Gaskin Takes Early Lead on the Harris Chain
LEESBURG, Fla. – Air temperatures rose into the mid 90s today in Leesburg, Fla., but that didn’t seem to bother the fish living in the Harris Chain. Plenty of bass were brought to the scales in the Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. Southern Division event, with five limits topping 20 pounds.
Despite mirror calm conditions across all the lakes and water temperatures peaking towards the 90-degree mark, bass continued to eat. Some anglers reported fast morning action that went dead in the heat of the afternoon, while others reported a slow start that only got better with the sweltering temperatures.
Leading the pack is Nolan Gaskin from Broussard, Louisiana, with a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 1 ounce, which was anchored by the Day 1 Big Bass of 8 pounds, 3 ounces.
Gaskin committed his day to just one lake and one small area, which paid off the biggest dividends for him.
“It’s one small patch of hydrilla and pepper grass mixed,” Gaskin said. “The grass has cleaned the water up just a little bit better in this spot and all I’ll say is that there is a lot of fish activity in that particular spot. I actually spent most of the day fishing off and away from it not to be seen right on it. But when the boat traffic would ease up, and there was no one around, I would slip over to it and catch a big one.”
That single area produced three of his Gaskin’s biggest bass, but he also caught multiple keepers on either side of the sweet spot when assuming decoy duties.
“The area in general has fish up and down the bank, but that one sweet zone seems to be the center of the big fish activity,” Gaskin said. “I did not pressure that sweet spot too hard today and I have a feeling there are still some big ones on it.”
Top 10 Pros
1. Nolan Gaskin – 22 – 01 (5)
2. Mike Jackson – 21 – 14 (5)
3. Andrew Ready – 21 – 05 (5)
4. Val Osinski – 21 – 03 (5)
5. Hunter Weston – 20 – 00 (5)
6. Tyler Sheppard – 19 – 13 (5)
7. Jarrett Brown – 19 – 09 (5)
8. James McLees – 19 – 06 (5)
9. Laker Howell – 19 – 00 (5)
10. Christian Greico – 18 – 14 (5)