Red-hot Hatfield grabs La Crosse lead

LA CROSSE, Wis. – Just one month removed from his victory on the Potomac River, Nick Hatfield of Greeneville, Tenn., looks like he has strong intentions to make it two wins in a row. Hatfield brought a five-bass limit to the scale Tuesday weighing 18 pounds even to take the early lead after Day 1 of the MLF Invitational at the Mississippi River.

Hatfield will take a 2-ounce lead into Day 2 over Macomb, Ill.'s Hunter Litchfield, who weighed in a five bass limit totaling 17-14 to end the day in second. The local Wisconsin contingent also had a very strong start to the event, as Steve Lopez of Oconomowoc (17-12), Matthew Stefan of Junction City (16-08), Kevin Ruh of Onalaska (16-03) and Mike Bruggen of La Crosse (15-12) also ended the day inside the Top 10.

Competition resumes Wednesday, when the full field of 150 anglers will conclude the two-day opening round. Only the Top 50 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight will advance to the third and final day of competition on Thursday.

"It should have been even more,” Hatfield said of his Day-1 weight. “Unfortunately, I had a fish die on me late in the day and I had to take the 4-ounce penalty. But it was a good day and I’m happy with how it ended up.

“I started in an area where I thought I could catch 12 to 14 pounds and my plan was to just go in and catch a limit and get a cushion, then go to a different area and try to catch some bigger ones,” Hatfield continued. “I got in there and it started kind of slow, but I started to see some big ones cruising and with just a little bit of a bait adjustment I started catching them.”

Hatfield said he was seeing the bigger fish cruising both with his Garmin LiveScope on deeper grass clumps and also casting at ones he could see while sight-fishing.

“I don’t know if the area will hold up for tomorrow,” Hatfield said. “I’ll obviously try to start in there again and I think if I can pull 12 pounds out of there I’ll be in good shape.

“I’ve also got some other areas that I didn’t fish today that I can go to, so I’m confident that I can pull something together,” Hatfield went on to say. “I’ve also got some smallmouth found, so it’s whatever I have to do. I’m going to put together 15 pounds and we’ll see what happens. Fifteen pounds is the goal, then we’ll see what happens going into Day 3.”

Here's a look at the initial Top 10:

1st: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., five bass, 18-00
2nd: Hunter Litchfield, Macomb, Ill., five bass, 17-14
3rd: Steve Lopez, Oconomowoc, Wis., five bass, 17-12
4th: Matthew Stefan, Junction City, Wis., five bass, 16-08
5th: Matt Reed, Madisonville, Texas, five bass, 16-06
6th: Kevin Ruh, Onalaska, Wis., five bass, 16-03
7th: Mike Brueggen, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 15-12
7th: Mark Condron, Murfreesboro, Tenn., five bass, 15-12
9th: Jared Lintner, Covington, Ga., five bass, 15-07
9th: Mike McClelland, Blue Eye, Mo., five bass, 15-07

Stefan earned the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award after weighing in a largemouth that went 5-09.

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