We heard a lot about tough fishing on Day 1 of the 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota. But how tough was it? The best of the best made the most of it, with 55 anglers logging 250 fish catches into BassTrakk. Let’s dive into the data to see what patterns we can uncover. Here’s the breakdown of keepers caught by hour:
| Day 1 | |
| 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. | 2 |
| 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. | 33 |
| 9 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. | 27 |
| 10 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | 39 |
| 11 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | 30 |
| 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | 31 |
| 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | 35 |
| 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | 38 |
| 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | 15 |
Judging by these numbers, the bite was fairly consistent throughout the day. But keep in mind, these are all the keepers caught. To get a better gauge of when the bigger bite windows came, let’s look at the fish caught over 3- pounds. There were 38 such fish caught. Here’s the breakdown by weight:
| Day 1 | |
| 3-pounders | 25 |
| 4-pounders | 12 |
| 5-pounders | 1 |
Of those 38 fish over 3 pounds, here’s the breakdown by the hour:
| Day 1 | |
| 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. | 0 |
| 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. | 4 |
| 9 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. | 5 |
| 10 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | 7 |
| 11 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | 1 |
| 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | 4 |
| 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | 6 |
| 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | 9 |
| 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | 2 |
Looking at these numbers, we can see there were actually two more defined big bite windows with a lull in between. The morning started with a few good fish and then the bite peaked when 7 fish over 3- pounds were caught between 10 and 11 o’clock. But then the bite came to a screeching halt around lunch. The bigger fish slowly started feeding again in the afternoon. The 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. window was the most productive of the day, with 9 bass total logged over 3- pounds.
As we work our way into the 9 o’clock hour here on Day 2, Cory Johnston and Drew Benton both have a 3- pounder in the boat, Matt Roberston has a pair of them. Austin Felix has two as well. And Caleb Kuphall has the loan 4- pounder on the day, the current Phoenix Boats Big Bass leader.
Will we see a similar big bite flurry in the afternoon? The post-frontal conditions will no doubt make things tough. But this is the best time of the year for the bass to bounce back, as they are pushing shallow and aggressively making their way into the spawn. Look for the guys to catch them here again this afternoon.
