Bigger than expected on Day 1 at the South Shore Bass Open

Cody Bertrand and Edan Czarobski defied the bumpy ride to start the South Shore Bass Open Saturday, then weighed an imposing 19.44 pounds of a limit of smallmouth bass to hold the lead after Day 1 out of Hammond Marina.

"It was a morning bite, they were feasting on baitfish," Bertrand said. "We capitalized on the feeding window. Most of our weight came in that three-hour window and we slowly ungraded through the day. We landed all 20 bites we got."

They also landed the big bass for the day, a 3.63-pound smallmouth.

The northeast blow for several days before the second annual SSBO muddled up the fishing and made for a bumpy ride at takeoff before dawn. But Czarobski cracked, "It was a little sporty in the morning. But it wasn't the worst."

All joking aside, Scott Christy, fishing with his son Tyler, stated the reality, "We couldn't get to half the spots we wanted to fish today."

They favor off-shore spots, which the early waves made tough to reach.

Despite the early residual waves, the bags were impressive with six topping 15 pounds.

Each team could weigh their five heaviest bass (smallmouth or largemouth) caught from the waters of Lake Michigan in Illinois and Indiana and its tributaries.

It was a celebration of youth with Joe Childs, 18, and Hunter Duracz, 16, holding second with 18.37. Duracz is the son of Phil who won last year with partner Clint Marler.

The second SSBO drew an impressive field of 47 teams, up from 36 last year, competing for the top prize of $12,000. With sponsorship from the Horseshoe Casino and the guidance from tournament director Dennis Banik, the SSBO gave a professional show with B.A.S.S.' loquacious Pat Renwick emceeing, JayPee Hey being the Weigh Master and DJ Mike Green building a throbbing background.