Brent Ehrler leads 2017 Bassmaster Classic after day one
The first day of the 2017 Bassmaster Classic is in the books, and the Lake Conroe venue in Houston, Texas has not been kind to any of the four Carolina anglers participating in the event. None of the four anglers caught a limit of keepers today, and only one sits in the top 20 with two days left to go.
Wagener, South Carolina’s Jason Williamson had the best day among the Carolina anglers today. Williamson brought four fish to the scales weighing 17-1, and currently sits in 16th place. He is just shy of 6 pounds behind the current leader, Brent Ehrler’s 23-3.
While Williamson is mathematically still capable of pulling off a win, that’s looking like a much more daunting task for the other three anglers from the Carolinas, none of whom weighed in more than three fish today.
Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C. finished the day in 38th place after weighing in two fish that weighed 8-3.
Hank Cherry of Maiden, N.C. is in 39th. He weighed in three fish that managed 7-15, and Donalds, S.C.’s Casey Ashley is in the 40th spot after bringing three fish to the scales that weighed 7-11.
Ehrler hauled a five-fish limit to the weigh-in. His 23-3 bag was aided by the big fish of the day, a 9-12 brute that will be tough for anyone to surpass. Bradley Roy is hot on Ehrler’s heels with 22-1. Cliff Crochet is in 3rd with 21-8, followed by Mike Iaconelli at 21-2. Clifford Pirch rounds out the top 5 with 20-11.
Twenty-six of the fifty-two anglers brought a five-fish limit to the scales. Two anglers, including Gerald Swindle, brought only one keeper in to weigh, and one angler, Scott Clift, blanked on the day.
For complete coverage of the Classic, visit www.bassmaster.com.
