Bakewell cooks ‘em on Day 1 at the Harris Chain
LEESBURG, Fla.– Were it not for Bobby Bakewell, the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Southern Division on the Harris Chain of Lakes would be a hotly contested event after Day 1. Unfortunately for the rest of the field, Bakewell blasted them to get the event rolling, sacking up 27 pounds, 14 ounces for the early lead. Behind him, Nick Hoinig tallied 19-11, and a number of other pros are in the mid- to high-teens.
On the Strike King co-angler side, Gary Kelly sacked up 17-12. Benton Peoples sits second with 16-0.
A blustery, cold day (by Florida standards) didn’t do anything to help the bite, and it has the field pretty tightly packed heading into cut day.
Boat troubles temper Bakewell’s fantastic day
After getting off plane at his starting hole, Bakewell realized he had some complications – none of his pumps or lights were working properly. After some unsuccessful repair efforts, he caught a 6-pounder on his first cast and went to work making the best of the day.
“My touchpad went out at the console – livewells, nav lights, all that,” said the Florida pro. “I came off pad this morning first thing, and the power button wasn’t lit up. I was filling up a weigh bag full of water and filling up my livewells. I had four for 26, and then I caught one that was like 13-inches. One of the 7s that I had, it started to die, so I filled it up with new water, and it ended up living, but I had to come in at 1 o’clock.”
After weighing 27 pounds on about 5 hours of fishing, Bakewell took his co-angler back out to fish, even though he wouldn’t be allowed to add anything he caught to the day.
“He was fishing, I was throwing out in Narnia, and I caught a 3 1/2-pounder that would have gave me 30 pounds,” Bakewell said.
The young Florida pro is known for his prowess with forward-facing sonar, so, how he caught them isn’t a surprise.
“I caught them ‘Scopin’, ‘Scopin’ offshore grass,” he explained. “It’s all a matter of if I can get them to bite. Where I’m fishing, it’s got big ones. Some days they bite, some days they don’t. If I can get five of them to bite, yes, I’ll have a big bag. But, I may not.
“This is the only Toyota I’m fishing. I just came in with the mindset that I’m going to fish how I always fish. This is my home pond; I actually pulled the boat out of my own garage this morning.”
Bakewell will take a huge lead of more than 8 pounds into Day 2, and he’s looking forward to a fully functional day.
“I’ll be ecstatic once I get my boat working right,” he said. “To be honest with you, I was more frustrated about the baby one that I had than excited about the bag that I had. I’m super happy and super blessed to weigh-in that much weight, but I had the frame of a megabag. But, I’m fishing how I love to fish. I just hope and pray I can catch 10 more of them over the next two days.”
Hoinig makes the right moves
A word of advice for anyone who didn’t catch them on Day 1: Consider having some mechanical failure. This morning at takeoff, Hoinig should have been rolling out fairly early – instead, he was one of the last boats out.
“I was boat 60, and I didn’t take off until like boat 150 – I put my trolling motor in the water and the pedal disconnected,” he said. “That had never happened before. I was freaking out, I was scrambling. I ended up being the last lock cycle into Griffin.”
Split between going to Griffin or Apopka, Hoinig chose the safer alternative.
“I had a short practice; I had to work on Friday, so I didn’t actually get up here until Saturday,” he said. “I caught three or four good ones in practice there, and it was the best thing I was comfortable with going to. I thought I could at least survive a post-frontal windy day. I knew I could catch at least 15 and survive, and that’s where I ended up and it worked out.”
In Griffin, he’s fishing pretty typical Florida stuff.
“It’s just offshore grass, swimming a Gambler Burner Worm and some on a ChatterBait,” Hoinig said.
Tomorrow, as a later boat number, Hoinig thinks he’ll be heading back to Griffin. But, he’s keeping Apopka on the hit list and trying to make good decisions.
“If it all works out and I make the final day, I will most likely be taking the trip down there, but that’s to be decided,” he said. “With how the weather is lining up, I think the fishing is only going to get better. I’m content with today, but I have a lot of work to do. I don’t know if I can repeat it, but I think I can catch a decent bag. They’re there to repeat it, for sure, but I have to make the right decisions.”
Another big day could put Bakewell on the path to an easy win, but in Florida, no lead is safe, and everyone in the field knows it. With highs in the 70s and 80s the next two days, the tournament is not over yet.
Top 10 pros
1. Bobby Bakewell – 27 – 14 (5)
2. Nick Hoinig – 19 – 11 (5)
3. David Williams – 17 – 5 (5)
4. Corey Casey – 17 – 3 (5)
5. Arnold Bellini – 16 – 8 (5)
6. Conner DiMauro – 16 – 3 (5)
7. Phil Cury – 16 – 1 (5)
8. Connor MacDougall – 15 – 10 (5)
9. Baylor Ronemus – 15 – 5 (5)
10. Jessie Mizell – 15 – 3 (5)