Lady Angler Brings in Beast to Lead Day One of Big Bass Splash

Day one of the 38th Annual Big Bass Splash started with bang...literally.

The bang was a swift moving storm that brought winds gusting to 35 mph and torrential downpours to a large area of Lake Sam Rayburn between 5am and 6am on Friday. Thankfully, as the fishing officially got underway at 6am, the storm had for the most part passed south of the lake. Over the course of the next couple hours, a few more showers fell on the anglers, but none were as strong as the earlier downpour.

As the first day played out, it became obvious that the big fish were definitely biting. The first weigh in of the tournament belonged to Mary Ellen Bounds of Haughton, Louisiana. In another first, Bounds is fishing in her first tournament. Jakob Smith of Lufkin brought in an 8.91 bass that was good for the early tournament lead and good for winning the first hour's payout of $2,000.

Get our free mobile app

But, make way for the ladies in the next hour as 3 women ended up in the top 15 for the hour including overall tournament leader Julie Brown of Lubbock, Texas. Her catch of 11.29 sits in first after day one, it's also the biggest bass she's ever caught.

For the most part, it took a bass weighing at least 5 pounds to get into the hourly top 15 fifteen. Heck, in the final hour, you had to bring in a fish weighing over 6.20 to get into the money.

Here are your overall top five after day one of the Big Bass Splash: