2009 Southern Open:Day One Launch

Co-anglers share stories in the pre-dawn darkness as they wait at the docks for their pro partners to launch.

Steve Hayden is backed into the water at the Wooten Park ramp as he prepares to compete on Day One of the 2009 Bassmaster Southern Open number one.

Charlie Hartley makes final adjustments to his equipment as he waits at the dock for time to launch.

Ben Potaracke waits patiently at the dock for his pro partner as the other competitors gather in the water in front of him.

There were 198 boats registered for the first Bassmaster Southern Open out of the Harris Chain of Lakes near Tavares, Florida.

Pros and their co-anglers make final preparations to their equipment as the time for launch gets near.

Competitors begin to gather just east of the Wooten Park ramp as other anglers, who launched elsewhere on the lake, begin to arrive in the background.

Dena and Shawn Strader take time at the ramp to visit before Shawn and his coangler hit the lake for a day of competition bass fishing.

A long standing BASS tradition of the playing of the National Anthem takes place as anglers honor the flag.

Preston Clark leads a flight of boats through the inspection process before starting the first day of competition in the first Southern Open of 2009.

Angela Hennessey watches as her son Jelani takes to the lake as a pro for the first time in his very young and storied career.

Tom Howell takes photos of the anglers as they launch from the docks at Wooten Park.

Salina Castillo and her daughter Madison watch the procession of boats as they go through the inspection line before launching onto the Harris Chain of Lakes.

Pros boats line the dock as they pass through the inspection line. Boat numbers are assigned by random draw and will be reversed on Day Two.

Fans watch the anglers in the staging area as the sun rises above the horizon.

Boats begin to line up as BASS officials call out the boat numbers prior to them making their way through the safety inspection line.

The final boats race away from the docks at Wooten Park marking the official start of Day One of the Southern Open number one on the Harris Chain of Lakes.

Competition anglers must share the water with a large contingent of local anglers. The majority of residents here are retired and fish the “chain” heavily.

Local anglers and Open contenders share water in one of the many coves of Dora Lake.

Many of the residence fish and place attractors around their lake front property, making these areas prime targets for competition anglers.

Competitors work soft plastics very methodically in and around a large cove filled with lilly pads.

BASS Southern Open competitors are allowed to take their “hole shot” after the last inspection, demonstrating that the kill switch is in working order.

Competitors take their hole shots on the first morning of the Bassmaster Southern Open number one out of Wooten Park on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Tavares, Florida.

Fans watch from the upper platform as BASS pros and their co-anglers launch from the docks at Wooten Park in Tavares, Florida.

The Harris Chain of Lakes is made up of several lakes and rivers that are connected by long shallow canals, giving the anglers many diverse angling options.

The sun rises as the pros and their co-anglers wait patiently for their boat number to be called up for launch.

A pro and his co-angler work their way through a narrow canal to get to a small area just off of Dora Lake.