Plenty of spotted bass hit the scales on Day 1 of the Abu Garcia Bassmaster High School National Championship presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, but it was five fish limits full of largemouth that dominated the top of the leaderboard.
Day 1 leaders Ty Trentham and Chase McCarter from Sevier County High in East Tennessee filled their 17 pound, 15 ounce bag with strictly largemouth bass. So did the second-place team of Destin Morales and Samuel Cobb Jr. from Livingston Parish High, who caught 17-13 of largemouth bass as well as Hunter and Blake Beckmann, who brought 16-3 to the scales.
Morales and Cobb Jr. even caught a monster 7-8 largemouth that leads the Big Bass of the Tournament standings.
Details on specific patterns were kept close to the vest during weigh-in conversations, but it’s likely that multiple different largemouth patterns are being executed during this tournament.
Kasey Ferguson and Jakari Thomas from Virginia landed 15-2, good enough for fifth place after Day 1. The duo did not catch a spotted bass all day. Instead, they were able to key in on shallow largemouth that they could visually see. Their biggest bass was close to 4 1/2 pounds.
Of the top five teams, only Layne Mercer from Lumberton High in Texas had spotted bass in their bag. Mercer had four spotted bass in his 15-9 bag, but a kicker 5-10 largemouth helped him climb up the leaderboard.
Morales and Cobb mentioned they caught spotted bass throughout the day, but those bass weren’t big enough to make the final team.
For some anglers, conditions didn’t line up for what their planned approaches. The water level is low for Hartwell this time of the year, and large sections of the lake are very clear, making it a challenge for some out-of-town anglers to master.
For most of Day 1, clouds covered the sky before some sunshine peaked through towards the end of the day. Thunderstorms and rain showers moved through overnight, but sunshine is forecasted to prevail the majority of Day 2, which could help the bite for some teams and hurt it for others.
Stay tuned to Bassmaster.com for full coverage of this tournament. Weigh-in is scheduled to begin at 2:20 p.m. ET at Green Pond Landing.
Visit Anderson is hosting this event.
