Classic: Day 1 on Grand

Day 1 of the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro started on a chilly Friday morning on Grand Lake. The first angler we found was Ott DeFoe. He has been as consistent as they come in the Classic. He has four Classic appearances with as many Top 11s.

DeFoe was bundled up as he fished down the bank.

DeFoe makes a couple casts around each piece of cover looking to break the ice with the first fish of the day.

Moments later he packs up and heads to his second spot of the day.

Bobby Lane cruises by as we head to our next spot in search of an angler.

We find Bernie Schultz in his first area of the day.

Schultz picks apart his area as he pokes and prods the water for his first keeper of the day.

And like a magic trick, Schultz calls his shot and hooks up moments later.

He fights the fish around to the other side of the boat.

Time to grab keeper number one and start the day right.

Schultz scoops up his first keeper of the day, which is a solid two and a half to three pound fish.

A few minutes later we leave Schultz and find B.A.S.S. Nation angler John Proctor who was boating his first fish as we arrived. A solid two-pounder to break the ice and get his day started.

He keeps fishingâ¦

He gets stuck so he tries to pop his bait loose by getting leverage on his rod.

Then he gets back to casting. Every fish counts especially in the Bassmaster Classic.

After leaving Proctor we found Alton Jones who was blowing up BassTrakk as the first angler with a limit.

He asked us how we were and was completely relaxed with roughly 16 pounds in his livewell at 8:30 a.m.

Some spectators show up on the bank to watch Jones go to work.

He hooks up and hopes this fish will cull.

Alton says this is a decent one and will probably cull.

He swings aboard his fishâ¦

This is a chunky Grand Lake bass.

Yes this will cull.

Jones sizes it up as he heads to the livewell.

He selects a fish to make the cull.

Alton makes one more cast in his area before picking up.

Jones makes a move across his creek as he heads to his next area.

He was calm and cool as he hovered around the 17 pound mark early this morning.

A floatilla of spectators come from out of no where to check out how Alton is doing.

Alton seems unphased by the 20-30 spectator boats that are following.

Jones heaves a cast.

Spectators came out of the woodwork to see Jones in action.

It wouldnât be the Bassmaster Classic without a crowd around the hot hand anglers.

Jones decides to make a moveâ¦

So do the geese and we head out as well.

After watching Alton Jones boat some fish this morning, we found him later in the day fishing around the same area trying to add to his total.

Jones tried to fit his bait into any opening he could so he utilized every inch of water available to him.

The crowd was still following him and people watching from the shore hung around as long as they could.

Jones just casted below and now he is casting over obstacles.

After casting in numerous scary areas, Jones takes the time to retie his bait and check his line for any frays.

A few minutes later Jones hooks up with another fish as the crowd looks on.

The fish thrashes at the boat while Jones tries to gain some leverage on the bass.

The former Classic champion swings aboard another keeper that should cull for him ever so slightly.

Jones eyes it up as he heads to the livewell.

He puts it on the balance beam and it indeed culls for the Texas angler.

The flotilla of boats is still strong at 2 p.m.

He gets back to casting and picking apart the cover in front of him.

He casts over a walkway into open water.

Then he gets a bite and hooks up.

He said if that was a 7-pounder it would have been an interesting battle, but getting bit first is the most important thing. Landing the fish is something he will worry about later.

This one wonât help him so he releases it into Grand Lake.

Alton Jones put together a consistent stringer of fish to take to Tulsa for the Day 1 weigh-in and will be in the mix for the top spot. When he put it on the trailer, Jones had five fish that were approximately 4.25, 4 and 3.25 pounds respectively.