Elite: Day 1 - Bassmaster

The first angler we came across this morning was Jacob Powroznik, with only a few cattle nearby as spectators.

But after a few casts without a bite, Powroznik was making a move to what he hoped was greener pastures.

Mike Iaconelli started his day fishing just upstream from Powroznik.

He didnât stay long without making his first move of the day.

Bill Lowen was fighting a fish when our camera boat found him.

He quickly boated this fishâ¦

â¦then released it back into the river.

Powroznik hadnât moved far from where he started the day, and was fishing the main river channel.

He decided not to stay long after a ship began to close in on where he was fishingâ¦

â¦and quickly sped away trying to outrun the giant wake.

Bill Lowen was about to get his boat rocked by bulge of water coming from the bow of the ship.

Randall Tharp was firing cast after cast with a spinnerbait.

Tharp said his day had started slowâ¦

â¦and he had three small fish in the live well.

One of the hazards of navigating the St. Lawrence River is the wakes left from ships passing through the channel.

Tharp jerks his trolling motor to make a move.

Mike McClelland brings his boat off plane, moves to his waypointâ¦

â¦and pulls out a drop shot.

Mike Kernan speeds down the St. Lawrence River early on Day 1.

Cliff Pace makes a run to the dam downstream of the host city, Waddington, N.Y.

Ken Iyobe pulls the hood of his rain suit farther over his head as a heavy rain settled over the St. Lawrence River.

Iyobe was having a hard time figuring out the smallmouth bite early in the day.

Koby Krieger fires a castâ¦

â¦within sight of the water tower in Waddington, NY, and also in sight of theâ¦

â¦weigh in sight.

Jason Willliamson and Timmy Horton idle into an areaâ¦

â¦and fished side by side for a few minutes. Neither stayed long before moving on.

Kelly Jaye was bouncing around, fishing several waypoints in the same area.

Brandon Coulter said he only had three fish in the live well, and was fishing close toâ¦

â¦Morizo Shimizu.

Coulterâs bilge pumps kicked on to pump the last of the water from his boat. The skies began to clear and the rain was over.

Once the rain stopped, Coulter decided to make a long run.

Shimizu made a few more castsâ¦

â¦then he moved along, too.

The clearing skies seemed to signal it was time to run to different water. We saw Steve Kennedy speeding down riverâ¦

â¦followed closely by Koby Krieger.

Ken Iyobe sheds his rain suit.

And similar to so many other anglers in the area, Derek Remitz was making a run.

Kenyon Hill fishes on the Canada side of the St. Lawrence River.

Bobby Lane said he caught a limit early, and even though he said he had only six bites, the estimated he had 18 pounds in the live well.