OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – Weights were pretty strong on the pro side on Day 1 of the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Plains Division event on Lake of the Ozarks. Leading the way, Chad Satterlee sacked up 19 pounds, 9 ounces, and Joe Bennett is right behind with 18-15. Harmon Marien also got over the 18-pound mark, and 18 pros totaled more than 14 pounds to start things off.
On the co-angler side, limits were much harder to come by. After Day 1, Chase Johnson leads with four for 13-13, and Ryan Stagner limited out with 13-4 for second.
Day 1 was very warm, and mostly sunny, with weather blowing in later in the day. Tomorrow looks to be pretty wet, with temperatures falling throughout the day. Oftentimes, the fish eat pretty well in bad weather on Lake of the Ozarks, but, regardless, it’s not likely to be easy to replicate Day 1 efforts.
Big morning boosts Satterlee
Starting off hot, Satterlee weighed nearly 20 pounds and caught a 5 1/2-pounder as well. All that was a bit of a surprise to him.
“I’d caught a lot of fish in practice, but no good ones – one solid 3 1/2- or 4-pounder a day,” said the Illinois angler. “It was by far the best day I’ve had since I’ve been down here. I got lucky and made the right decisions.
“I caught one on a jerkbait, caught one on a RkCrawler, one on a jig,” he said. “It was just one of them lucky days where I made the right decisions junk fishing. We’re just flying by the seat of our pants – I’m hoping I can catch 12 pounds tomorrow.”
Satterlee did most of his damage without modern sonar, and his plan for when to use his three-hour allotment of forward-facing sonar ended up working to perfection.
“I did a little bit of ‘Scopin’, but not a lot,” he said. “I caught most of them before I turned my ‘Scope on. I was saving my ‘Scope for later in the day – in practice, it seemed like the baitfish got more active as the day progressed. I happened to get lucky and catch most of them early.”
Bennett goes old school
A local cattle farmer, Bennett has years of experience on Lake of the Ozarks, and put it to good use on Day 1.
“I jerked most of the day,” he said. “It was a pretty phenomenal day.”
On Day 2, Bennett plans to revisit the bank that gave up his 5-12 big bass, which was worth $500, but other than that, he’s going to keep delving into his years of knowledge.
“We know the weather is gonna change drastically tomorrow – I think I’ll still be OK,” he said. “The cold front on the third day, you know, I think I’ll still be OK. I think the way that I’m catching them, if I have to do anything, I’ll just need to slow down a bit and not jerk it so hard.”
As for making use of his time with forward-facing sonar, Bennett doesn’t have it, and didn’t need it.
“I’m an old river fisherman, I fish old school,” he said. “Every time I’ve had a chance to win one of these tournaments, it’s old school.”
Top 10 pros
1. Chad Satterlee – 19 – 9 (5)
2. Joe Bennett – 18 – 15 (5)
3. Harmon Marien – 18 – 2 (5)
4. Chad Garton – 17 – 8 (5)
5. Mike Smola – 17 – 4 (5)
6. BJ Fitzgerald – 16 – 15 (5)
7. Adam Boehle – 16 – 8 (5)
8. Brenner Lynn – 16 – 6 (5)
9. Micah Mulvany – 16 – 0 (5)
10. Andy Newcomb – 15 – 15 (5)
Follow along
Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public daily at the Public Beach #2 at 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. CT. This event is hosted by the City of Osage Beach. You can follow along with all the coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.