I was watching the weigh in, wondering how 5-bass limits could weigh so little as some of them did today. Then Dave Mercer singled-out Alton Jones’ smallest fish out of curiosity. It weighed 10 ounces.

Bassmaster Elite Series anglers didn’t expect West Point Lake would produce a bunch of big bass this week, but some did see lots of decent fish on beds during practice. Then the waters rose. And the sight bite suffered. Apparently, lots of bass are leaving beds too. Cloud cover today did not help the bed-fishers either. And the forecast calls for dim skies again tomorrow.

Keith Combs staked a claim to the lead today with a sack that weighed 15 pounds, 14 ounces. No word on whether he was looking at fish or casting blind. “If I told you how I caught them you wouldn’t believe me,” said the Strike King pro-staffer. “I had the craziest day.” Combs added that he had not gotten a single bite before 1:30.

Tommy Biffle did get a couple of bites early in the day. They turned out to be his 2 biggest fish, including a 6-12 that took top honors as big bass of the day. All Biffle would say about his pattern is that he “just went fishing”.

‘Just fishing’ seems to be the way to go on West Point Lake where junk fishermen tend to rule. And in such closely contested events, the pros are often as tight-lipped as the fish.

Behind Combs is a versatile field of talented pros, including Greg Vinson (15 pounds, 10 ounces today), Reigning Bassmaster Classic Champ Cliff Pace (14-2) Aaron Martens (13-5) and former Angler of the Year Skeet Reese (13-even).

Check out the entire leaderboard here:  http://www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/2013-elite-series-west-point-lake-battle/leaderboard