Texas and Oklahoma Tied After Day 1 at Red River Shootout

Day 1 saw the teams of professional anglers from both states hitting the water with high anticipation for the days action as each team felt they had the edge over the other team. Teams Captains Jeff Kriet (Oklahoma) and Kelly Jordon (Texas) had matched up their anglers for the days action which would feature two man teams from both states fishing for a five fish limit against a team from the other state. On the line in today's action was three points total for the winning state determined by each match, and one point for the team with the overall biggest fish, for a total of four points at stake.

The first match featured the Texas team of Kelly Jordon and Mark Pack against Oklahoma's John Sappington and Harmon Davis. Both teams managed five fish limits but the Texas team took the match thanks to Packs 8.39 fish that topped off a 17.03 limit compared to the Oklahoma team's limit of 11.58. Pack said his key bite came mid morning on a road bed intersecting a ditch and after fighting the fish out of a three piles of brush using 65 pound braid, team partner Kelly finally got it lipped. The fish was caught on Lake Fork Creature in Green Pumpkin with a ¾ OZ Mega Weight. Sappington said we had a good day, just not as good as Jordon and Pack's, he continued by saying "Harmon and I are ready for day two's action, and anticipate a change in fortune for Team Oklahoma.".

Match number two featured the Texas team of Mike Hawkes and Wade Middleton against the Oklahoma team of Jeff Kriet and Luke Clausen. The team of Clausen and Kriet were very dominant last year with Clausen never losing a match and Kriet losing only one match the year before, but this year the on day 1, they started on a down note with Hawkes and Middleton grounding them with a 15.41 limit to 13.66 limit. Hawkes said they caught fish all day long to get to their limit but just couldn't get the big bite but in the end it wasn't needed. All of Hawkes and Middleton's fish came on a combination of Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver and Yamamoto Kreature baits in 8-10 feet of water. Kriet said afterward " we didn't really catch much at all, we need to adjust our strategy some."

Match number three was one all of the teams were watching as it featured the Texas teams of Cody Bird and Clark Wendlandt fishing against the Oklahoma team of Tommy Biffle and Jeff Reynolds. With cameras rolling on this marquee matchup, it was pretty slow for both teams but as the day wore on, the Oklahoma team went shallow and culled over 20 times to end up with an incredible 31.50 pounds to defeat the Texas team who came in with 14.79 lb. limit. The Oklahoma team's limit was anchored by Reynold's 10 pound even fish, caught on a Zoom Dead Ringer. It was worth a Bonus extra point for the Daily standings, and it was backed up by Biffle's 7.77 lber. caught on a jig and sapphire blue Zoom trailer. They feel confident that they have found an extraordinary pattern-they will share this with team Oklahoma for a predicted tournament Victory!

This three day event will continue tomorrow with them teams battling it out in singles matches.

This event is hosted by Lago Vista Lodge- www.Lagovistalodge.com- again this year, and will be featured on OLN and various FOX Sports Outlets in the early spring of 2006. The event will be featured on Americana Outdoors and Fishing Texas television shows.