Spectators, officials and anglers pause for the singing of the National Anthem before the launch of the Bassmaster Elite Series on Lake Murray Thursday morning. Beginning at 6:30, the boats headed out from Lake Murray Marina for the first round of the Carolina Clash tournament.
VIDEO: Fishing on Lake Murray with B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year Skeet Reese
Grant Goldbeck, who has never finished higher than ninth in a BASS tournament, leads the Bassmaster Elite Series Carolina Clash on Lake Murray with a first-day limit of five fish that weighed 20 pounds, 4 ounces.
Goldbeck, a one-time drummer in a funk-rock band, also had the biggest bass of Thursday’s opening round, an 8-pound, 7-ounce lunker.
“The fish are there,” said Goldbeck, 37, who has finished in the money 14 times in 47 career tournaments. “I lost a few other big fish today.”
After losing two 5-plus-pounders early Thursday, he settled on three or four favorite spots on Lake Murray, returning to them throughout the day.
“It seemed like if I let them go for 20, 30 minutes, I could go catch another fish,” he said. “Leave them alone, let them rest for a while, go give them a fresh bait again every once in a while, I’d get two or three bites.”
Like the other anglers, Goldbeck hopes the weather conditions continue throughout the tournament.
“As long as there’s a little bit of wind, a little bit of cloud coverage or something to generate a reason for those fish to be up off the bottom, I think it’ll hold out,” Goldbeck said.
Edwin Evers sits in second after the first day with five fish weighing 19 pounds, 5 ounces.
Wade Grooms of Bonneau was the highest ranking South Carolina pro after the first day’s competition. The one-time Clemson football walk-on is in sixth place, two pounds behind Goldbeck.
“If I catch them, I catch them. If I don’t, I don’t,” Grooms said. “I put it in the Lord’s hands.”
Local favorite Davy Hite of Ninety Six, who is five pounds back in 18th place, said he will tweak his approach in hopes of moving up and making the cut to 12 anglers after Saturday’s competition.
“I had better fish on today and lost some of them. They were really not eating the bait, just smacking at it,” said Hite, the 1999 Bassmaster Classic Champion. “I feel I’m not doing something exactly right so I will fine tune what I’m doing for tomorrow and, hopefully, the fish will eat it better.”
Hite said he planned to change to different colored lures, maybe change the size and alter his retrieve today.
In the co-angler division, amateurs are battling for a top prize of $25,000. Travis McDermott of Kennesaw, Ga., is on top with 13 pounds, 11 ounces, leading South Carolina’s Lad Hunter (13 pounds, 4 ounces) and Clay Lowder of Charlotte (12 pounds, 11 ounces).
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