ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. — With a clutch effort down the stretch, Caleb Sumrall of New Iberia put himself into position to possibly make the cut in his first-ever Bassmaster Elite Series event Thursday at nearby Lake Martin.

Sumrall held up the first keeper bass he caught as an Elite angler several hours after the start of the tournament on a bitterly cold morning. For each subsequent bass, he proudly held up two fingers, then three fingers, then four fingers beside each one.

However, the 30-year-old bass angler, who began competitive bass fishing about six years ago, was unable to get a five-fish limit. His four bass weighed 10 pounds, 4 ounces, to secure 58th in the 110-angler field after the first day of fishing in Alabama.

The tournament continues today with the field being trimmed to the Top 51 for Saturday’s semifinal round. The Top 12 will advance to Championship Sunday with a chance to win the $100,000 first-place prize.

Sumrall qualified for all Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments and all Bassmaster Opens, as well as the upcoming Bassmaster Classic, by winning the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship in October on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina.

Sumrall and the rest of the Elites are chasing Florida angler Cliff Prince, who caught a pair of “hawgs” on back-to-back casts on opening day. One weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces, the other weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces.

“Back-to-back casts — it was unbelievable,” Prince said. “I had to sit down for a minute because I definitely wasn’t expecting it.”

Like many of the competitors, Prince has very little experience on Lake Martin — and the three official practice days prior to the tournament weren’t exactly kind to him. But before 9 a.m., he idled past a spot that he recognized as a potential big-fish haven.

Takahiro Omori of Emory, Texas, was in the runner-up spot with a limit weighing 18 pounds, 2 ounces.

Mark Menendez of Paducah, Kentucky, was in third place for the tournament with 17 pounds, 9 ounces.