With another frigid start – in the low 20s – Saturday is forecast to get relatively smokin' hot – mid 40s by mid-afternoon. But the combination of a warming trend and no wind could make for a tougher fishing than Friday, when it took 21 pounds, 8 ounces to lead the Bassmaster Classic.
"The colder it is, the bigger they are, it seems like," said Jason Christie, in describing wintertime fishing in the Ozarks. "I think a real still, warm day will hurt. If it was getting colder, the weights would go up."
Christie, who is sixth with 18-12, lives an hour from Grand Lake in Park Hill, Okla. He has more experience on this lake than the 52 other competitors. But his Day One experience was common: An early bite and a late one. He caught fish in the first two hours, went about four hours with nothing, then caught them again in the last two hours.
"I think they always come up shallow to feed early," Christie said."When it's this cold, I think they start sunning in the middle of the day and get active again."
It won't take much to put a damper on the total-bag weights today. It's not like these guys are sifting through a ton of fish.
"It's just scary to go for eight hours and try to catch five," Christie said. "I could catch 25 pounds, or six pounds."