller fish because they wouldn’t eat the bigger size minnow,” Anaya said. “I was just trolling around trying to find bigger fish.
“I caught 50-60 fish today with a bunch of 2- and 3-pounders. Maybe tomorrow I can run into another couple of big bites and ride the momentum.”
