CARL MAXFIELD 10-1, first place :
"The wind was good, but I had no problem running up and down the lake. I had 3 fish at 9:30 and I caught 14 or 15 out of one spot. I don't know if I will go back because the wind made it happen. If the wind changes, I won't go back so we'll just have to see."
"I fished using three lures: a jig, tube, and a small lizard. I don't think bait was the key. I think it was the wind. The current is coming right across the point of a break wall and they were up to get the baitfish. I've seen baitfish here. You have to have clean water, structure, and baitfish to have a good fishery."
"This area seems to be fairly clean. I was using 10-pound Stren, clear line and I didn't have to retie a lot."
"I don't think anybody had any expectations. What makes it so tough is all the offlimits water."
"My boat was sitting in 10 feet and fish were in about 6. I went up there expecting to catch smallmouths. I was surprised largemouths were there. I caught 18 keepers, all largemouths."
"I don't think the cool weather had much to do with it. The fish are through spawning. I saw water temperatures of 74 degrees. If wind gets bad, I guess that I will fish in the river with the rest of them."
"The playing field for this tournament is more level than any other Classic. I think that the standings will jump around a lot. This is a test, trust me."
AARON MARTENS 10-0, second place :
"I caught 35 fish, 9 keepers, so there was a lot of small smallmouths. I started in the Calumet River and ended up in the lake. It's a great fishery, it justs needs a few more years."
"The wind is not hurting me. It dirtied up the water a little. If the lake clears up, it probably will take more weight to win. Wind dirtying up water in the lake probably helps us in the river. I have some other good spots, but smaller fish in them."
"Light lines, small baits, lots of pressure, big crowds...this is California fishing. I was using 6 pound line. There were at least 30 boats there and I expect it to be the same or worse tomorrow. I have a backup plan, but it probably would be 8 or 9 pounds, not 10 or 11."
"The fish are out there. I had a 13 or 14-pound bag out there last month. The river has a lot of fish in it. The cloud cover is hurting me the most because it's scattering the fish a lot. They are cruising more than they would if sun were out.
JAY YELAS 9-14, tied for third place :
"This is the best start that I've ever had in the Classic. I fished Lake Calumet. About half of the field was there. I had to go to finesse worms because of so much pressure. I wanted to catch some of the fish there but will have to do some other things."
"My California background helped a lot today. I was fishing the same area that Aaron was. I Just slowed way down and pulled out my spinning rod and light line and finesse baits."
"Lake MIchigan was null and void today. The smallmouths just didn't show up today. I was shocked. Totally shocked. I think catch was so low because we had a month and a half offlimits, and practice day was blown out. Guys were afraid to go out there. That's where all the big fish are. If the weather will allow us to get out there and fish for smallmouths, we will see some good fish."
"I caught one smallmouth in the main lake so I might spend some more time there tomorrow. I'm fishing grubs and Berkley Power worms but caught my biggest fish on a crankbait. Other good ones came on spinnerbait. I had a mixed bag. I was fortunate to catch what I did."
MIKE IACONELLI 9-14, tied for third place :
"I used today as a practice day. I did a lot of looking and I think I can improve my weight each day. There's a lot of desert bottom out there. I'm looking for rocks and vegetation. I figured a couple of things out, which should help."
"I had all largemouths. Had a good smallmouth on that I lost and I had others follow, but I didn't figure out how to get them to bite today."
"I caught my largemouths in the river until 11:30. Then went looking to try to figure out smallmouths in the lake. I believe that the average size of smallmouths is better than the largemouths in the river. If it stays calm and water clears more, you might see smallmouths really take over this tournament. There are enough smallmouths here to win the tournament."
"I caught my fish a little shallower than I had been and using bigger baits than I had been. I liked the fact that the wind blew and it was overcast. I'd like to see it stay the same as it was today."
"I figured out that my smallmouths had shifted a little deeper than they were six weeks ago and I think I can make adjustments to catch them tomorrow."
"There were a lot of spectator boats. They were totally polite, and it was great. Having people watch me pumps me up and I fish harder, so I wouldn't mind 50 boats following me tomorrow."
RICK CLUNN 9-5, fifth place :
"I'm in there with the crowd. I came here with game plan that largemouth would provide consistency, but win it with smallmouth. That's my game plan, and I will stick with it." After asking how he did today, Clunn replied, "I culled one smallmouth. I had a couple of big ones follow my lure, but I'm not really in tune with these smallmouth yet. The winner will be the one who figures out how to catch those bigger fish."