2008 Elite Series Bluegrass Brawl: Day One, Behind the Scenes

Tournament leader Kevin VanDam caught the 6-pound, 7-ounce Purolator Big Bass on Day One.

Skeet Reese finished Day One in 10th place with 19 pounds, 3 ounces.

Kotaro Kiriyama ended Day One on Kentucky Lake in 49th place with 15 pounds.

Timmy Horton carries his fourth-place sack of fish weighing 21 pounds, 1 ounce, to the weigh-in stage.

Dave Wolak had a tough Day One and is back in 93rd place with 11 pounds, 5 ounces.

Grant Goldbeck finished the first day of the Bluegrass Brawl in 66th place with 13 pounds, 11 ounces.

Gerald Swindle sacks his best fish of the day.

Pete Ponds caught this beautiful Kentucky Lake smallmouth on Day One. Ponds is back in 71st place with 13 pounds, 8 ounces.

Wade Grooms had a strong first day showing, finishing seventh with 19 pounds, 15 ounces.

Edwin Evers loads his weigh-in bag at the end of Day One on Kentucky Lake. Evers finished the day in 32nd place with 16 pounds, 8 ounces.

Emcee Keith Alan asks Dean Rojas about his first day of fishing on Kentucky Lake. Rojas is in 37th place with 16 pounds, 3 ounces.

Kelly Jordon and Kevin Wirth discuss what went right and what went wrong on Day One. Jordon is back in 78th place, while Wirth finished the day in 15th place.

Rick Clunn had a strong first day with 19 pounds, 12 ounces, good enough for eighth place.

Paul Elias jumps from the boat with a very full sack of Kentucky Lake bass.

Bernie Schultz stuffs his weigh in bag with a Day One limit of 13 pounds, 8 ounces. Schultz is in 71st place.

BASS Tournament Director, Trip Weldon, is called to the bump table after it is discovered Paul Elias has brought six fish to the scales. The limit is five fish each day.

After bringing six fish to the scales (one over his limit), Paul Elias is told he will be penalized by losing his largest fish, plus one pound. Elias’ largest fish was a 6 pound, 1 ounce smallmouth.

On stage Paul Elias is distraught as he tries to explain how he made the mistake of bringing too many fish to the scales. Elias said that it had never happened before in more than thirty years of tournament fishing.

Mike McClelland sacks two of his largest fish that helped him move to second place at the end of Day One with 23 pounds, 6 ounces.

Jeremy Starks had a fish escape his weigh-in bag in a tank while waiting to weigh in and was forced to ‘get the net.’

Scott Rook’s 30th-place, 16-pound, 9-ounce sack included this bruiser Kentucky Lake smallmouth.

A late flight of anglers waits to weigh in near the end of Day One of the Bluegrass Brawl presented by DieHard Platinum Marine Batteries.

Stephen Browning and Britt Myers bag their fish at the end of Day One.

Charlie Hartley carries 13 pounds, 4 ounces to the scales, which put him in 74th place.

Britt Meyers was one of the last anglers to weigh in on Day One. Myers moved to 16th place with 18 pounds, 9 ounces.

Stephen Browning tells a story to Britt Myers while they wait in their boats for a spot to open up on the bank at the weigh-in.

Mike McClelland works on his tackle while waiting to weigh in Thursday.

Timmy Horton leans over his boat to fill a bottle full of water to wash the interior of his boat while waiting to load up after the weigh-in.

Dave Wolak scratches his head prior to the weigh-in, as he listens to the weights of the anglers before him. He finished the day in 93rd place with 11 pounds, 5 ounces.

Mike Wurm checks his livewell next to Jim Murray on Thursday. Murray broke down and had to hitch a ride with Wurm. The two made it to the weigh-in with one minute to spare.

Kevin VanDam is nonchalant as he’s interviewed at the weigh-in. VanDam was the first angler to weigh in, coming to the scales an hour early.

Davy Hite organizes his tackle while waiting to get a spot on the bank at the weigh-in.