Texas pro sacks 28-6 to take a 3-3 lead after Day One
Story by Admin | Staff Writer
They say sometimes a tough practice can lead to a great tournament, and that’s almost exactly what happened to Texas angler Jordan Osborne at Stop One of the 2026 NPFL Season on the Harris Chain of Lakes.
While some anglers projected big weights this week, it appears things may get top heavy, as they often do in Florida. Osborne’s Day One leading bag of 28-6, including a 7-14 kicker, has him over 10 pounds ahead of tenth-place angler Jacob Powroznik.
In second place, veteran Todd Auten kicked off his NPFL career with 25-3 on Day One, including a 7-6 kicker he caught during a midday flurry. Auten stayed with his approach and was able to come across a small group of better-quality bass.
Greg Vinson weighed in the biggest fish of the day, a 9-0 giant anchoring his fifth-place bag of 18-12.
Osborne Keeps It Simple
Coming into the event, Texas pro Jordan Osborne had high hopes for the first stop of the 2026 NPFL Season. But after a slower practice period, he was left somewhat unsure. Over three days, he tried to check off a number of areas, but on a system like the Harris Chain, it’s nearly impossible to fish everything.
“I’d say practice was not good, but not bad,” he said. “Overall, it wasn’t awesome. I had a lot of places I wanted to check out, but things are so spread out here, and you just can’t fish everything. The final day of practice, I discovered something and was able to replicate it a bit today.”
While he certainly didn’t predict the biggest bag of the event on Day One, he felt confident he could fish enough productive water to generate bites. It turns out, after not “hammering down” too hard in practice, there was more quality than he expected.
“You never really know in practice — you just get a bite here and there and move on,” he said. “I wasn’t sure of the potential, but I learned a lot today. I had to move around more than I wanted, and while I caught some good fish close to the ramp, the majority I had to run to.”
After his Day One performance, Osborne has high hopes heading into the rest of the event — but it is Florida. Expect plenty of movement in the standings tomorrow. Still, as Ken Duke noted on stage, “someone is going to catch them all three days without stumbling.” Osborne is at least one-third of the way there.
“I think the wind helped me a lot today,” he added. “I hope it keeps blowing. Later in the week, I’ll probably have to adjust, but tomorrow looks good. I fished ahead of and behind guys all day and still caught plenty. I’m getting enough bites — I just need to keep a couple rods on the deck and try to find a little more quality.”
Auten Finds the Right Bites
Like many anglers — and as local pro Keith Carson projected might happen — Todd Auten came into practice expecting to find a shad spawn. After three days, he never found it, but he did locate enough productive areas to sit in second place after Day One.
“I was looking to find a shad spawn, and generally there are groups of fish there,” he said. “When it’s tough in Florida, it’s one here, one there — and that’s basically how it was for me today. That changed a little bit around lunchtime.”
A solid day quickly turned into a great one as the front moved through midday. Areas that had only produced small keepers in practice suddenly gave up bigger bites, and Auten capitalized during that short window to land his three biggest fish.
“I don’t know if it was the area or the front, but I had three good bites in a row and just had to keep fishing,” he added. “A bit later I caught another big one, and at that point, it’s hard to upgrade. I ended up fishing all new stuff and practicing a little bit.”
Auten is mixing in a few techniques and expected more variety, but power fishing played a key role on Day One, especially with the wind. His plan moving forward is simple — stay around fish and cover as much water as possible.
In third place, Oklahoma angler Zack Birge brought in 22-6.
Top Ten:
Jordan Osborne 28-6
Todd Auten 25-3
Zack Birge 22-6
Brandon Cobb 18-15
Greg Vinson 18-12
Derek Lehtonen 17-7
William Fletcher 17-6
Andy Morgan 16-6
Chad Grigsby 16-3
Jacob Powroznik 16-2