Many Pro Anglers before competition's start believed that with the warming trend that the "Local Boy" advantage would be non-existent, however the leader board is filled with Alabama residents. Leading day one, from Demopolis, Alabama is Boyd Duckett who brought 19-14 to the stage and took big bass for day one with an 8-2 hawg. We asked him if he thought he could maintain his lead since his kicker fish obviously put him over the top for day one. Duckett responded by saying, "I have some quality fish going and will bring in a solid limit again!"
The very confident Duckett is excited to get on the water again. Fishing a crank bait on secondary points during his first classic, Duckett is searching for largemouth from start to finish. Some believe this is a dangerous game plan, however when asked about his ability to bring in limits of largemouth, Duckett responded, "It's not going to be a problem."
With 17-15, one of Ultimate Bass's favorites, Randy Howell (Springville, AL) is sitting in second place going into day two. Randy, had a solid limit of cloned spotted bass, catching two limits today Randy is also excited to get into day two of competition. Randy said that current is a major player in his pattern, fishing a jig on the north end of the lake, "If they keep the water moving, I will have no problem catching a duplicate limit". Randy said that he went through 20 jigs today, having to break them off. Although he didn't comment, this would lead you to believe Randy has found a couple very productive brush piles.
Skeet Reese sitting in third with 17-8, hales from Auburn, California, and he is the only angler in the Top 4 that is not from Alabama! Skeet was very tight-lipped after weigh-in, mostly commenting on the other leaders or diverting questions to them.
Timmy Horton, also from Alabama, is sitting in forth with 17-5 and Terry Scroggins (Palatka, Florida) holding down the fifth spot with 17 even.
With the predicted weather pattern still warming on day two, all the anglers are very excited about getting on the water again. Most are catching fish all day, however mid day was the most productive for larger fish. That may be due to the fact that most anglers hit the water looking for a limit of spotted bass before moving on to find kicker largemouth. Many anglers claimed they had limits in the boat ranging from 6 to 10 pounds with in an hour of the start of day one. Out of the 50 boat field, only 3 anglers were unable to bring a limit to the scale. The top twenty five rounds out with Steve Kennedy with a limit of fish at 12-2. With only 5 pounds separating 2nd through 25th this classic is still anyone’s game. With warming water and a predicted front moving through on Saturday night the pro's or very confident we will see more largemouth coming to the scales and those that find them will be at the top of the leader board.
