Story by Justin Brouillard | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
As expected, the largemouth are biting and the smallmouth are leading. With the majority of the field focused on the plentiful population of largemouth occupying the shallow vegetation at Saginaw Bay, those who braved the big water of Lake Huron are so far in the lead at the mid-day point of day one.
Trent Palmer has the early lead with over 19-pounds on the unofficial weigh live tracker. Palmer was close to victory in 2022 and noted there were still fish in his key areas this go around. If the wind would allow him to fish, and catch five, he was confident he could get over 20-pounds today in a short time frame. With not much pressure, he should be able to spread out and expand on his areas elevating the pressure over three days.
As for the Progressive Angler of the Year Race, two top anglers have made their way near the top at this event. Todd Goade and Jesse Wise had thought about the points prior to the event but that doesn’t mean they were playing safe. Proper planning for changing weather conditions would be key coming in and both anglers had found locations for different wind conditions. Goade sits unofficially in third place with almost 17-pounds while Wise sits in sixth with over 14-pounds.
AOY leader Timmy Reams is reporting a small limit on the day, but expect that to change before weigh-in at 3:30 EST.
The TOP TEN look like this:
Trent Palmer 19-4
Mike Corbishley 17-4
Todd Goade 16-14
Stu Martel 15-0
Hunter Baughman 14-8
Jesse Wise 14-5
Barron Adams 14-4
Chip Harrington 13-13
Kevin Rogers 13-6
Ron Johnson 13-3
Join us for the Live Weigh-In at 3 PM EST from Saginaw Bay.
Follow along on the Weigh Live Tracker for real-time unofficial updates from the water.
Check out the Day One Morning Story and Launch Photo Gallery, here!
