By Alan McGuckin

Team Toyota’s Terry “Big Show” Scroggins and fellow-pro Britt Myers have shared boatloads of fun days the past 15 seasons as roommates on bass fishing’s biggest tours, but Wednesday at Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Tour event on Toledo Bend wasn’t one of them.

Both anglers failed to catch a scorable 2-pound bass or better, and subsequently took a zero for the 2024 season’s first day of competition.  “There’s never a good day to zero, but having it happen the first day of the season stinks even more,” says Myers, owner of highly popular CS Motorsports truck customization shop near Charlotte.

Myers says he only remembers one other career goose egg. It happened years ago on Oneida, NY, and much the same for Scroggins, he says he failed to score one day long ago on a flooded Smith Lake, AL.  So, Wednesday was indeed a rarity, but both are now challenged to turn the wreck around for far better results on Friday.

“The good thing is, in this format, you can rally easier than if you’re limited to a 5-bass limit,” says Scroggins.  “I’ll start Friday using forward-facing sonar out deeper, but if that’s not working, I’m locking a pitchin’ stick in my hand, and going up shallow for bass that are moving to bushes and cypress trees with this warming water temperature we’re getting,” he explains.

Based on the 8-pounder Andy Morgan caught, and the 11-pound beast Cliff Crochet caught Wednesday, Scroggins thinks the success of those two shallow water snipers indicates not every quality bass is living in deeper water, where the majority of the forward-facing sonar game is being played.

“I also know based on the success of anglers I had around me Wednesday, that I’m in a pretty dang good area. I just need to slow down and pick it apart better. Some days you can be so close, yet so far away. And Wednesday was definitely one of those days,” concludes “Big Show.”

Let’s hope Friday he and Myers rally in a huge way to turn goose eggs into golden geese. If they do, two of bass fishing’s nicest guys and longest running roommates will likely celebrate over one of Scroggins’ famous creations on their backyard grill.