COLUMBIA, S.C. — Emil Wagner’s formula was simple: Expectation and execution. Combined, those two elements yielded a five-bass limit of 25 pounds, 7 ounces that leads Day 1 of the Tedy’s Team Bassmaster Elite at Lake Murray.
“I started the morning with a 5-pounder and between 9:30 and 11, I caught almost all my weight and (this afternoon), I caught another 20 pounds that didn’t help,” said the pro from Marietta, Ga. “It was an incredible day on Lake Murray. I fished the way I like to fish.”
On a productive day that saw this Saluda River impoundment give up 29 bags over 20 pounds, Wagner topped a tight leaderboard where 2-8 separates first from 10th. Heading into the second round an ounce ahead of Tennessee pro Jacob Foutz, Wagner said the day’s mostly rainy complexion worked to his advantage.
“I prepared for this event with the weather anticipated,” Wagner said. “I spent a lot of time fishing places where you couldn’t catch them in practice anticipating (today’s weather).
“I’ve seen it a million times. I checked the weather every day in practice, I saw we were gonna have the storms we had and I couldn’t even sleep last night because I thought, ‘If they do what I think they’re gonna do, it’s gonna be ridiculous.’ And they did.”
Noting that he caught 40 largemouth bass and 25 striped bass (nontournament species), Wagner said he made a couple of key presentation adjustments based on the weather. The leader kept his lure details slim, but he said changing a bait color and his retrieve made distinct impacts.
As a guide on Lake Lanier, Wagner is well-acquainted with fast-paced blueback herring and the bass that nomadically chase them. Lake Murray’s herring are spawning, so the bass are targeting these aggregations with sporadic feeding frenzies that create brief, but intense windows of opportunity.
“The key is having enough places, knowing which ones to hit at what time of day and running them correctly, timing-wise,” Wagner said. “I don’t stay anywhere very long, unless it’s really good.
“You just want to stay efficient and keep your eye on where other boats are. I try not to go places where I know a bunch of boats have hit, because I know those fish are going to be nearly impossible to catch. They’re already so smart out here.”
In addition to the right place, right time premise, Wagner explained the execution truth.
“I always say that herring fishing is doing all the little things right,” he said. “The wind getting heavier, or the clouds get in front of the sun for 5 minutes might change the color you want to throw.
“All the little things — retrieve, color, timing, the places you hit — doing all that stuff right throughout the day is how you have a good day. You can’t always control the losses, but I made some good calls today and we destroyed ’em. It was one of the most fun days of fishing I’ve ever had.”
Wagner said one of those good calls involved running to a spot downlake earlier than he had initially planned. As he explained, practice showed him the fish in that area tend to turn on later in the morning, but the day’s dim skies nullified that consideration.
“I had a section that I knew if I got bit down there, the quality was way higher than average,” Wagner said. “I went down there with about 19 pounds and culled up to 24 1/2 in probably an hour.”
Wagner said his day could have been even more impressive, had he boated an estimated 6-pounder that slipped through his grasp. An unexpected line wrap on his rod tip left Wagner unable to effectively fight his fish, and when he lunged for it at boat side, the bait dislodged and the fish swam free.
Summarizing his takeaway, Wagner said: “We had 25-7, so it’s all good.”
Coming off his first Elite win in the previous Progressive Bassmaster Elite tournament at the Arkansas River, Foutz is in second place with 25-6. The pro from Philadelphia, Tenn., said his day got off to a great start.
“The first one I caught this morning was a 6-pounder,” Foutz said. “The last time we were here, the weather did the same thing; it was cloudy and nasty the first morning and they bit, so I figured they’d do the same thing. Obviously, they did.”
While some of his competitors parked on certain spots for long periods of time, Foutz fared best with a run-and-gun formula. No one technique dominated his day, but his mobility delivered what he needed.
“I think I weighed all five of those bass on five different baits,” Foutz said. “I don’t feel like I’m that dialed in, but there are so many big fish in here, if you fish hard enough, you’re probably going to get five big bites.”
Takumi Ito of Chiba, Japan is in third place with 25-0. He compiled his day’s results with a blended strategy that included bed fishing for spawning bass and running points for bass targeting the blueback herring.
“That was awesome,” Ito said of his performance. “After practice, I was thinking 22 to 23 pounds.”
Ito targeted his bed fish with several options, including dropshots, Neko rigs and unweighted worms and crawfish. For the herring fish, he mostly used a fluke style bait. Ito said he weighed in three bed fish and two herring chasers.
Drew Benton of Panama City Beach, Fla., holds the Phoenix Boats Big Bass lead with a 7-0.
Trey McKinney of Carbondale, Ill., leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 447 points. Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, S.C., is in second with 406, followed by Caleb Hudson of Lincolnton, Ga., with 401, Foutz with 382 and Justin Atkins of Florence, Ala., with 381.
Friday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6:30 a.m. ET at Dreher Island State Park. The weigh-in will be held at the park at 3 p.m.
Bassmaster LIVE will be available all four days of the event, starting on Bassmaster.com and Roku Sports Channel May 7 and 8. FS1 will host the morning session on May 9 and 10 from 8-11:30 a.m. ET before heading to Bassmaster.com for afternoon coverage. All weigh-ins will be available live on Bassmaster.com starting at 3 p.m. ET.
This event is being hosted by Capital City/Lake Murray Country.