COUNCE, Tenn. – Day 1 of the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Central Division event on Pickwick Lake went pretty much to plan – the fishing was good, the bass were big, and Banks Shaw is in the lead. While that may not have been part of the plan for everyone else in the field, Shaw is always in the mix on the Tennessee River and tallied an even 25 pounds to get things rolling in this one. Behind Shaw, Hayden O’Barr sacked up 24-1, Donny Beck wrangled 23-1, and everyone in the Top 10 is over 21 pounds, making this a hotly contested tournament.
On the co-angler side, Keith Gunsauls caught 18-7 for the lead, and Jakob LaBelle holds down second place with 17-12. Overall, co-angler weights were not spectacular, and there’s plenty of room for movement on Day 2.
1. Shaw up to his usual tricks
More than probably any other pro going, Shaw has proven to be a master when it comes to mixing forward-facing sonar and a lack of it in the five-fish format. Today was no different, weighing all largemouth, he blitzed out to the lead with a perfect mix of all his skills.
“I didn’t expect to catch 25, I thought I could catch 20 for sure,” Shaw said. “My main area I thought I was going to do it out of, I timed it wrong this morning and didn’t catch a fish and had to go to my secondary area and catch like 22. Then, I caught a 5 1/2-pounder without ‘Scope later in the day.”
On Day 1, Shaw leaned on spawners.
“I went up to the dam to try to catch a smallmouth for a bit, but I just have single fish,” he said. “Just isolated offshore spawners, they’re spawning big time. If I had a little more practice, I would definitely feel a lot better. But I’m going to have to find some. If I had one more day of practice, it could be insane. I sat on one for an hour today, and then I figured out how to get them to bite and I started tearing them up. It’s going to be finding them. I can definitely catch them, but they’re not easy to find.”
According to Shaw, he could be low on fish – driving back from a Bass Pro Tour bust in Texas put him behind the eight ball for practice. So, he’s considering drastic alterations to his game plan – the kind of thing that normally wouldn’t work, but could be possible for Shaw.
“I might completely switch up, I don’t know until the morning, I might send it to a different area,” he said. “I saw O’Barr had 24, I know where he’s fishing, I’m not going to go to his stuff, but I might go to that lake. If I could run somewhere else and back it up with about the same weight, and then go back to where I was fishing, I could very well win if I could catch about 22 pounds the next two days.”
2. O’Barr is right where he usually is
One of the main storylines of 2025 was how excellent O’Barr was at finishing second – he did it three times at the Toyota Series level, and once on the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals. Basically every time he was runner-up to someone who turned in an otherworldly performance, a super local, or both. This week, he’s off to a great start, and, if Shaw falters, you can be sure he’ll be there.
“It started out great – my first bite was a 4 without ‘Scope, my second bite was a 6 without ‘Scope,” O’Barr said. “Then I turned it on and filled out a limit for 24 pounds.”
As for backing up 24 pounds with another 24 pounds, that might be a lot to ask.
“I fished one area, I pretty much stayed in it all day and caught everything I could,” O’Barr said. “Me and Banks stayed in touch all practice, he’s definitely on some pretty crazy (stuff) and most likely will win it. But, I think I can go out and catch another 19 to 21 pounds tomorrow. I think that wouldn’t be impossible at all. But, I don’t know if I can luck into another 6-pounder without ‘Scope.”
If he can, or maybe even catch a 6-pounder or two with ‘Scope, he might be able to actually win one of these things, which, it seems like, he’s overdue for.
“Me and him are just neck and neck, I finish second, he wins,” O’Barr joked. “We’ve got a good thing going, shake and bake, baby. I’ll take it, but I wouldn’t mind taking down Banks.”
3. Beck goes brown
Self-employed at Beck Boys Plumbing and WOW Real Estate, Beck has a ton of experience on the Tennessee River, and he won on Pickwick in a 2024 BFL. On Day 1, he thinks he may have been a bit fortunate.
“It looked better than it was,” he said. “I only caught like seven fish all day, it’s not like I smoked ‘em, it was just good size.”
Weighing four smallmouth and one largemouth, Beck got the day off to a great start.
“I got some bites early, I had most of my fish by 9 o’clock, and then I may have caught one or two the rest of the day,” he said. “Running current breaks was basically what I was doing.”
Despite the great morning, Beck isn’t sure he’ll be able to keep up the pace. But, he’s at least started out on the right foot.
“It’s going to be hard to do it again,” he said. “I could catch a good bag tomorrow, or I could zero tomorrow. A lot depends on if it’s my time to catch ‘em or not.”
Top 10 pros
1. Banks Shaw – 25 – 0 (5)
2. Hayden O’Barr – 24 – 1 (5)
3. Donny Beck – 23 – 1 (5)
4. Benjamin Travis – 22 – 10 (5)
5. Rudy Worley – 22 – 6 (5)
6. Lee Black – 21 – 14 (5)
7. Tallis Morrison – 21 – 8 (5)
8. Jade Keeton – 21 – 7 (5)
9. Cal Lane – 21 – 4 (5)
10. Austin Swindle – 21 – 1 (5)