Alabama angler catches 23-15 limit to take early lead in three-day event
RICHMOND, Va. (June 20, 2025) – Day 1 of Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 5 Presented by 7Brew Coffee on the James River surpassed most pregame expectations, with five pros cracking the 19-pound mark and 15 pounds extending all the way down to 17th place. In the lead, pro Keith Poche of Cecil, Alabama, blasted 23 pounds, 15 ounces, establishing an advantage of almost 4 pounds over second, where pro Cal Lane of Grant, Alabama, caught 20-1. In third by a hair, Columbus, Mississippi, pro Mitch Crane caught 20 pounds himself, and the Top 10 is a real who’s who of Invitationals and river rat talent.
Link to Photo Gallery of Day 1 on-the-water Highlights
Link to Video of Fish-Catch Highlights of Day 1 from the James River
Give Poche a river, ideally with some hard-to-reach places, and you’ve about got a guaranteed Top 10 with a good shot at a win. Friday, Poche returned to weigh-in super early after battling livewell trouble. He really didn’t need extra time – his damage was done in a few hours.
“This is my third event here on the James River, and that’s the third time I fished this particular area,” said Poche. “I’ve caught big ones there every time. This is probably the best start I’ve had there. It’s just a hard-to-get-to place and doesn’t get fished a whole lot.”
Poche got bit early and often on Day 1, but the bite didn’t last for him.
“They just live there,” he said. “But, you know, it’s all timing. The tide’s got to be right. I could go there tomorrow and catch nothing. I mean, that’s just part of it. When they shut down today, they shut down. I caught mainly the ones that were feeding. Now, there were probably more there that I scattered, spooked a little bit when I started catching them. Will there be more later tomorrow? Possibly. It’s just getting the bites and getting them in the boat.”
In April of 2022, Poche finished runner-up in a Bassmaster Open on the James, where he caught 17-6 on Day 1 and then two limits over 20 pounds. He got edged out only by Kenta Kimura, who blasted two bags over 23 pounds on the last two days. Last year, in the Bass Pro Tour event at the James, Poche had a mediocre finish – he wasn’t able to keep pace from a numbers perspective.
This time, things might be setting up in his favor – claiming an early lead certainly doesn’t hurt. Plus, if things go sideways, Poche may have another ace in the hole.
“I do have a Plan B, but it’s a little sketchy, and the water has got to be at a certain point for me to be able to get in there,” he said. “I can probably catch them just as good. I don’t know about 24 pounds, but I can catch them good really, really quick. And nobody can get there. I’m the only one that can get there.”
Like Poche, Lane spent his time fishing places that were as far out of the way as possible, though he did it in a full-sized, fiberglass boat.
“It was a super blessed day,” said Lane. “I had a blast out there. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I just went out and had fun fishing today and jumped around, hit a bunch of different areas, and that’s the same game plan for tomorrow.”
When the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit came to the James in 2022, Lane finished 46th and made the sort of mistakes you’d expect from a sophomore pro. This year, Lane seems to have tightened things up across the board, and he’s got a chance to really show it this week.
“I think that I’ve got a couple deals to myself,” he said. “But you never know, just because this place is so big, and you can run around a lot and not see people on stuff that they may be on. I was looking forward to it; I really don’t like good practices, but I had an incredible practice.”
The top 20 pros after Day 1 on the James River are:
1st: Keith Poche, Cecil, Ala., five bass, 23-15
2nd: Cal Lane, Grant, Ala., five bass, 20-1
3rd: Mitch Crane, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 20-0
4th: Chad Mrazek, Montgomery, Texas, five bass, 19-9
5th: Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., five bass, 19-2
6th: Blake Hall, Rogersville, Ala., five bass, 18-8
7th: Ken Thompson, Roaring Springs, Pa., five bass, 17-12
8th: Dustin Smith, Trussville, Ala., five bass, 16-13
9th: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., five bass, 16-10
10th: Christian Greico, New Bern, N.C., five bass, 16-6
11th: Britt Myers Jr., Lake Wylie, S.C., five bass, 16-0
12th: Colby Schrumpf, Highland, Ill., five bass, 15-11
13th: Kyle Cortiana, Broken Arrow, Okla., five bass, 15-8
14th: Matt Reed, Madisonville, Texas, five bass, 15-6
15th: Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., five bass, 15-5
16th: Jimmy Washam, Stantonville, Tenn., five bass, 15-4
17th: Kelly Jordon, Flint, Texas, five bass, 15-0
18th: Mitchell Robinson, Landrum, S.C., five bass, 14-10
19th: Colby Miller, Elmer, La., five bass, 14-9
20th: Robby Lefere, Jackson, Mich., five bass, 14-6
20th: Lane Olson, Forest Grove, Ore., five bass, 14-6
Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 445 bass weighing 1,109 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 94 pros Friday. The catch included 81 five-bass limits.
Pro Mitchell Robinson of Landrum, South Carolina, earned the Day 1 Berkley Big Bass award of $1,000 after bringing a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce to the scale.
The three-day MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 5 at the James River Presented by 7Brew Coffee is hosted by Richmond Region Tourism and features professional bass anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000.
In Tackle Warehouse Invitationals competition, the full field compete in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 30 pros, based on their two-day cumulative weight, advance to the final round on Championship Sunday, where they will compete for the grand prize of up to $115,000. The winner of the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 5 at the James River Presented by 7Brew Coffee is determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative weight.
Anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. ET each day from Osborne Landing, located at 9530 Osborne Turnpike in Richmond, Virginia. Weigh-ins will be held at the landing and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live all three days of competition from 7 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 5 at the James River Presented by 7Brew Coffee will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 25 on CBS Sports Network.
Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Bubba, Deep Dive, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, VOSKER, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Invitationals updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
