The weather was warm and windy on Beaver Lake on Thursday as 346 anglers from across the world came to Rogers to throw a line out to catch the biggest fish.
The tournament began at 7 a.m. for participants. The anglers then had until 3 p.m. to catch the biggest bass they could reel in.
North Carolina native Bryan Thrift was the leader for day one of the tournament, catching five bass that weighed in at 16 pounds, 2 ounces.
Thrift is hot off a win just a week ago in Texas. He said that Beaver Lake is tricky and he never knows just what to expect.
"The last tour tournament in Sam Rayburn in Texas, I won it, now I'm leading here at Beaver the first day. So hopefully we can keep it going and get another win this year," Thrift said.
Thrift said the weather was a nearly perfect day to fish, and director of FLW Joe Opager agreed.
"We couldn't have asked for better weather, I tell you that much. It was a little windy out there today, but the best anglers in the world still went out and caught them," Opager said.
Opager said that last year on the first day of the tournament, it was a chilly 30 degrees and there was a frost warning for the area. Thursday was a much different story, with a high in the low-80s.
The tournament will continue Friday at 7 a.m. at Beaver Lake.