Day 1: Toledo Bend

1:30 p.m. - Lucas Lindsay is working on a mega-bag right now on Toledo Bend. The former Auburn Tiger currently has 24-4 with only four fish on BassTrakk. The bag is anchored by an 8-8.

Will we see a 30-pound bag come across the stage today?

11:37 a.m. - Blog from Dalton Tumblin.

Brody Robinson finally lands fish number 5, and it’s a 7-pounder. He hasn’t really changed anything up, just stayed patient and persistent to finally get one of the big ones he’s been seeing to eat. This is a huge move for him both on the leaderboard and the EQ standings. Robinson is now focusing on culling out the 1- and the 2-pounder he still has in the live well. 

11:25 a.m. --  Blog from Mike Suchan

The leaderboard is hopping; big things are happening on Toledo Bend.

Lucas Lindsay of Auburn, Ala., posted his three fish on BassTrakk at 11:15. They go 7-8, 8-8 and 5-0 for 21-0, which legitimately gives him a shot at a Dirty Thirty. He's tied with Tanner Hadden in fourth and the 8-8 is now the Phoenix Boats Big Bass, but those have been seemingly short-lived. Expect that being topped as several anglers caught double-digit bass in practice.

Ethan Fields continued to upgrade, a 4-8 giving him 24-9. Dalton Head of Moody, Ala., added a 5-10 to a 5-5 and two 4-pounders to jump into third place with 21-13. Bailey Gay of Union, Ky., is now in fourth with 21-1 but no individual fish were recorded.

Brody Robison, coming off his win in the College Classic Cup, jumped into the Top 10 after a 7-0 gave him 18-11.

11:17 a.m. — Blog from Chase Sansom:

One observation I will take away from the day is that the northern area of the lake seems almost barren of anglers. I’ve seen roughly 10 or 15 boats today.

A lot of the boats are in the southern portion of the lake which is where it seems like it is going down. The northern sections also seems to be turning over a bit and has the fish all spread out. Not many guys in the Top 12 are fishing up this direction.

11:06 a.m. — Blog from Mike Suchan:

Midway through Day 1, three anglers recently eclipsed 20 pounds. Kollin Crawford of Broken Bow, Okla., moved atop the BassTrakk leaderboard with 21-7, then at 11:05 he caught an 8-1 for a hyper jump to 26-6. Crawford’s best took over Phoenix Boats Big Bass by an ounce.

Tanner Hadden of Appling, Ga., has no individual fish weights but stands second with 21-0 while Ethan Fields, behind a 7-13, has the Breese, Ill., angler in third with 20-1.

Rick Harris of Carlsbad, N.M., had the Phoenix Boats Big Bass with his 8-pounder at 10:20 a.m., which moved him into fifth place in the unofficial standings with 19-8.

Jordan Hartman of Benton, Ky., led much of the morning with 19-8, bolstered by a 7-5. He's now in fourth.

10:50 a.m. — Blog from Chase Sansom:

Alabama's Fisher Anaya lands number five which gives him 18 pounds he said with three bass under 3 pounds. Like most anglers, he's expecting heavy weights to be brought in to weigh-in, so he believes he'll need to do some culling to stay inside the Top 10. A hot start for the young pro.

It's worth noting that both Fisher Anaya and Pake South are jack-potting this tournament, so in the event that either of them were to pull off the win, the Classic berth would work down the Progressive Bassmater Elite Series Angler of the Year standings which means Bryan Schmitt would make the 2027 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic.

Click here to read Mike Suchan's Daily Limit piece on this very topic.

10:13 a.m. — Blog from Dalton Tumblin:

We have made our way over to Brody Robison, who came into this tournament sitting in 12th in the EQ standings and just won the 2026 Bassmaster College Classic Cup presented by Lew's at Wilson Lake a couple of weeks ago.

He’s looking to continue his run for that Elite Series qualification as he’s currently sitting in 9th on BassTrakk with only 4 fish in the livewell. He told me that even filling his limit isn’t going to be enough, and that he definitely needs some upgrades. "This place is so frustrating," he said. "I’ve thrown at 35 pounds this morning, but they’re just so smart and it’s hard to get them to bite.”

Robison is roaming up and down the bank, throwing a glide bait and an urchin style bait while using his live sonar to locate fish.

9:47 a.m. - Blog from Dalton Tumblin.

Before rolling out to make a long run, Jordan Hartman pulled out the big fish of the day for a photo op. I’d say the photo doesn’t even do it justice. He told me that he’s going to leave the fish alone in this area because he believes the bait change he had to make is the reason he can’t get them to bite anymore. He lost all 3 of his Coike’s this morning which forced to switch to some other brand, which seems to not be working. Therefore, he’s going to go explore some of the other stuff he found in practice to try and upgrade the 2 pounders he still has. He said, “Tomorrow, I’ll have some more Coike’s in the boat for this spot."

9:24 a.m. - Blog from Chase Sansom.

I'm with Fisher Anaya now. I’ve yet to see a bass get caught but I’m hoping that changes with Fisher. When we pulled up here, he said, “This morning was pretty good. I got a 7 and 1/2 pounder, a 5 and two 2 1/2 pounders.” He’s off to a firing start just fishing down the bank looking for the occasional roamer with FFS.

The Elite Series angler is no stranger to catching giant bags so he will be one to watch this week.

He’s off to a firing start just fishing down the bank looking for the occasional roamer with FFS

9:18 a.m. - Blog from Dalton Tumblin.

Jordan Hartman has an entertaining approach to watch this morning. With roughly 20 pounds in the live well and currently sitting in first on BassTrakk, Hartman told me he’s caught all his fish in about 2 ft of water and all have been on the spike ball. That's including his nearly 8-pounder. He’s still utilizing his live sonar and fishing around submerged stumps along the bank. Hartman has been roaming back and forth in this area all morning and doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon, as he’s still seeing plenty of big ones with his live sonar.

8:37 a.m. — Blog from Dalton Tumblin:

Found Adam Rasmussen for my second stop of the day as he was landing keeper number 4. His four keepers go for 7-2 unofficially which puts him just outside the Top 10 on BassTrakk. He will need to make serious upgrades by the time weigh-in starts this afternoon.

The Wisconsin angler is currently roaming around a stump field, using live sonar and a jig head minnow to target fish on the stumps. 

8:20 a.m. — As predicted, the big bass are showing up early at Toledo Bend. Just over an hour into competition on Day 1 of the 2026 Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Toledo Bend presented by Bass Pro Shops, and four anglers have already registered fish over 5-pounds on BassTrakk. Kentucky's Jordan Hartman is at the top of the unofficial leaderboard currently with two keepers for 12-5. A 5-0 and a 7-5 is a good way to start your day!

8:11 a.m. — Blog from Dalton Tumblin:

We made the run down to Six Mile and Housen creek this morning and caught up with Brett Hite to start the day. This end of the lake seems to be off to a solid start, as expected, with 5 of the current Top 12 anglers on BassTrakk fishing it. Hite doesn’t have any keepers at the moment, though. He is fishing a little ways off the bank, using live sonar and fishing with a jerk bait and bladed jig.

7:47 a.m. — Look for some big bass to cross the stage this week. Bassmaster photographer Andy Crawford talked to several people who caught or visually saw double-digit bass.

"I caught my personal best," Jack Dice said. "It was a 10 1/2-pounder."

7:41 a.m. — One would think local anglers like Darold Gleason would have a leg up on the second Elite Qualifier here on Toledo Bend, but forward facing sonar makes all the knowledge gained from years of fishing the massive reservoir of little value.

"History doesn't matter," said Gleason, who guides on Toledo Bend. "It almost hampers you. They're catching fish in different areas (with FFS). They are so good at putting themselves around fish."

So what's a local to do? Gleason said he's going to turn his live scope on and hunt big dots with the rest of the field.

7:20 a.m. — While full live coverage will begin at 7:00 a.m. ET on Friday, you can click here to watch the Angler Live Streams!

7:00 a.m. — Day 1 of the 2026 Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Toledo Bend presented by Bass Pro Shops is officially underway! Click here to watch the EQ anglers preview Day 1 at historic Toledo Bend.