As the 2015 Bassmaster Classic got underway on Lake Hartwell near Anderson, SC conditions were cold but anglers were in good spirits. A huge crowd of spectators lined the frozen shore to watch the field launch from Green Pond Landing.

After a day of brutal exposure to the elements three guys separated themselves from the pack.

Dean Rojas leads with 21-2. Skeet Reese is exactly a pound behind with 20-2. Keith Combs is 3^rd with 18-8 and then there’s a drop off in weight.

Brett Hite has 15-7. Defending Classic Champ Randy Howell has 15-5. Local favorite Casey Ashley is 6^th with 15-3.

Just making casts was a challenge. Rojas noted that he had to dip his rod into the water to de-ice it so he could cast right up until 3 o’clock. While blastoff for the entire field was delayed for nearly two hours due to icy weather, Rojas endured an extra 28-minute wait in the proverbial ‘penalty box’.

Reese marveled at Rojas’ ability to take the lead with such a short fishing day and one that included a bunch of time wasted fighting iced-up equipment.

Rojas was penalized 28 minutes because that’s how late he was coming in from the final practice day. “I go my new Skeeter boat and my Lowrance unit on the console was set the Central Time. I thought I was coming in early, but I was 28 minutes late,” chuckled the veteran pro from San Diego, Cal. He can laugh about it now.

“My second cast I caught a fish and it was on from there,” said Rojas.

Reese also scored early. “Usually when you catch a fish on the first cast that means you’re gonna have bad luck the rest of the day, but today it meant 20 pounds.”

Another sign of struggle is getting only 5 bites. But Combs got the right 5. “I only got touched 5 times today. They were good fish. It’s that time of year when you can catch just a few but they’ll be big.”

Combs said he used 3 different lures but the banks he fished were similar, so he’s on a solid pattern. And because he mentioned fishing ‘banks’ you might think he’s fishing shallow. He is. He’s also fishing deep. Most pros said they caught fish in depths ranging from 2 feet to well over 50 feet.

Be sure to check out the video highlights from the post-weigh in press conference on the AnglersChannel.com videos page.