Fishing on his home water, Afton, Okla. resident Toby Hartsell caught a 16-05 stringer on Thursday to take the initial lead at the Grand Lake Bassmaster Central Open.
“The fishing has been really bad," said the 46-year-old Hartsell, the co-owner of an automated boat cover business. “It had gotten to the point where I couldn’t even catch five keepers. I could go out tomorrow and not catch a limit.”
Hartsell said he fished the last couple of weeks “quite a bit” but never could figure out a pattern. “I just went fishing today (relying) on past knowledge,” he said. “I was just hoping I could figure it out as the day went by.”
He caught day-1 fish on a topwater lure, plastic worm and jig.
“It has been a problem catching a 4- or 5-pounder,” he said. “But I caught a 4-pounder today and then I filled it in with 3-pounders, and that made all the difference in the world.”
Eighteen-year-old Andy Ortega of Odessa, Texas has been working 70 hours a week in the oil-and-gas industry in west Texas, which has limited his fishing time, but he practiced enough this week to put together a pattern that was good for a 15-15 bag and the No. 2 spot in the standings.
“The fish have been moving a lot,” Ortega said. “I am finding them on main-lake stuff and now the shad are in the backs of the creeks and the bass are following them, but the bigger bass are really scattered.”
Ortega caught bass on two different lures in practice but narrowed his selection down to one today. “I'm sticking with what I think the bigger fish will be caught on,” he said.
Here's how the initial top 12 stacks up:
1. Toby Hartsell 16-05
2. Andy Ortega: 15-15
3. James Elam: 14-13
4. (tie) Thomas Canady: 14-03
4. (tie) Gary Clouse: 14-03
6. Eddie Carper: 14-00
7. Patrick Touey: 13-12
8. Harvey Horne: 13-10
9. Beau Branine: 13-06
10. Alex Finch: 13-02
11. Masayuki Matsushita: 13-02
12. Brad Whatley: 13-01
