Bassmaster Classic rookie Andrew Upshaw isn’t where he wanted to be following the first day of this year’s tournament on the Red River near Bossier City, La.
Upshaw is currently tied for 19th after catching a five-fish limit that weighed 12 pounds, 8 ounces.
“It’s not too bad, but it’s nine places from where I wanted to be in the top ten,” the Hemphill native said. “I had the same amount of bites today that I did in practice.
“I caught 18 fish today and I lost another four fish.”
Upshaw trails leader Keith Poche from Troy, Ala. Poche brought a 17 pound, 13 ounce limit to the scales that was helped by a six-pound, 13-ounce fish; the biggest of the tournament so far.
Upshaw said bass are being caught fishing moving baits around structure, although he wouldn’t say exactly what patterns he was keying on.
“Guys are fishing a lot of stumps and bends in the bank,” he said, “mostly on crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Later in the day, you can also flip a jig.”
Upshaw said he will stick to the same gameplan that was successful today until about 9:30 a.m. Saturday, before switching over to other areas that he didn’t get a chance to fish today.
“Those areas will be better when the sun gets higher,” he said.
Defending champion Kevin VanDam brought 11 pounds to the scale and currently sits in 27th place.
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