Galloway Sacks Up 23-09 For Harris Chain Lead

By MLF Communications Staff

After practicing earlier this week in 70- and 80-degree weather, MLF Pro Circuit anglers were greeted by chilly 30-degree temperatures Sunday morning on Day 1 of the event at the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Fla. It warmed up in the afternoon, though and the big bass were still chewing.

Grant Galloway of Houlka, Mississippi weighed a five-bass limit totaling 23 pounds, 9 ounces to grab the early lead , while Florida guru Randall Tharp of Port Saint Joe looms large right behind in second place, just 10 ounces back with a five-bass limit weighing 22-15.

It was a great day for Galloway, a former College Fishing angler from Mississippi State University. The second-yar pro caught two giants early – an 8- and a 9-pounder.

“First thing this morning I got to the area I was fishing and it was really windy,” Galloway said. “I had one windblown point that I liked, so I bombed a big stickbait up there and she bit, then wrapped me up in the vines and pads. I hightailed it to her and reached down and grabbed her and got her in the boat.

“I was in shock,” Galloway continued. “After I had passed out and come back twice, I worked down the bank and I saw another blowed-in trash mat. That’s what I call it – just a mix of eelgrass and hydrilla. I pitched to it and felt a thump – I set the hook and just pinned it. I again hightailed over to it, and I could only see her lip sticking through the mat. I just put my hand in and pulled it out, not having a clue how big it was. Once I saw it, I was like, ‘oh my.’ I had two for 17. And those were my first two fish of the day.”

After boating his two giants, Galloway spent the rest of the day combing through keepers to fill out his limit.

“I had a little jerkbait and caught a limit pretty quick, but I felt like I was just burning through fish,” Galloway said. “So I went out on a flat and threw a crankbait in the grass – I caught probably another 15 fish on the crankbait – and culled three or four times, but just ounces.

“The wind made things really tough,” Galloway said. “I wasn’t able to fish thorough – I had a couple of stretches that I intentionally wanted to fish very slow – pitching, flipping and picking them apart. But the wind was so bad I couldn’t do anything, so hopefully tomorrow I can capitalize on some of those areas.

“Today was just a blessing,” Galloway went on to say. “I fished clean, and I was fortunate and blessed to get those two big Florida bites, and that’s what you need here if you’re going to compete. I’m excited to see how it shakes out tomorrow.”

Tharp weighed in Sunday’s Berkley Big Bass – a largemouth that registered 9-07 – to win the $1,000 bonus.

Overall, there were 748 bass weighing 1,928 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 157 pros Sunday. The catch included 139 five-bass limits.

The full field of 157 anglers compete in the two-day opening round on Sunday and Monday. The Top 50 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight will advance to Tuesday. Only the Top 10 pros, based on cumulative weight from the first three days, will continue competition in Wednesday's final round, where weights will be zeroed and anglers will compete in a one-day shootout for the grand prize of up to $135,000.

Anglers take off at 7:30 a.m. ET each day from the Ski Beach at the Venetian Gardens, located at 201 E. Lake Harris Drive in Leesburg. Weigh-ins will also be held at the Ski Beach daily at 3:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged to attend the morning takeoffs and afternoon weigh-ins, and also follow the live on-the-water action all four days of competition online on MLF NOW! beginning at 8 a.m. ET at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Day 1 Standings

1. Grant Galloway -- 23-09 (5)

2. Randall Tharp -- 22-15 (5)

3. Kerry Milner -- 22-13 (5)

4. Corey Neece -- 21-01 (5)

5. Chase Serafin -- 20-00 (5)

6. Andrew Loberg -- 19-09 (5)

7. Cole Hewett -- 19-06 (5)

8. Justin Cooper -- 18-15 (5)

9. Jason Reyes -- 18-07 (5)

10. Keith Carson -- 18-05 (5)

11. Kurt Mitchell -- 18-04 (5)

12. Clark Reehm -- 18-02 (5)

13. Dicky Newberry -- 17-11 (5)

14. Bill McDonald -- 17-09 (5)

15. Colby Miller -- 17-05 (5)

16. Matt Becker -- 17-02 (5)

17. Aaron Britt -- 17-01 (5)

18. Tommy Dickerson -- 16-13 (5)

18. Tom Monsoor -- 16-13 (5)

20. Jacopo Gallelli -- 16-08 (5)

21. Cole Floyd -- 16-03 (5)

21. Derrick Snavely -- 16-03 (5)

23. Skeet Reese -- 16-01 (5)

24. Jamie Horton -- 15-15 (5)

24. Jimmy Neece Jr -- 15-15 (5)

26. Jacob Wall -- 15-14 (5)

27. Chris Lane -- 15-13 (5)

28. Christian Greico -- 15-11 (5)

29. Cody Pike -- 15-10 (5)

30. Stuart Arthur -- 15-06 (5)

30. Mitch Crane -- 15-06 (5)

32. Joshua Weaver -- 15-05 (5)

32. Tyler Woolcott -- 15-05 (5)

34. Bruce Parsons -- 15-02 (5)

34. Jared McMillan -- 15-02 (5)

34. Miles Howe -- 15-02 (5)

37. Lance Oligschlaeger -- 15-00 (5)

38. Clayton Batts -- 14-14 (5)

39. Wesley Strader -- 14-13 (5)

39. Darrell Davis -- 14-13 (5)

41. Jeff Bridges -- 14-11 (5)

42. Kyle Weisenburger -- 14-08 (5)

43. Ramie Colson Jr -- 14-05 (5)

43. Robert Nakatomi -- 14-05 (5)

45. Spencer Shuffield -- 14-04 (5)

46. Todd Walters -- 14-02 (5)

46. Jon Canada -- 14-02 (5)

48. Charlie Evans -- 14-01 (5)

48. Dakota Ebare -- 14-01 (5)

50. Randy Howell -- 13-15 (5)

50. Michael Neal -- 13-15 (5)

52. Shonn Goodwin -- 13-14 (5)

52. Grae Buck -- 13-14 (5)

54. Mike McClelland -- 13-13 (5)

54. Chad Warren -- 13-13 (5)

56. Matthew Stefan -- 13-12 (5)

57. Rusty Salewske -- 13-11 (5)

58. Brian Latimer -- 13-10 (5)

59. Trevor Fitzgerald -- 13-07 (5)

59. Casey Scanlon -- 13-07 (5)

59. Cameron Mattison -- 13-07 (5)

59. Jason Blair -- 13-07 (5)

63. Gary Yamamoto -- 13-06 (5)

64. Jeff Reynolds -- 13-05 (5)

65. Cole Harris -- 13-04 (5)

66. Mark Rose -- 13-00 (5)

67. Kyle Cortiana -- 12-14 (5)

67. Josh Butler -- 12-14 (5)

67. Kyle Hall -- 12-14 (5)

67. Mickey Beck -- 12-14 (4)

71. Brad Knight -- 12-13 (5)

72. Laramy Strickland -- 12-12 (5)

73. Greg Bohannan -- 12-11 (5)

74. Terry Bolton -- 12-10 (5)

75. Jason Lieblong -- 12-09 (5)

76. Ron Nelson -- 12-07 (5)

77. Terry Luedtke -- 12-06 (5)

77. Bobby Lane -- 12-06 (5)

77. Lance Crawford -- 12-06 (5)

77. Kyle Gelles -- 12-06 (5)

81. Chris Groh -- 12-05 (5)

82. Steve Lopez -- 12-04 (5)

83. Barron Adams -- 12-03 (5)

84. John Voyles -- 12-02 (5)

84. Joe Wieberg -- 12-02 (5)

84. Nick Lebrun -- 12-02 (5)

87. Jim Tutt -- 12-01 (5)

88. David Walker -- 12-00 (5)

89. Mike Surman -- 11-12 (5)

90. Richard Lowitzki -- 11-11 (5)

91. Jim Moynagh -- 11-10 (5)

91. Rusty Trancygier -- 11-10 (5)

93. Ron Farrow -- 11-09 (5)

93. Stephen Albertson -- 11-09 (5)

93. Andy Newcomb -- 11-09 (5)

96. Chad Grigsby -- 11-08 (5)

96. Phillip Dutra -- 11-08 (4)

98. Brandon Mosley -- 11-07 (5)

99. Dave Parsons -- 11-06 (5)

99. James Niggemeyer -- 11-06 (5)

99. Joey Cifuentes -- 11-06 (5)

102. Jason Meninger -- 11-05 (5)

102. Jason Vance -- 11-05 (5)

104. Brett Hite -- 11-03 (5)

105. Brandon McMillan -- 11-01 (5)

105. John Hunter -- 11-01 (5)

107. Pete Ponds -- 11-00 (5)

108. Troy Stokes -- 10-15 (5)

109. Steve York -- 10-13 (5)

110. Braxton Setzer -- 10-12 (5)

111. Dylan Hays -- 10-10 (5)

112. Nick Gainey -- 10-09 (5)

112. Larry Nixon -- 10-09 (5)

112. Jimmy Reese -- 10-09 (5)

115. Scott Wiley -- 10-08 (5)

115. Robby Lefere -- 10-07 (5)

117. Matt Greenblatt -- 10-04 (5)

118. Cal Lane -- 10-03 (5)

119. Jimmy Washam -- 9-14 (5)

120. Lane Olson -- 9-13 (5)

121. Darrel Robertson -- 9-12 (5)

122. Jordan Osborne -- 9-09 (5)

123. John Cox -- 9-07 (5)

124. Evan Barnes -- 9-06 (4)

125. Scott Dobson -- 9-04 (5)

126. Martin Villa -- 9-03 (5)

127. Ricky Robinson -- 8-15 (5)

127. Shannon Abbott -- 8-15 (5)

129. J Todd Tucker -- 8-13 (5)

130. Michael Matthee -- 8-12 (5)

131. Matt Reed -- 8-11 (5)

131. Justin Lucas -- 8-11 (5)

131. Josh Bragg -- 8-11 (4)

134. Randy Despino -- 8-01 (5)

135. Colby Schrumpf -- 8-00 (5)

136. Lendell Martin Jr -- 7-11 (5)

137. River Lee -- 7-09 (5)

138. Ricardo Gonzalez -- 7-04 (3)

139. Tyler Stewart -- 6-14 (5)

139. Tai Au -- 6-14 (5)

141. Blake Hall -- 6-13 (4)

142. Scott Towry -- 6-08 (3)

142. Billy Hines -- 6-08 (5)

144. Alex Davis -- 6-07 (4)

145. Eric Olliverson -- 6-06 (5)

146. Miles Burghoff -- 6-05 (3)

147. Mark Fisher -- 5-15 (5)

148. Nick Hatfield -- 5-13 (1)

149. Mitchell Webb -- 5-02 (3)

150. Shane Lineberger -- 4-12 (2)

150. Charlie Ingram -- 4-12 (5)

152. Blake Smith -- 4-11 (3)

153. Tom Redington -- 4-05 (2)

154. Clabion Johns -- 3-06 (3)

155. Jeff McLain -- 2-10 (2)

156. Tim Frederick -- 2-00 (2)

157. Takayuki Koike -- 1-15 (2)