BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (March 7, 2019) – Pro Braxon Setzer of Montgomery, Alabama, brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 25 pounds, 15 ounces to jump out to the early lead after Day One of the FLW Tour at Lake Seminole. Fellow Alabaman Joseph Webster of Winfield (25-9) and Bradford Beavers of Summerville, South Carolina (25-2) are right behind Setzer in second and third place as the four-day tournament, which features 165 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals casting for a top award of up to $125,000, heads into Day Two.
“This morning I pulled into a spot near the area where I wanted to start and thought that I would fish my way up to it. I started fishing, then watched Joseph (Webster) idle right over to where I wanted to be, sit down and commence to just whacking them,” said Setzer, a four-year FLW Tour veteran with one previous FLW Cup appearance. “I thought to myself, ‘Oh my goodness, what a stupid call on my part.’ I struggled with that, but then I settled down and just picked apart the area that I was in.
“I caught a limit by 9:30,” Setzer continued. “The fishing was slower than I was hoping it was going to be, but it was a bigger area and took me a long time to pick it apart.”
Setzer said the spot was mainly deeper grass, with his most success coming from an area he described as a ditch that runs up into a flat. He caught seven keepers there – on two different baits – then left the spot around 11 a.m.
“The bite died off, so I ran down to another stretch of grass that I liked and ended up culling two fish there,” Setzer said. “It was very slow and was an hour or two between bites, but when I got bit it was a good one.”
Setzer tallied just nine bass total throughout the day. He said his plan for tomorrow was mainly to keep his options open.
“There is obviously a bunch of fish in my main area, but it’ll be interesting to see what the weather and the boat pressure does to it,” Setzer went on to say. “I don’t know if I’ll stay with it as long as I did today. I may have to run around and fish some new water. I think I’ve got maybe one or two more areas that I can get bit off of.”
The top 10 pros after day one on Lake Seminole are:
1st: Braxton Setzer, Montgomery, Ala., five bass, 25-15
2nd: Joseph Webster, Winfield, Ala., five bass, 25-9
3rd: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., five bass, 25-2
4th: Sheldon Collings, Grove, Okla., five bass, 23-14
5th: Rob Kilby, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 23-3
6th: Kurt Dove, Del Rio, Texas, five bass, 20-5
7th: Tyler Woolcott, Port Orange, Fla., five bass, 19-14
8th: Miles Howe, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., five bass, 19-13
9th: Dicky Newberry, Houston, Texas, five bass, 19-7
10th: Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., five bass, 19-1
Beavers earned Thursday’s $500 Big Bass award in the pro division after bringing a largemouth weighing 7-pounds, 5-ounces to the scale. Overall there were 573 bass weighing 1,551 pounds, 1 ounce caught by 154 pros Thursday. The catch included 72 five-bass limits.
In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 165 pro anglers compete in the two-day opening round Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.