In today’s morning story, James Biggs made several predictions for the first day of the Costa FLW Series Southwestern Division event presented by Mercury on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Based on what our media team saw this morning, Biggs’ predictions are basically spot on.

About two-thirds of the field was fishing up shallow around hay grass and flooded bushes, while the rest stuck to drops and ridges out on the main lake, which Biggs predicted perfectly.

The shallow bite, as predicted, was hot for keepers, but not producing many big bites for the anglers that the FLW media team talked to. From the Cassels-Boykin area to the dam, every shallow-water angler we talked to either had 12 to 14 pounds in the livewell or was working on a limit that would weigh within that range.

By far, the most successful pro we encountered on day one was Texan Kris Wilson, who landed his fourth fish about the time our chase boat pulled up. He said that fish put him at 17 pounds. Wilson soon filled his limit and culled, which should have bumped him over the 20-pound mark. That was at 7:30, so Wilson should be in real good shape by weigh-in this afternoon.

The biggest wild cards are what we didn't see this morning: the contingent of anglers that ran way up the Angelina River and the afternoon bite. Several anglers we spoke with, including FLW Tour pros Sheldon Collings and Nick LeBrun, each said the bite has been better in the middle part of the day and the afternoon.

There’s also a breeze beginning to build, which might help out any pros slinging swim jigs and other moving baits around the bushes.

One thing is for sure: There’ll be a lot of Rayburn bass brought to weigh-in, and the weights will probably be stacked very close throughout the field.

If you want to see how day one shakes out on Sam Rayburn, log on for the FLW Live weigh-in broadcast at 2 p.m. CT.