By ANDY GARDNER

WADDINGTON -- The Bassmaster Elite series is underway and drew more than 100 people Thursday afternoon for the first official weigh-in.

More than 100 anglers are competing for a $100,000 top prize.

The event at Whittaker Park didn’t draw a large crowd for the first part of the day, but the stands filled as fishermen brought their bags of fish to the stage to be weighed. The front runners were submitting five fish weighing more than 20 pounds each, with some of the bigger largemouth weighing more than six pounds.

By 4 p.m., the boat launch was nearly full of returning vessels.

The fishermen had varying luck on the water today.

Greg Hackney, a pro fisherman from Louisiana, said he had a decent day and caught “probably 30” large and smallmouth on various plastic creature bait.

"It was good … probaly going to catch an a little better tomorrow,” he said.

He competed the last time Bassmasters was in Waddington in 2015 and said the high water levels weren’t an issue.

“Realistically, it's about the same. I finished third last tine. I’m catching same thing I did then, everybody else is catching more,” Hackney said.

“It’s a good fishery but it’s terrible for me,” said pro fisherman Keith Poche of Alabama.

Bradley Roy of Kentucky said he tried his luck far upstream.

“I thought I did decent, middle of the pack,” he said.

The tournament officially began at 6:15 a.m. Thursday when the full field of 106 anglers take their boats onto the St. Lawrence River and began hauling in bass.

Public launch viewing is available each day at the launch at Whittaker Park for the start and for the weigh-ins at 3:15 p.m. each day.

The full field takes to the river again at 6:15 a.m. Friday, and returns for the 3:15 p.m. weigh-in deadline. Also on Friday, the Bassmaster Elite Series Outdoors Expo opens at noon.

On Saturday, the top 51 contenders launch for semifinals at 6:15 a.m., hoping for the best total for the day’s 3:15 p.m. weigh-in. The outdoor expo will be open again at noon.

On Sunday, the field will be down to the top 12 anglers based on the scores for the first three days, setting out again at 6:15 a.m., hoping to build their totals for the final 3:15 p.m. weigh-in.

The day opened with music from local bands Big Papa & The Escape Key Band, Lime Hollow Boys and Atom Ghost.

See story for a full schedule of events.