Elite action on the mighty Mississippi

Catch up with the Elites as they take on the Mighty Mississippi Day 1 of the Plano Bassmaster Elite at the Mississippi River presented by Favorite Fishing.

Hank Cherry was the first angler I found early on Day 1 as he was getting started at his first spot.

Cherry hooked up soon after we arrived and this fish looked to be a keeper, which has to be at least 14 inches this week.

The fast start had Cherry as one of the first anglers with a couple fish in the boat.

Koby Kreiger, one of his traveling partners on the Elite Series, was fishing nearby.

So was Mud Hole pro Brandon Lester.

Lester was rotating between a bait caster and a spinning rod as he worked his way around some bridge pilings.

Lester hooked up soon after switching back to a bait caster.

He only had one keeper at this point in the morning, but this one could be number two for him.

It didn’t meet the requirements so Lester threw it back and kept looking for keeper number two.

He took a moment to retie after fishing some gnarly rocks and cover.

Davy Hite drives by on his way to another spot.

As I focus my attention back to Lester I see he is hooked up under a bridge.

He swings aboard the fish.

And finds out this one will keep and give him number two early on.

After looking at BASSTrakk it seemed that Koby Kreiger had an early limit, one of the first on Day 1, so I came over to see how he was doing.

Before I had a chance to say anything Kreiger was hooked up again.

This one looked like it could help him cull up some based on his limit, which was tallied around 8 pounds.

He heads to the livewell and sorts through his fish to make a cull and also to figure out which fish would be the next to go.

After talking to him for a couple minutes, I decided to head out. When I looked back before taking off, Kreiger was in the bottom of the boat with another fish.

He also culled with this keeper. This is a big tournament for Kreiger as he moved from 72nd to 60th in Angler of the Year after the Potomac River and is only 22 points from jumping into the AOY Championship next week on Mille Lacs Lake.

Rapala pro Bernie Schultz was on the other side of the overpass and was fishing some thicker cover that looked oh-so good for a frog.

Meanwhile a little ways down from Schultz, Terry Scroggins was trying to idle his way out to take off.

I saw Chad Pipkens hold up a fish to his GoPro just down the bank so I headed over to see how he was doing.

Pipkens said he had three fish in the livewell so far, but he hooked up frequently after I stopped by.

He battles the possible keeper and swings it in the boat.

Another solid fish for Pipkens. The Mississippi River is full of fish like this especially on Pools 7, 8 and 9, which are the fishable pools for the Elite Series anglers.

Pipkens was stoked to have this one early in his day.

On his next cast he bowed his rod again on another fish.

Pipkens doesn’t waste any time getting this fish in the boat.

This one didn’t measure so Pipkens releases back into the Mississippi River.

Britt Myers was fishing a point across the river.

Pipkens kept his hot streak going as he hooked up again.

This was his fifth or sixth hookup since we had arrived.

This one seemed like his best fish of the morning.

So Pipkens took extra precaution and went to the side of the boat to land this one.

Score! Pipkens hauls a solid largemouth over the gunnel and into the boat.

As you can see, Pipkens was a tad excited.

After showing me the fish he poses for his marshal to take a quick blog photo.

He got back to work very quickly as he battled another fish on his moving bait.

The Michigan pro swings in his 5th keeper of the day and 4th one in front of us.

A quick fist pump as the fish clears the side of the boat.

Thats a limit for Chad Pipkens!

Thankfully it’s September otherwise the Elites couldn’t fish in this specific part of the river because this is normally when the walleye spawn and Wisconsin allows them a month to spawn without possibly getting caught.

After leaving Pipkens I found Davy Hite and Paul Elias fishing close together.

Bobby Lane was nearby as well as the anglers fished in some current.

Have you ever seen an angler use a grass mat as a cooler holder? Well you have today.

Bobby Lane had done his work early this morning as he was unofficially in the Top 10 with his early limit of fish. Now he was in search of a kicker.

He fished as Toyota Angler of the Year leader Gerald Swindle was fishing nearby.

So was Floridian Cliff Prince, who hooked up in front of us.

This one wouldn’t help Prince as it wasn’t a keeper.

B. Lane and Prince talk for a moment as they fish past each other.

A little farther down the river was Timmy Horton who had 3 fish in the boat by 9:30 a.m. and had almost 8 pounds.

He had the rest of Day 1 to look for two bigger bites to propel him up the leaderboard. Check-in starts at 3 p.m. CT and the first fish is expected to weigh around 3:15 p.m.