Paul Mueller took the unofficial lead at 11:15 when he put his fifth 3-pounder of the day in his livewell. He’s got five bass that weigh between 3 1/4 and 3 3/4 pounds for a total of 17-8 on the day and 34-3 for the tournament.
Mueller was in a three-way tie for 7th place after Day 1 with 16-11. And he was proud of it.
“I caught bigger fish in practice, and a lot of areas they just left today,” he said. “It’s tough. But I found new water. You’ve just got to stick with it and make adjustments. It’s one of those deals where you might have to scrap stuff and go fish fresh.
“These fish move around. You just have to keep an open mind. That’s the name of the game – open mind. You can’t be comfortable here. You’ve got to grind. If I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t have found what I found at the end of the day.”
Mueller said between practice and Day 1, he’d caught fish at depths ranging from 7 feet to 45 feet.