Open: Day 1 on Smith Lake II

Darrell Pons and his co-angler Blake Oswalt work flooded brush piles for largemouth bass. They are harder to find when compared to the lake’s abundant spotted bass, but the largemouths typically weigh more.

It’s a risk often worth making, and a veteran angler like Pons knows it.

Pro angler Aaron Owens and his co-angler Roman Holmes race to the next spot while Pons and Oswalt continue their assault.

Oswalt connected with a small fish that ate a spinnerbait.

Pons was working a jig, but switched to a white spinnerbait to appeal to the more active fish.

Around the corner is Shin Fukae and co-angler Clayton Stoering. Both anglers had early limits and were eager to cull.

They didn’t stick around long. Off to the next spot.

After catching up with Aaron Owens and Roman Holmes, they discussed how the water wasn’t as bad as they had expected after the previous nights rain and thunderstorms. They seemed optimistic.

Out towards the mouth of the creek Danny Laboie and his co-angler Jeff Keever are fishing a flat with stumps and timber. As soon as I pull up, Keever hooks up.

The battle goes boatside.

The feisty bass goes airborne …

Keever flips it into the boat …

And the fish is having none of it.

Not a big fish, but it is a part of the puzzle.

Down the lake is Greg Mansfield and his co-angler for the day Charlie Fachtman, who is wrestling a fish into the boat.

Not a bad fish at all. Into the box it goes.

Looks like it will cull up.

Meanwhile, boats are on the move as the morning bite begins to slow down for some.

Mansfield offers Fachtman his opinion on which one should stay and which one should go.

After just a few more casts, Fachtman hooks up again.

Another fine looking fish that will help his cause.

The fish appears to be about the same size as the one he just culled out.

More boats are on the move, including local pleasure boaters.

Mansfield and Fachtman drop the rods, jerk up the trolling motor and head for the next spot.

About a mile down the bank is Cody Petweiler and his co-angler Daniel Buswell. The duo is working rocky banks behind docks and tapering points.

Petweiler said that they had an exciting morning, but it had slowed down after about 9 a.m. Time to keep moving.

“Big Show” Terry Scroggins is across the main channel from Petweiler. He and his co-angler Justin DeFoe are working points and docks looking for better fish than what is swimming in Scroggins’ livewell.

Scroggins launches a finesse presentation towards the bank.

Both anglers are working slow-moving presentations. After the rough weather the night before, the bass seem to prefer something a little slower.

After an exciting morning, Joey Nania is looking for a fish to cull up with. He said he had a limit early in the morning, but he feels like he’ll need more weight to remain in contention. His co-angler Jeff Hartung also had a decent limit at the time.

Behind Nania and Hartung, Randall Tharp pulls his rig into a nearby creek arm. He certainly has something specific in mind.

The water temperature reading on my Humminbird unit said 63 degrees. I’m not sure that riding a tube on a cool day like today is a good idea. But I also remember being much tougher as a kid. These kids screamed for 20 minutes as they enjoyed time on the water. That’s dedication.

Well, look who it is… The man, the myth, the legend. James Overstreet. Camera in-hand, as usual.

Doing what he does best.

As Nania and Hartung are plugging away …

Tharp comes back out of that creek he just went into. Must not have produced as he had hoped. Headed up the lake.

Someone’s day isn’t turning out as planned. Getting a tow back to the launch is not how you want to end a tournament day. But, it beats being stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Nania and Hartung decide it’s time to move.

Weigh-in isn’t too far off, so the time to find one or two more keeper fish is now or never.