Pat Fisher of Colbert, Georgia, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Thursday weighing 15-03 to grab the lead after day 1 of the FLW Series Championship on Table Rock Lake. Fisher holds a 6-ounce lead heading in to day 2 of the 3-day event that features 192 anglers from across the globe casting for a top cash award of $95,000, including a new boat-and-motor package and an automatic qualification to the 2017 Forrest Wood Cup.
“Today was a surprise. A very good surprise,” said Fisher, a former FLW Tour pro who has three career Forrest Wood Cup appearances. “I made a long run, a lot of fish got beat up in there in practice, up where I was. But I was the only one in there today and I just stuck with it.”
Though Fisher landed nine keepers, a big kicker bass really keyed his day.
“That big fish was my third fish,” says Fisher. “There was a little stretch there when they were feeding, and that really set the tone for the day. I haven’t seen a fish that big all week.”
Well away from the ramp and way in the back of a creek, Fisher adapted perfectly to the calm and overcast conditions that loomed over the field all morning.
“I’d been catching them on a shaky-head rig in the bright sun and the clear water,” said Fisher. “But this morning with the overcast they came up and ate topwater baits. I had a pretty consistent day, just catching them all day long on a topwater. When I wanted to catch one, I picked up the shaky-head, but they weren’t the size I was looking for.”
Though the area he’s fishing isn’t huge, Fisher seems fairly confident that it has enough fish for at least another day. He doesn’t think he leaned on them too hard, and he says that he only saw one other boat back in that general area today.
Here's a look at the initial Top 10:
1. Pat Fisher: 15-03
2. Bradford Beavers: 14-13
3. Christopher Jones: 14-09
4. (tie) Cody Bird: 14-05
4. (tie) Brad Cook: 14-05
6. Tim Reneau: 14-04
7. Travis Fox: 13-09
8. Mark Tucker: 13-09
9. Rick Taylor: 13-06
10. Terry Tucker: 13-05
