Castledine’s 21-3 leads pros on Day 1 at Toyota Series Championship on Guntersville
Phillips leads co-angler field with 18-pound first day
GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – There were seven 20-pound bags weighed in on Thursday for the first day of the Toyota Series Championship Presented by A.R.E. on the pro side, but the biggest one belonged to Texas pro Todd Castledine. The Southwestern Division pro caught five bass for 21 pounds, 3 ounces to lead the 194-boat field.
All about the timing for Castledine
Castledine started off his day roughly on the pace he expected, which was to have two keepers in the livewell before 11 a.m. He put his second in the box at 10:45 a.m., putting him a little ahead of schedule. But within the next 15 minutes, Castledine filled the rest of his limit and started culling.
“By 11 a.m. today I had about six or seven that I had caught,” Castledine said. “That’s when I realized what I was doing was working and really gave me some confidence. It was like a light switch got flipped on.”
While he ends the day on top of the leaderboard and 8 ounces ahead of second-place Ty Faber, the Texas pro’s entire day wasn’t as productive as it may seem. Once Castledine filled his limit, bites were few and far between.
“I had one way to catch ‘em, and it only lasted about an hour or two,” Castledine recalled. “I didn’t know what to do other than what I was doing during that hour or so. I caught a few more in the morning than I expected, so I think I have it figured out.”
Castledine will head out to Guntersville tomorrow looking to extend his lead and working to put himself in position for his first Toyota Series win since 2017. With other anglers jockeying for position all over the lake, Castledine says that he (surprisingly) doesn’t expect much traffic around him come Friday.
“I got no one around me. I never got with 400 or 500 yards of a person,” Castledine said in disbelief. “I don’t think I’m on the winning stuff right now, but it’s off to a better start than I thought. There’s a lot more fish where I’m at, because I saw them.”
Top 10 Pros
1. Todd Castledine – 21 – 3 (5)
2. Ty Faber – 20 – 11 (5)
3. Scout Echols – 20 – 9 (5)
4. Tristan McCormick – 20 – 3 (5)
5. Mark Lassagne – 20 – 2 (5)
6. Nick Salvucci – 20 – 1 (5)
7. Kyle Hall – 20 – 0 (5)
8. Andrew Nordbye – 19 – 15 (5)
9. Dakota Ebare – 19 – 12 (5)
10. Randy Deaver – 19 – 1 (5)
Phillips impresses with 18-pound Strike King co-angler bag
There were collective “ooohs” and “ahhhhs” from the weigh-in crowd when Roger Phillips’ co-angler leading 18-pound, 5-ounce limit was announced. At that point, Phillips had cleared the previous leader by more than 5 pounds, and he ended the day with a 2-3 lead over Robert Chavers.
“Everything went right today,” Phillips said. “I caught them all in this one area, the same area that I practiced in. I didn’t ever lose a fish, so it was an awesome day.”
Phillips was paired with pro Andre Dickneite. Hailing from about 90 miles away in Delta, Alabama, and qualifying out of the Southern Division as the fourth-ranked co-angler, Phillips felt comfortable on Guntersville despite some struggles during practice this week.
“It was a tough practice for me, so I really didn’t expect to be sitting on top of the leaderboard after today,” Phillips admitted. “I’ve never met Laker Howell, but I’m paired with him tomorrow. Hopefully it goes well tomorrow and we both have a good day.”
Day 2 on Guntersville begins tomorrow at 7 a.m. CT. The 194-boat field will be trimmed to the Top 10 pros and Top 10 Strike King co-anglers at the conclusion of Friday’s weigh-in.
Top 10 Strike King co-anglers
1. Roger Phillips – 18-5 (5)
2. Robert Chavers – 16-2 (5)
3. Derek Brown – 14-0 (5)
4. Anthony Scoma – 13-13 (4)
5. Pop Catalin – 13-9 (5)
6. Skyler Koury – 13-6 (5)
7. Michael Duarte – 12-15 (5)
8. Brent Jones – 12-14 (5)
9. David Bozarth – 12-11 (5)
10. Robert Griswold – 12-4 (5)