North Carolina pro is well back after opening round of Bassmaster Classic

Gray catches three fish for 40th place, needs rally to make cut and fish Sunday

There’s deep, and there’s DEEP. That’s how pro bass fisherman Brandon Gray felt after Friday’s first day of the Bassmasters Classic on South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell. How deep should he have fished?

Gray caught three bass that weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces, and the one that bit in the shallowest water was 32 feet deep.

“I had three bites all day, and I caught ‘em all; that’s it,” said Gray, from Bullock, who didn’t have a bite 2 ½ hours into the day.

“I caught my first fish at 11:30. My first bite was 32 feet deep, and I backed off and fished deeper and deeper water and caught two more.”

Gray finds himself in 40th place entering Saturday’s second round, needing a big improvement to make the top 25 and fish in Sunday’s third and final round, but he’s not about to fish any deeper.

“I’m going to fish the shallowest water I can,” he said. “I’m gonna try and hit a homerun.”