 |
Palm Harbor, Florida pro catches 22-8 limit to grab early lead in three-day event LEESBURG, Fla. (Feb. 6, 2026) – The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech opened the season with brutal weather and a tough day of fishing. Kicking off Stop 1 Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches on the Harris Chain , only 46 pros caught a limit, and Miles Smith holds down the cutline in 50th with a meager total of 6 pounds, 15 ounces on three keepers. At the top of the leaderboard, it didn’t get much easier. In first, Aaron Yavorsky tallied 22-8 on five, and Drew Gill weighed an even 21 pounds on just three bass. Neither angler culled, as Yavorsky landed just five – no more, no less. In third, Keith Poche knocked out 17-12, and Marshall Robinson and Caz Anderson also got over the 17-pound mark. Link to Photo Gallery of Day 1 on-the-water Highlights Link to Video of Fish-Catch Highlights of Day 1 from the Harris Chain of Lakes The Day 1 weather was pretty ruthless by Florida standards, with temperatures starting in the 30s and climbing into the 60s. For most of the day, an extremely blustery wind kept the anglers on their toes. Saturday should be nicer, with a little less wind and slightly warmer temperatures, but it is by no means the sort of big warmup these Florida bass crave. With the full field hitting the water again and battling to make Day 3 and the Top 50, there should be a ton of movement in the standings. One or two good bites will go a tremendous distance, and while a few pros are already safe above the cut, there’s no limit to how high someone could rise. Though a rookie on the Pro Circuit, Yavorsky is no rookie to the Harris Chain, so his strong start shouldn’t surprise anyone. Having already fished in the Bassmaster Classic as the youngest ever qualifier, he didn’t have any jitters, but he was very happy to get off on the right foot. “I’m pretty pumped,” he said. “I was kind of worried going into it with the cold front – a lot of the advantage I have went away with it being so tough. But I’m excited to be leading the first Pro Circuit event of the year, my first one ever. It feels pretty good.” Fishing an area that has seen plenty of pressure over the years, Yavorsky made a bit of a gamble on Day 1 – it could have gone sideways, as it did for plenty of other Harris Chain regulars in the field. “There’s a bunch of fish – there’s 35 pounds there on the best five,” he said of his best area. “But it’s a timing thing. I was really debating on if I should go there or not. You either catch them really good, or you’re not going to catch anything. They’re always there – they’re there 365 days a year – but it’s whether or not they are going to bite. Hopefully we can go there tomorrow and catch some more big ones.” Catching all his weight during his three hours with forward-facing sonar in the morning, the young Floridian hit the bite window perfectly. “I figured out what I was doing a little too late,” he said. “I probably could have gotten another 20 or 30 minutes out of my forward-facing period. I caught them all in a bite window really early this morning and then ran around all day. The fish I was on left – they don’t really bite after about 10 or 11 o’clock – and I never really figured anything else out.” Yavorsky is fishing pretty traditional stuff for the Harris Chain, and the end results look great, but it wasn’t easy, and there’s no guarantee he can replicate it. “The fish are only there until like 10 or 10:30, wanting to bite – and they barely want to bite then,” he said. “I was just using ‘Scope to see their tails above the bottom, and I was using ‘Scope to make a good cast and put a bait in front of them. I don’t think they wanted to eat. Most of them were hooked on the back hook and just swiping at it.” Key was, he got five to swipe right, and they were exactly what he needed to lead the day. While Yavorsky managed five fish, Gill ratcheted up the degree of difficulty, catching three giants, including an 8-3 that earned Berkley Big Bass honors. “We had the right quantity of weight, but not the right quantity of bass,” said Gill. “I’m not going to complain too much, but it’s one of those things, you don’t want to leave meat on the bone, especially in a tournament like this. When you catch a giant limit in Florida, it opens up the door to run away. I had the opportunity to catch a giant bag, a 25-plus day. If I’d caught two 2-pounders, I’d have had 25 pounds, but I couldn’t make it happen.” Catching all his weight during his three hours of forward-facing sonar use like Yavorsky, Gill thinks he’s around the right fish to do big things again. But he’s not around many of them. “I think the odds of me catching a couple big ones tomorrow are pretty high,” he said. “I don’t have any real doubts about the quality I’m around, but the quantity is poor. I have to stay pretty mobile, and I can’t fish behind myself very much, because there just aren’t that many there.” The top 20 pros after Day 1 on the Harris Chain of Lakes are: 1st: Aaron Yavorsky, Palm Harbor, Fla., five bass, 22-8 2nd: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., three bass, 21-0 3rd: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., five bass, 17-12 4th: Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., five bass, 17-9 5th: Caz Anderson, Haysville, N.C., five bass, 17-5 6th: Levi Kohl, Edinburg, Ill., five bass, 15-10 7th: Jared Lintner, Covington, Ga., five bass, 15-4 7th: Ty Faber, Pagosa Springs, Colo., five bass, 15-4 9th: Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 14-13 10th: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 14-10 11th: Ryan Lachniet, Gum Spring, Va., five bass, 13-13 12th: Dylan Nutt, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 13-6 13th: Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, five bass, 12-0 14th: Connor Jacob, Peoria, Ill., five bass, 11-14 15th: Clint Knight, Russellville, Ky., four bass, 11-1 16th: Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, five bass, 10-9 17th: Samuel Fish, Chelsea, Ala., five bass, 10-7 18th: Brandon McMillan, Lake Placid, Fla., five bass, 10-6 19th: Mike Surman, Boca Raton, Fla., three bass, 10-5 20th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., five bass, 10-4 Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Overall, there were 440 bass weighing 878 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 134 pros Friday The catch included 46 five-bass limits. Pro Drew Gill of Mount Carmel, Illinois, earned the Day 1 Berkley Big Bass award of $500 after bringing a bass that weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces to the scale. The three-day Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Stop 1 at the Harris Chain of Lakes Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches is hosted by Discover Lake County Florida and features professional bass anglers competing for a top prize of up to $135,000. “We are honored to host the first stop of the Major League Fishing Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit here in the Lakefront City of Leesburg,” said Mayor Allyson Berry, City of Leesburg. “Hosting a professional organization of this caliber highlights Leesburg as a premier destination for outdoor recreation and competitive sport fishing. Opening day of competition delivered strong economic activity for our local businesses and showcases our community on a national stage.” In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit 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 50 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 $135,000. The winner of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Stop 1 at the Harris Chain of Lakes Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches will be determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative weight. Anglers will launch at 7:30 a.m. ET each day from Ski Beach at Venetian Gardens, located at 201 E. Lake Harris Drive in Leesburg, Florida. Weigh-ins will be held at the same location and will begin at 3:30 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 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble. On Friday and Saturday, Feb. 6-7, from 3-5 p.m., MLF invites fans of all ages to the Ski Beach Park, located at 109 E. Dixie Ave. in Leesburg, for the MLF Fishing Show. Fans can watch Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit anglers at the live weigh in, enjoy free food for the first 100 fans each day, enter hourly giveaways and cheer on their favorite anglers. Youth of all ages can take part in a fishing derby (gear and bait provided, weather permitting) and casting contest, and the first 50 kids ages 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel combo each day. Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech Stop 1 at the Harris Chain Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Sunday, Sept. 6 on VICE TV. Proud sponsors of the 2026 MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Bubba, Cigars International, Epic Baits, Grizzly, Mercury, MillerTech, OFF! Deep Woods, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PiranhO2, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, VOSKER, YETI and Yuengling. For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. |