T-shirt weather welcomed a field of 157 pros and co-anglers to Logan Martin Lake on the first day of the Bassmaster Southern Open.

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Dateline: Logan-Martin Lake/BASS Southern Open #3,Pell City, AL, 5/17/2013

I am fishing this Bassmaster Southern Open as a non-boater and drew Chris Lane as a partner on Thursday.

We indeed had a lot of fun and Chris is a fantastic fisherman (no surprise there!) as well as a complete professional and gentleman(again no surprise!)

Chris indeed had skinny water strategy in mind from the get-go and he executed it to perfection: frog/toad in the main lake and secondary cuts and coves from the launch to the dam.

He made some minor adjustments after we figured out exactly where the big bites were. His ability to analyze the bites/behavior of the fish and the conditions was really something to see. He made it look easy.

Add to that his total command of the technique and his ability to put the lure in just the right spot and he made an 18+ pound day look easy.

And wow, did I learn a lot!! It was an amazing day for me--and it was all due to Chis Lane,..thanks Chris!!

Now if I can just get my Rage Toad out of this tree we can move on down the Coosa river and hunt some more big spots and green fish.

Post script: Chris weighed in 10+ today. Good enough for 5th and he is in the top 12 and will be fishing for the win tomorrow!

Me?I am packing up and heading to Pickwick to meet 00Mod.