Championship Sunday has begun for the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes. And we have an impressive Top 10.
Luke Palmer is out front, a very consistent angler and a star on the rise, looking for his first Elite Series win this week. He finished fourth here last season.
Then there’s local Brandon Cobb, who has started the season with four consecutive Top 10 performances, as well as an eighth-place finish at the Classic last month. Cobb has the hottest hand of any angler in the world right now.
The 2022 Santee Elite Champion Drew Cook sits in third, doing what no man thought could be done. He’s ridden the dwindling sight bite three-quarters of the way through this event. And he believes there are five left on bed somewhere on Santee that could win it for him.
Mark Menendez sits in fourth. Elite Series Champion and longtime veteran of the sport, Menendez has been fishing professionally with B.A.S.S. since 1991. He’s amassed $1,349,701.65 in his career with B.A.S.S. alone. And he weighed the second biggest bag of this event yesterday, with 27-13.
And none other than two-time Progressive Angler of the Year and current holder of said title, Brandon Palaniuk, sits in fifth. Palaniuk finished third here in 2022 and won here in 2020. He’s one to watch today for sure.
Then there’s Paul Mueller, Jacob Powroznik, Bryant Smith, Matt Robertson and Steve Kennedy, all with too many accolades to mention at the moment.
The weather has shifted for this final day of competition. A light rain has set in that’s predicted to last until noon. Then the winds will pick up and Santee will get a little rough, maybe a lot of rough. But someone will adjust and prevail. This one is going to be fun to watch.
