Hartman Leads Day 1 at Chickamauga
Tallying an even 20 pounds, Jordan Hartman of Benton, Ky., took a slim lead on Day 1 of the Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. event on Lake Chickamauga. This event is the final stop of the Central Division, which is presented by Neat Companies, and the event itself is presented by Googan Baits.
Just 24 years old and a sales rep for Precision Sonar, Hartman solved a very tough offshore bite on Day 1. With little to no current and plenty of education, the ledge fishing on Chickamauga has been harder than it should be, or at least harder than it has been in the past.
“It’s a lot tougher than I thought it would be from my angle,” says Hartman. “You know how the Tennessee River is, usually when they first get out there, there are 10 boats on a school and everybody is catching fish. Me, I probably caught 15 fish, and I had to fish a little bit different.”
Fishing deep and with a technique that he thinks is unique, Hartman actually had a fair amount of room to work with on Day 1.
“I’m pretty happy with it,” he says of the day. “I took off this morning not knowing if I’d even be able to get on something. There’s 200 boats, and all through practice everybody was out there scanning. I think a lot of people in practice had that problem of not being able to get them to bite, and they went to the bank. I was able to get on almost everything I wanted to at some point in the day. Really, running down the lake, you don’t see 200 boats worth out there in the middle.”
If Hartman can keep making them bite, he could be in for a few great days on Chickamauga. With over 200 boats in the field, there’s a lot of coin on the line for the person that really solves the fishing.
“I’ve got a way to make ‘em bite, trigging bigger fish than what’s biting if you’re just sitting there dragging,” says Harman. “I’m stopping on anything that’s open that has fish on it. The best places are really deep, and they just ate it today. But, all through practice, I fished on community holes, and that was the only way I could get them to eat.”
Top 10 Pros
1. Jordan Hartman – 20 – 00 (5)
2. Miles Burghoff – 19 – 04 (5)
3. Sloan Pennington – 19 – 02 (5)
4. Dakota Ebare – 18 – 14 (5)
5. Jeff Dyer – 18 – 13 (5)
6. Joseph Webster – 18 – 12 (5)
6. Andrew Nordbye – 18 – 12 (5)
8. Cody Harrison – 18 – 06 (5)
8. Sean Skey – 18 – 06 (5)
10. Jimmy Gayhart – 17 – 09 (5)
Copas Takes Strike King Co-Angler Lead
Weighing 15-4 and the Strike King co-angler big bass of 7-5, Angie Copas took the lead over a bevy of 12- and 13-pound bags on the first day at Chickamauga. Hailing from Lucasville, Ohio, her previous personal best was a 5-8 largemouth from Lake Erie, and this is only her second time on Chickamauga.
Fishing grass flats with plastics, Copas caught five keepers on the day, with one of them being a giant.
“I was just throwing on a grass flat and slow dragging a worm,” says Copas. “My worm stopped. Thought I was snagged. Nope! It was good, my new personal best.”
“Floating” after weighing her bag in, Copas feels good about Day 2.
“I feel good, I got my boater’s name, I think it’s going to be a good day. I’ve got a good feeling about it.”