By MLF Communications
OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – Andrew Nordbye of Guntersville, Ala. brought a five-bass limit to the stage weighing 21 pounds, 8 ounces Thursday to lead after Day 1 of the MLF Invitational at Lake of the Ozarks. Nordbye will take a 1-07 lead lead into Day 2 of the three-day event.
John Cox of DeBary, Fla., caught five bass weighing 20-01 to end the day in second place, while Charley Slaton of Valiant, Okla., rounds out the Top 3 with five bass weighing 19-10.
The full field of 150 anglers will conclude the two-day opening round on Friday, with only the Top 50 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight advancing to Saturday.
“It was a blessed day,” said Nordbye, who is also the creator of Fishing with Nordbye – a successful YouTube channel. “I had found some bigger ones in practice and I caught a couple, but I decided to just graph around and find some more stuff just like it. I fished it all today and had 19 1/4ounds by 11 (a.m.) – I was feeling really good.
“Then I went and ran new water the rest of the day that I hadn’t fished,” Nordbye continued. “I was kind of doing similar stuff and was able to cull twice. I caught one right at the end that was 4 1/2 and that bumped me over 21.”
Nordbye said that he had not originally planned to fish this tournament the way he did today.
“I have so much to fish, which is a blessing,” Nordbye said. “I had over 100 bass on beds (marked), but most of them are tiny – 1- to 2-pounders, maybe a few 3s. I figured that maybe today the females would pull up with them, but I didn’t even get a chance to go look at them.
“I stayed in that mid-depth range, targeting fish that are either staging or just coming off of the bed. I feel like my pattern can be consistent, but I don’t feel like what I’m fishing will reload, so I need to find new water doing the same thing.”
Nordbye said that he has fished numerous different times of the year and phases of the bass spawn at Lake of the Ozarks, but never during the spawn like the tournament this week.
“It was a new experience and I’m excited. It was a lot of fun today,” Nordbye went on to say. “I feel like I’m going with the flow a little more right now rather than just locking into exactly what I do in practice. The Lord is just blessing me, and I’ll take all of the blessing I can get.”
Anglers launch each day at 6:30 a.m. CT from the Grand Glaize Beach Boat Ramp (Public Beach No. 2) at Lake of the Ozarks State Park, located at 711 Public Beach Road in Osage Beach. Weigh-ins are also held at the boat ramp daily beginning at 2:30 p.m.
The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action on all three days of competition from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Day 1 Standings
1. Andrew Nordbye -- 21-08 (5)
2. John Cox -- 20-01 (5)
3. Charley Slaton -- 19-10 (5)
4. Matthew Stefan -- 19-09 (5)
5. Drew Gill -- 19-01 (5)
6. Jordan Hirt -- 18-09 (5)
6. Marshall Robinson -- 18-09 (5)
8. Ron Nelson -- 18-03 (5)
9. Tai Au -- 17-03 (5)
10. Cody Pike -- 17-02 (5)
11. Jaden Parrish -- 16-13 (5)
12. Dylan Hays -- 16-09 (5)
13. Fred Roumbanis -- 16-05 (5)
13. Cole Breeden -- 16-05 (5)
15. Thomas Wooten -- 16-03 (5)
16. Derik Hudson -- 16-02 (5)
17. Joe Grafeman -- 15-13 (5)
18. Robby Lefere -- 15-07 (5)
19. Kyle Palmer -- 15-05 (5)
20. Cameron Mattison -- 15-02 (5)
21. Joe Bennett -- 15-01 (5)
21. Colby Schrumpf -- 15-01 (5)
21. Andrew Loberg -- 15-01 (5)
24. Cole Hewett -- 15-00 (5)
25. Keith Carson -- 14-15 (4)
26. Martin Villa -- 14-14 (5)
27. Austin Culbertson -- 14-12 (5)
28. Mark Rose -- 14-09 (5)
29. J Todd Tucker -- 14-08 (5)
30. Terry Bolton -- 14-07 (5)
31. John Voyles -- 14-06 (5)
32. Kyle Schutta -- 14-05 (5)
33. Troy Stokes -- 14-04 (5)
34. Clayton Batts -- 14-03 (5)
34. Jeremy Southerly -- 14-03 (5)
36. Brock Reinkemeyer -- 14-01 (5)
37. Connor Cunningham -- 14-00 (5)
38. Jason Vance -- 13-15 (5)
39. Michael Neal -- 13-14 (5)
39. Bobby Bakewell -- 13-14 (5)
39. Andy Newcomb -- 13-14 (5)
42. David Walker -- 13-13 (5)
43. Brian Latimer -- 13-09 (5)
43. Grae Buck -- 13-09 (5)
45. Joe Wieberg -- 13-08 (5)
46. Jeremy Lawyer -- 13-06 (5)
46. Brad Jelinek -- 13-06 (5)
48. Tom Redington -- 13-05 (5)
48. Hunter Eubanks -- 13-05 (5)
50. Eric Panzironi -- 13-04 (5)
51. Mark Fisher -- 13-03 (5)
51. Joshua Weaver -- 13-03 (5)
53. Drew Boggs -- 13-01 (5)
53. Scott Wiley -- 13-01 (5)
55. Lane Olson -- 13-00 (5)
55. Christian Greico -- 13-00 (5)
57. Matt Reed -- 12-14 (5)
58. Kevin Rogers -- 12-12 (5)
59. Drew Kleine -- 12-11 (5)
60. Kyle Weisenburger -- 12-10 (5)
60. Derek Fulps -- 12-10 (5)
62. Rick Chenoweth -- 12-09 (5)
63. Ricky Robinson -- 12-07 (5)
64. Jared Lintner -- 12-06 (5)
65. Tyler Stewart -- 12-05 (5)
66. Mike McClelland -- 12-04 (5)
66. Jacopo Gallelli -- 12-04 (5)
68. Cody Parker -- 12-02 (5)
68. Jd Chandler -- 12-02 (5)
70. Danny L. Shanz -- 12-01 (5)
70. Blake Felix -- 12-01 (5)
72. Andre Dickneite -- 11-15 (5)
72. Steve Lopez -- 11-15 (5)
74. Kyle Hall -- 11-13 (5)
75. Chris Groh -- 11-11 (5)
75. Colby Miller -- 11-11 (5)
77. Bruce Parsons -- 11-08 (5)
77. Jack Daniel Williams -- 11-08 (5)
79. Nolan Gaskin -- 11-06 (5)
80. Todd Walters -- 11-05 (4)
80. Bryan Partak -- 11-05 (5)
82. Jim Moynagh -- 11-04 (5)
83. Sean Anderson -- 11-03 (5)
83. Hunter Mills -- 11-03 (5)
83. Jordan Collom -- 11-03 (5)
83. Dakota Ebare -- 11-03 (5)
87. Cal Lane -- 11-01 (5)
88. Laker Howell -- 11-00 (5)
89. Shaw Grigsby -- 10-11 (5)
90. Shannon Abbott -- 10-10 (5)
90. Wyatt Frankens -- 10-10 (5)
92. Lance Crawford -- 10-09 (5)
93. Kyle Cortiana -- 10-08 (5)
93. Tristan McCormick -- 10-08 (5)
95. Tom Shewey -- 10-07 (5)
96. Mark Condron -- 10-06 (5)
97. Richard Lowitzki -- 10-05 (5)
97. Tom Monsoor -- 10-05 (5)
97. Randy Despino -- 10-05 (5)
97. Nick Hatfield -- 10-05 (5)
101. Terry Olinger -- 10-04 (5)
101. Eddie Carper -- 10-04 (5)
103. Cody Greaney -- 10-02 (5)
104. Blake Hall -- 9-15 (5)
105. Kyle Minke -- 9-14 (5)
106. Marty Robinson -- 9-13 (5)
106. Matt Greenblatt -- 9-13 (5)
106. Travis Harriman -- 9-13 (5)
109. Alex Davis -- 9-12 (5)
110. Robby Frashier -- 9-08 (5)
111. Rusty Salewske -- 9-05 (5)
111. Jimmy Reese -- 9-05 (5)
113. Andrew Behnke -- 9-04 (5)
114. Robert Nakatomi -- 9-03 (5)
115. Cody Spetz -- 9-02 (5)
116. Scotty Villines -- 9-00 (5)
117. Flint Davis -- 8-15 (5)
118. Braxton Setzer -- 8-14 (5)
119. Rod Mackinnon III -- 8-12 (5)
120. Mike Smola -- 8-10 (5)
121. Ron Farrow -- 8-08 (5)
121. Miles Howe -- 8-08 (5)
123. Chad Allison -- 8-05 (5)
124. John-Dalton Miller -- 8-00 (4)
125. Travis Coleman -- 7-11 (4)
126. William Fletcher -- 7-07 (5)
127. Paul Elias -- 7-05 (4)
128. Mike Findley -- 7-01 (5)
129. Kollin Crawford -- 6-15 (4)
130. Charlie Evans -- 6-13 (4)
130. Elijah Meyers -- 6-13 (3)
132. Jeff Reynolds -- 6-12 (3)
132. Jason Grape -- 6-12 (5)
134. Spike Stoker -- 6-06 (3)
134. Michael Harlin -- 6-06 (4)
136. Pete Ponds -- 6-03 (3)
137. Phillip Dutra -- 6-01 (3)
138. Ryan Armstrong -- 5-14 (4)
139. Terry Luedtke -- 5-11 (4)
140. Chad Mrazek -- 5-09 (5)
141. Frank Kitchens III -- 4-13 (3)
142. Justin Cooper -- 4-12 (2)
143. Ramie Colson Jr -- 4-11 (2)
144. Kyle White -- 3-15 (1)
145. Cole Harris -- 3-12 (2)
146. Charles Abshire -- 3-10 (2)
147. Cody Petit -- 2-09 (2)
148. Kyle Glasgow -- 2-07 (2)
149. Bobby Carver -- 2-02 (1)
Brett Hite -- 0-00 (0)
