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Ashley Leading

Category: Tournament

 Mar 6th, 2014 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Mar 6th, 2014 at 12:00 AM

Cold, wet, windy, miserable. All terms thrown about by the anglers fishing the FLW Tour event on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina today. However, Costa pro Casey Ashley seemed to be impervious to the elements.

While most anglers barely made it through the deteriorating weather, Ashley busted it open today with a limit weighing 21 pounds 7 ounces. Sitting in second is FLW Tour pro Skip Johnson with 19 pounds 4 ounces.

	Day 1 leader Casey Ashley (Joel Shangle)

Rounding out the Top 5 are Mercury pro John Cox in third with 18 pounds 13 ounces, taking fourth is Mercury pro Jason Quinn weighing 18 pounds 9 ounces, in fifth is Evinrude pro Ramie Colson, Jr. with 17 pounds 10 ounces.

Weather has Ashley doubtful
“I had a good day today,” said Ashley. “With the unstable weather, I sure didn’t know how it was going to be out there. It turned out okay. I’m still not sure about what is going on each day because of the changing weather conditions.

“I’ve fished here a lot. The fish I caught today were not where they should be. I just kept changing things today. I’m not fishing what I did in the past.”

Johnson found clones
“I put my speedboat in the right spot today,” said Johnson. All of my fish are cookie cutters, but they’re good ones.”

Colson improved from practice
“I had a very tough practice,” said Colson. “I maybe caught 10 fish. I went out today and did what I do. I put a jig in my hand and went fishing.”

Tomorrow’s weather forecast for Seneca, SC calls for a wintry mix in the morning that will transition to showers in the afternoon.