Quick early observation from Thursday’s opening weigh-in at Toho: It looks like a lot of the bigger bags came in with the later flights today. Couple of possible reasons for that:
1) It’s a tough bite on Toho right now. The anglers with a later check-in time simply had more time to squeeze out a few extra keepers this afternoon. It’s an odds thing: More casts = more bass, especially when they’re not biting very well.
2) Florida bass are late risers. I went out one morning with David Dudley in practice to get some sweet action footage, but even as early as last Saturday he wasn’t too hopeful about hooking me up with a fish-catch shot. “These Florida fish don’t bite `til afternoon,” he said. Apparently, he wasn’t kidding.
What this means for fantasy players: You probably did better if you’re anglers had high boat numbers today.
What this also means: If you did well today, look out for tomorrow. The anglers swap starting positions each day of the opening round. If a pro goes out in boat No. 200 the first day, he’ll go out in boat No. 1 the next and vice versa. Basically, the anglers in later flights today will have to come in earlier tomorrow, which will definitely cut into that afternoon bite they took advantage of today.
Again, this scenario isn’t always the case, but it’s seems to be the trend at Toho so far.
To see where your pros are in the takeoff order, check out the pairings and boat numbers list at FLWOutdoors.com.