PARIS, Tenn. — A quick tackle inspection likely prevented the loss of an afternoon kicker that gave Riley Nielsen the Day 1 lead in the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley presented by Battery Tender.
When a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass surfaced with one point of one treble hook barely pinned in its mouth, fortune’s favor could have tilted one of two ways. Thankfully for the Salt Lake City, Utah pro, the point held and his limit of 23-5 sends him into Day 2 with a 5-ounce lead over Jack York.
“It was a blessing to have that fish,” Nielsen said. “I was shaking like a leaf when I got it in. It was a super-hard day on me, honestly. I didn’t get very many bites, but when I got a bite, it was a pretty nice one.”
Nielsen’s kicker came from a different place than where he began his day. He started on a mile-long stretch with scattered stumps and put together a solid limit by midday.
“I had 18 pounds around noon, so I laid off because I thought 18 would be good,” Nielsen said. “I found another little area that had a bunch of fish and the first one I caught was that big one. I’m hoping they stay there so I can beat on them tomorrow.”
Nielsen said his second spot was only 4 miles from his first. Both were fairly close to take off.
“I fished the 2025 Open here and the area I fished today is where I caught ’em last year,” Nielsen said. “Every time I’ve been to this lake, I try to go practice away from Paris Landing (the tournament site), but I never can find anything away from Paris, so I’ve stuck here.”
Nielsen said he was unsure of what his opening spot would offer, but after an earlier disappointment, he had to make something happen.
“I didn’t have anything else to do,” Nielsen said. “I had a shad spawn in the morning and I went and did that first, but it was terrible. I don’t know if it was the thunder last night, or the fact that we took off a little bit later than I was catching them.
“If my first spot with the stumps didn’t work out, I probably would have been in a lot of trouble, but I just made it work out there.”
Essential to making it work was Nielsen’s bait choice — and the specific bait he chose. Nielsen caught his fish on a Megabass Vision 110+1 jerkbait. He wasn’t picky about the color pattern; he was more concerned with the hardware.
“Whichever one had the best hooks, I just grabbed it and tied it on,” Nielsen said. “That was the key because my big fish literally had one point in its mouth.”
Looking ahead to his Day 2 game plan, Nielsen said he’s not optimistic that his first-round spots can carry him another day.
“I really don’t think so, because I didn’t see very many of them down there and the few that were down there, I caught,” Nielsen said. “I’m a little bit worried about it, but we’re gonna go try our best out there.
“I’m going to look for more stumps. That’s all I have, so I’m gonna live or die by it.”
York of Emory, Texas is in second place with 23-0. After a good start, York made a key move that delivered an afternoon game-changer.
“I had a couple of spots where it went down for me,” York said. “I had about 15 pounds until 1 o’clock and I went and hit a different school that wasn’t set up right this morning.
“I caught an 8-1 on my first drop and then caught a couple good ones to cull up to 23. Honestly, it was kind of an unexpected day, but I’ll take it.”
York caught most of his fish, including his biggest, on a jighead minnow presentation with a 7-inch Sixth Sense Shendo. He also caught a few on a deep-diving crankbait.
“The fish were set up on pretty textbook stuff, points facing into current,” York said. “In practice, it would pick up later and later. Tomorrow, I have a late boat number, so hopefully, I can do it again.
Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pro Tristan McCormick of Bon Aqua, Tenn., is in third place with 21-9. Drawing on his extensive Kentucky Lake experience, McCormick said he planned his day based on seasonality.
“Right now, there’s a lot of different things going on in each section of the lake,” McCormick said. “I’m fishing a section where the fish have been done spawning longer, so they weigh more. They’re more in their summer patterns.
“I caught a lot of bass today, I just have to run through them to find the right size. I lost a big one today that really would have put me up there on the leaderboard. All in all, I like what I’m seeing.”
McCormick said he caught his fish on a crankbait and a jighead minnow.
York holds the Phoenix Boats Big Bass lead with an 8-1.
Thursday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6:30 a.m. CT at Paris Landing Marina. The weigh-in will be held at the marina at 2:30 p.m.
Follow along with all of the action from the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley presented by Battery Tender on Bassmaster.com.
Henry County Tourism Authority is hosting this event.