Wheeler Lake Midday Update Day 1
Somewhat slow start despite prime weather
Day one of the Costa FLW Series presented by Mercury and hosted by Florence/Lauderdale Tourism on Wheeler Lake dawned warm, muggy and slick with a little overcast.
From takeoff, anglers started fishing just about every way imaginable. Peter Cherkas got on the board early with a nice 3-plus on a topwater. Meanwhile Bryan Thrift was finishing off a little limit with a shaky head. Out on the flats Clayton Batts was still looking for keeper number one. Those fishing up shallow were catching fish, too. Glenn Browne had a limit for about 9 pounds in the skinny water. A lot of anglers were shaky heading and cranking bluff banks. Chris Ferguson and Todd Smith both had three keepers fishing that way and Michael Purvis also had a limit off the bluffs. Brian Holder had four keepers and Tim Fox had secured a limit. Scott Canterbury had a small limit junk fishing early and was trying to upgrade out off the bank. The heaviest bag our reporters ran into before noon belonged to Bryan Honnerlaw who had about 12 pounds. By noon, a breeze had picked up and a few showers were starting to spring up.
Tournament Details
Format: All 154 boaters and co-anglers will compete for two days. The top 10 boaters and co-anglers based on cumulative weight after two days of competition will advance to the third and final round, with the winner determined by the heaviest cumulative three-day weight.
Takeoff Time: 6 a.m. CT
Takeoff Location: Joe Wheeler State Park, 4601 McLean Drive, Rogersville, Ala., 35652
Weigh-In Time: Days 1 and 2 – 2 p.m., Day 3, 2:30 p.m.
Weigh-In Location: Joe Wheeler State Park, 4601 McLean Drive, Rogersville, Ala., 35652