Pro Aaron Martens leading after Day 1 at Table Rock
Consensus opinion from the Bassmaster Elite Series pros fishing the event on Table Rock Lake out of Branson, MO is that the lake is producing a ton of fish, but keepers, 15 inch or longer, are harder to come by.
Not for Mercury pro Aaron Martens. Today Martens brought in 18 pounds 11 ounces which included an 8-pound largemouth. Right behind Martens is Skeeter pro Mark Davis weighing 18 pounds 8 ounces.
Rounding out the Top 5 are Abu Garcia pro Chris Lane in third with 18 pounds 5 ounces. Tied for fourth are Nitro pro Edwin Evers and Triton Boats pro Jamie Horton, both weighing 17 pounds 4 ounces.
Martens relaxed
"I caught a limit early today," said Martens. "It relaxes me when I catch a limit early. I caught a lot of fish today. During practice keepers were hard to come by. Today it was better. I had my limit in an hour and a half. I'm not sure if I can do it again tomorrow, but did get off to a good start."
Hymns key for Davis
"The Lord is good," said Davis. "I was singing hymns all day. Seriously, I think it worked. This is a great lake. Table Rock is my favorite Ozark lake.
"Today these fish were caught in a totally different area than I caught them in practice. That is typical for Table Rock. You can't go back on them to catch them. Tomorrow I will fish different areas. Once they see your bug, they don't bite it again."
Lane played in mud
"I didn't catch a whole lot today," said Lane. "The ones I did catch were good. I had to find muddy water. The clear water in this lake blows my mind. I went into the muddy water and just went fishing. It turned out good for me. I want to go out tomorrow and catch five. I've never cashed a check on an Ozark lake."
The overnight weather looks like more thunderstorms and tornado warnings. Weather for Branson, MO tomorrow is predicted to be 20 degrees cooler with partly cloudy skies and winds up to 20 miles per hour.
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