Fishing tournaments are inherently time-sensitive undertakings, but for the 216 teams competing in the Yeti College Fishing Open on Kentucky/Barkley Lakes, time management may become as important as bait selection.

Day one of this two-day event began with cold, clear conditions and the start of a seemingly beautiful day. However, big northwest winds started building around 9 a.m. and by about 10:30, the lake was throwing a full-blown temper tantrum that’s only going to get worse as the day progresses.

While many teams worked the major creeks within about 10 miles of the Kentucky Dam Marina takeoff, we heard reports of some teams planning to fish as far as Paris, Tenn. That run would not have been too bad in the morning, but with huge afternoon winds of 15-20 mph and gusting to 30-plus, the return trip will be brutal.

Those who made the long run will need to allow an extra hour over their normal running time to account for big waves. Pushing too hard in conditions like these risks equipment damage and unnecessarily jeopardizes angler safety.

To that point, Tournament Director Kevin Hunt announced at takeoff that anglers have the option of returning early if conditions deteriorate. Official weigh-in time is 3:00 p.m. CT, but scales will open today at 2 p.m.

The teams we saw were mostly struggling for bites. Bryan College’s Trevor St. John showed us a nice keeper he caught on a worm, while Brendan Magruder of SIU-Edwardsville proudly showed off a chunky 6-pounder he caught while flipping flooded wood.

Several teams took advantage of the newly-accessible habitat afforded by a super-high lake level. Docks, riprap banks and points were also in play.

Notably, largemouth won’t be the only species at today’s weigh ins. While the green fish will almost certainly dominate the show, a couple of teams tempted keeper smallmouth. When we caught up with Western Kentucky University’s Brendan Bayer and Lucas Walz, Bayer showed us a nice brown fish he caught with a crankbait on his second cast of the day.

Elsewhere, MTSU’s Devan Whitworth showed off a plump smallie that went 3-4 pounds. He caught his fish on a jig.