Story by Justin Brouillard | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
With a 6-pound, 12-ounce lunker to anchor his weight, Will Harkins brought a tournament-leading 20-pound, 6-ounce bag to the scales on day one at Lake Lanier. Despite a tie at Lake Eufaula which resulted in a second-place finish after tie-breakers, Harkins bounced back in a big way on a familiar body of water at the NPFL season finale.
“You have to have a short-term memory in these events and just roll into the next one,” said Harkins. “I have a lot of history here and it is fishing tough, the key is execution. We may have 10-pounds, or we may have 20-pounds.”
Harkins is fishing in his comfort zone this week and focusing on various schools of fish all over the lake. As he noted before, execution is key on a lake such as Lanier.
“I have a deck full of rods and you can get them to bite, but you have to get them in the boat,” he added. “I did lose two 5-pounder fish today but that is how it goes. I have two more days and have to execute.”
Patrick Walters
Getting off to a fast start, NPFL pro Patrick Walters brought a five-bass limit of 19-pounds, 13-ounces with a 5-pound, 4-ounce lunker to the scales to finish day one at Lake Lanier in second place.
After a tougher practice than he expected, Walters was thrilled to have a solid day one this week with two tournament days remaining.
“We will take it; it was a good day,” said Walters. “I got these two good ones, and another good largemouth, and after an iffy practice, it was good. I hit about ¼ of my water today so we got some more stuff for this week.”
Mike Corbishley
After a near miss at victory in Oklahoma the last event at Lake Eufaula, Mike Corbishley finished day one in third place with a limit weighing 17-pounds, 15-ounces.
“I have fished Lanier a few times with Trent, but overall have not been here much,” said Corbishley. “I have had some close calls this year and I really want to win one of these things; the best way I know how is to do what I do – I ran my Pheonix Boats/Mercury all over and looked at them on my Lowrance Active Target 2 and caught what I could.”
Trent Palmer
With 17-pounds, 10-ounces on day one, Sonar Pros Pro Trent Palmer goes into day two tied with Todd Goade in fourth place.
“This lake is about execution and I did not do that today,” said Palmer. “I had the opportunity this afternoon for a 20-pound bag but that’s how it goes. I didn’t have a fish until 11 AM this morning so I am looking forward to figuring them out a little sooner tomorrow and seeing what happens.”
Despite the lost fish, Palmer is happy the ‘house’ is doing well so far in the tournament but is looking to make up some ground on day two.
“I am happy to see the house do well; they begged me for info and it looks like the tips worked out well,” he laughed.
Todd Goade
As seen on live coverage, Progressive AOY leader Todd Goade finishes day one tied for fourth place with a 17-pound, 10-ounce bag. Starting the event with a 12-point lead over Jesse Wise, Goade “did his job” once again despite a day-one charge by Wise, and leader Will Harkins.
“Today started with a bang but got tough on me after lunch,” said Goade. “I know Fat Cat and Luke won’t like it, but I did my job today, and I have to do it two more days out here. I want to thank everyone who tuned in on the Live Coverage today and watched me fish; thanks for the support.”
Rest of the best:
Hunter Baughman 16-15
Quentin Cappo 16-4
John Cox 15-15
Richard Cooper 15-10
Jesse Wise 15-9
