FIRST DAY TOUGH FOR ANGLERS STRUGGLE DURING SOUTHERN OPEN DEBUT

CITGO Bassmaster Southern Open

DECATUR, Ala - Wheeler Lake proved to be a challenge for the anglers at the first day of the Bassmaster Southern Open presented by Busch Beer in Decatur. Out of 417 anglers, both pro and amateur, only 19 brought in double-digit weights today. Illinois' Travis Loyd from Illinois ended the day atop the leaders with a total weight of 13-2. Georgia's Jim Murray Jr. was second with 12-12 and Alabama's own Tim Horton brought in 12-11 for third.

"This is my first BASS tournament," Loyd said, "I guess I'm what you would call a rookie. I've fished in other tournaments before, but this is my first BASS tournament."

Loyd, who has been fishing practicing here for the last two weeks, practicing said he stayed mainly to the middle of the lake on south and got lucky today from the high water.

"There was a spot where the water got high and I had been catching a lot of fish in that spot and the water kind of messed that spot up," he said. "So I went to another spot and was trying to get in there and practice. I felt like there were some fish in there and I got in there because of the high water and they were there. I caught them. Now, ironically enough they had been pulling all day and it took everything in me to get out of that spot.

"I don't think I'll get back in there tomorrow unless Guntersville dumps and Wheeler stops, but nonetheless, there they're still there. I lost a 5 and a 4(-pounder) today in there."

Jim Murray Jr. was the leader through most of today's weigh-in.

"My day started out slow," he said. "I started fishing grass beds on flats early hoping to get some easy ones. I didn't do much there, I was only out there for about an hour and a half or so and I knew it wasn't going to happen. I ended up finding a spot where two ditches came together at a flat and fished there. That's where I caught the majority of the fish. I caught seven keepers and a few shorts."

Tim Horton worked a Booyah buzz bait and a Yum six inch green pumpkin lizard in areas that had been good for him in the past. "The areas I was fishing today had some bigger fish in there, I don't know what happened to them, I didn't catch any of them today, I didn't catch anything really good the first hour and then it kind of got better as the day went on.

Todd Tucker and Danny White, both hailing from Georgia, rounded out the top five for the day with 12-1 and 12-0 respectively.

Homer Guffey of South Carolina topped the leader board on the non-boater side after being paired with third-place angler Tim Horton.

"I was just happy to catch a few fish today," Guffey said, "but (Tim Horton) and I had a really good day today. He caught a bunch of fish and I caught ten10. Seven of them measured, but I just did what he told me to do. I couldn't have had a better pro."

Daily weigh-ins will begin at 2:45 p.m. at Riverwalk Marina and are free to the public.

BASS is the world's largest fishing organization, sanctioning more than 20,000 tournaments worldwide through its Federation. The CITGO Bassmaster Tournament Trail is the oldest and most prestigious pro bass-fishing tournament circuit and continues to set the standard for credibility, professionalism and sportsmanship as it has since 1968.

Sponsors of the CITGO Bassmaster Tournament Trail presented by Busch Beer include CITGO Petroleum Corp., Busch Beer, Chevrolet Trucks, Yamaha Outboards, Mercury Marine, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Lowrance Electronics, Flowmaster Exhaust Systems, Kumho Tires, Progressive Insurance, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Diamond Cut Jeans, MotorGuide Trolling Motors, and BankOne.

Associate Sponsors include Bryant Heating and Air Conditioning and G3 Boats.

Local sponsors include Decatur Convention and Visitors Bureau.

For more information, contact BASS Communications at (334) 551-2375 or visit http://www.bassmaster.com. BASS is the world's largest fishing organization, sanctioning more than 20,000 tournaments worldwide through its Federation. The CITGO Bassmaster Tournament Trail is the oldest and most prestigious pro bass-fishing tournament circuit and continues to set the standard for credibility, professionalism and sportsmanship as it has since 1968.