Rojas takes early Bassmaster Classic lead

Dean Rojas overcame brutally cold weather to take the Day 1 lead of the 2015 Bassmaster Classic with 21 pounds, 2 ounces.

Highest-ranking Mississippi angler is in 33rd

The 2015 Bassmaster Classic kicked off this morning with tempeatures hovering at about 10 degrees at Lake Hartwell, officially making it the coldest B.A.S.S. championship on record.

But if the frigid weather affected the anglers you can’t tell by the weights turned in after the first day of competition.

Arizona Bassmaster Elite Series pro Dean Rojas — who was held at the launch 28 minutes longer than the rest of the field as a penalty for getting off the water late on the last day of practice — wowed the weigh-in crowd in Greenville, S.C., with five Lake Hartwell bass that weighed 21 pounds, 2 ounces.

Rojas leads California angler Skeet Reese (20-2), Texas pro Keith Combs (18-8) and fellow Arizona angler Brett Hite (15-7).

The three Mississippi anglers fishing the Classic struggled today. Hattiesburg’s Teb Jones, who qualified through the B.A.S.S. Nation, topped the Magnolia three with enough weight to go into the second day in 33rd place. Elite Series pros Cliff Pace and Paul Elias are ranked 43rd and 53rd.

Rojas said he was thrilled with his first-day catch.

“This is our biggest stage that we perform on, and to be able to catch a big bag like that on the first day is amazing,” Rojas said. “How could you script it any better than that? Obviously, I’d rather finish it that way. But, hey, I’ll take it.”

Though Rojas hasn’t won a Classic in 12 previous appearances — and hasn’t finished first in an event since the 2011 Elite Series event on Toledo Bend Reservoir — he said he’ll be more excited than nervous to lead the field into Saturday’s second round.

He’s taking his Day 1 success in stride, much like he did the 28-minute penalty he endured Friday morning. He said the infraction was due to a Lowrance unit on his boat that he kept promising himself he would switch from Central Time to South Carolina’s Eastern Time but never did.

“It was my fault,” Rojas said. “I worked really hard all year, and I wasn’t going to let that ruin the whole event for me.

“I know if things are going to happen, they’re going to happen. I was very relaxed this morning. I wasn’t thinking about all the fish that were biting without me being there. I was just waiting until it was my time.”

Predictably, Rojas wouldn’t say much about how he was fishing.

“I was just using two or three baits,” he said. “Fishing shallow and deep — a little of both.”

Reese also tamed the cold for his bag of 20-2, and was equally secretive about his techniques. He allowed a B.A.S.S. media boat close enough to photograph him fishing docks at one point during the day, but he asked that they not photograph the lure he was using.

“There’s definitely one good pattern I’m running, but it only produced three fish,” Reese said. “The fish were stubborn today. A lot of the schools of fish I located in practice pulled out or went deeper or did something.

“They just hid from me today, but I got some good ones anyway.”

The conditions for Saturday are expected to improve slightly, with a high of 48 degrees in the forecast. But it’s not something Reese is expecting to really help the fishing.

“If you want to call that an improvement,” Reese said, laughing. “It’s still freezing cold outside right now, and it’s not going to get any warmer overnight.

“Maybe we won’t have to wash ice out of our (rod) guides until no later than 11 o’clock tomorrow. But I don’t know that anyone will be able to go out and duplicate a 20-pound catch day after day.”

Today’s take-off was delayed until 8:30 a.m. due to concerns over ice on the new concrete ramp, but take-off was even later when anglers had trouble launching because of icing. The fiberglass boats were actually frozen to the trailers, so it took a little extra effort from the boat drivers to get them into the water.

Once anglers ventured onto the lake, many experienced trouble throughout the day with ice forming in the spools of their reels and in the guides of their rods. Some rubbed Vaseline on their guides to help with icing, while others dipped their rods in the lake frequently or even used saliva to prevent ice from forming.

The tournament is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. Saturday, barring further weather delays.

Competitors like Combs, who are only expecting five to seven bites a day for the remainder of the event, said the extra two hours could make a huge difference.

“It was one of those days where I would catch one and feel really good about it, and then it would be two hours before I would catch another one,” said Combs, who was well pleased with his catch of 18-8. “So during that two hours, you’re starting to ask yourself if you’re ever going to get another bite.”

Combs said the day was no different than any of his practice days — and while it leaves him little margin for error, if he stays on the quality of fish he caught Friday, he’ll be in contention.

“I said before the tournament I thought it would take 52 pounds to win it,” Combs said. “I still think that.”

Reigning Classic champion Randy Howell is in fifth with 15-5, and South Carolina pro and local fan favorite Casey Ashley is sixth with 15-3, just ahead of Texas pro Takahiro Omori with 15-0.

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