Sitting here in the Bassmaster Classic war room, getting an earful from FLW Tour pro JP Prouty “I told you Tharp was going to win this thing! – Money in the bank.” Prouty’s prediction is 1/3 of the way true at this point. Smart money is on the Floridian-by-way-of-Alabama. Tharp gets his mail in the Sunshine State now, but he cut his angling teeth on Lake Guntersville, site of this year’s Bassmaster Classic.

Tharp brought in 27 pounds, 8 ounces to take a firm lead on a day that saw many anglers’ plans muddied along with the rising water from “last night’s torrential downpour” – there goes JP again.

It is big fun to predict who will win in this star-studded field. As the weather caused everyone to scramble, some guys adjusted better than others. 13 of them weighed better than 20 pounds today. But even Tharp had to adjust. “I fished about two-dozen spots today and 6 of them were blown-out.”

Tharp also expects things to get better for everybody. “As the water clears up and the weather warms up weights will get better each day.”

As for the much talked-about spectator interference, Tharp’s fish are positioned so that he is not worried. Could that mean he’s fishing a tad deeper than most?

Hang on folks, it’s gonna be a slugfest!