Based on what the 55 competitors learned during practice, this Classic was expected to be a clinic in catching bass around boat docks. Day 1 has been exactly that, and it appears Bryan New is your Lake Hartwell boat dock king for a day. His five-bass limit will probably top the 20-pound mark when put on the official scales Bon Secours Wellness Arena later today. Unofficially, BassTrakk has him in first place with 19-14.
It’s worth repeating what New said at angler registration on Tuesday. The three-day pre-practice period indicated docks were going to play big in this Classic.
“I was born fishing docks,” said New, exaggerating, uh, a bit. “I’m pretty good at fishing docks, and I’m going to do some dock fishing this week. But I’ve got a couple of other things in my back pocket.”