Sam Rayburn kicks out Bassmaster Open record stringer

Riley Harris made some history Thursday. 

The Orange, Texas, native hauled in 36 pounds, 15 ounces worth of bass from Sam Rayburn Reservoir to set the Bassmaster Open single-day weight record and seize the day 1 lead at "Big Sam". 

With the lake experiencing drought conditions – it's down 9 feet from its normal level – Harris junk-fished his way to a more than six-pound lead over Jace Lindsay, whose 30-12 effort was the only other bag over 30 pounds. Ten other anglers eclipsed the 25-pound mark. 

“I’ve fished out here for a long time and I kinda had an idea where they would be. They’ve been there and I’m super thankful to have these fish,” said Harris, who surpassed the previous single-day weight record of 33-2 set by Scott Martin at Lake Okeechobee in 2024. 

Harris said he had his limit by 10 a.m. then upgraded the rest of the day.

“I just had some schools and then I caught some roamers,” Harris said. “I ran around a good bit today and once I had a good bag, I started trying to fish for a really big one.”

That big one came around 2:15 on a spot where he'd caught a 5-pounder already. As he reeled his bait back in, he saw two fish shoot off the bottom and the one that bit wound up being in an 11-14 brute, the big fish of the day. Harris' 11-14 is the second-biggest fish weighed in during an Open behind the 12-5 caught by Kyle Fox at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in 2007.

“It was kind of a blur," he said.

Harris kept his bait details under wraps, but he described a junk fishing day built on versatility. Ultimately, seven different baits produced keepers today.

“I fished for big ones today and I didn’t want to do anything else,” Harris said. “If I zero and I’m still fishing for big ones trying to win, I’m okay with that. We fished for big ones today and it worked out."

Lindsday had a pair of 7 1/4-pounders in his bag and said he saw several fish that qualified as “mega giants” on his sonar, but he could not get those big fish to commit.

Lindsay attributed his success to local knowledge — specifically, knowing the depth zone Rayburn fish prefer this time of year.

“These fish like a certain depth range and you just have to stay in that depth range,” he said. “They’re gonna pull back to that depth range, no matter how the water fluctuates and you just have to keep your bait in that range."

Rylan Hamlin sits in third with 28-5, including a personal-best 11-7 kicker. 

“On my first cast of the morning, I lost one as big as that one," he said. "It was hard to shake that one off, but a cast or two after that one, I caught that 11-7. That made me feel a little better.”

The top 10 after day 1 at Rayburn looks like this: 

1. Riley Harris: 5, 36-15

2. Jace Lindsay: 5, 30-12

3. Rylan Hamlin: 5, 28-5

4. Fisher Anaya: 5, 28-3

5. Pake South: 5, 28-1

6. Colby Bryant: 5, 26-6

7. Kollin Crawford: 5, 25-15

8. Doug Chapin: 5, 25-13

9. Ethan Fields, 5, 25-5

10. Brody Robison: 5, 25-4

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