Elite

Big bass of Santee Cooper Lakes

Posted on
Captions by
Mike Suchan
It might have been the last realistic chance at a really big largemouth in 2023, the kind that drops jaws and earns big money. The AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes, the fourth stop of the season, produced plenty of oversize fish, with winner Luke Palmer almost eclipsing the century mark. Take a look at the significant big fish from Santee Cooper Lakes.
As the Elites moved to South Carolina’s low country, the 104 pros had hopes of topping Brandon Cobb’s 8-pound, 12-ounce largemouth from Day 2 at Lake Okeechobee. Phoenix Boats, which awards $1,000 for the daily big bass and $2,000 for the biggest of the tournament, added a $10,000 bonus this year for the season’s overall heaviest fish. Cliff Prince gave it a shot with this lunker, which weighed 7-14 and kicked off his best finish of the year at 25th.
Darold Gleason landed the third-heaviest bass on Day 1, a 7-9 that helped him total 21-8 to stand in ninth. Gleason was one of 15 who topped 20 pounds on the first day, but his production fell off and he finished 14th, his best so far in 2023.
Kyle Welcher had a couple bass topping 5 pounds as he totaled 23-0, the fifth best limit on the day. As fishing got tougher, Welcher couldn’t fill a limit the next two days and dropped to 41st. Still, the pro from Opelika, Ala., fell only one spot to fifth in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings.
Back fishing Bassmaster events this year, Larry Nixon landed a 6-7 and 6-6 on Day 1, but they were his only fish. He stood 67th and hoped to make his first Top 50 cut of the year, but his 14-12 limit on Day 2 left him 6 ounces short.
Coming off a third-place finish in 2022 after winning on Santee Cooper in 2020, Brandon Palaniuk was in the mix again at seventh with 21-14. Only 72 Elites caught limits on Day 1, with the average weight 3-6.  
Rookie Kyle Norsetter, suffering through a slow start on the Elites, got it going on Santee Cooper Lakes, landing a 6-6 in his fourth-place bag of 24-13. Three fish over the next two days saw him plummet to 48th, but he cashed his first $10,000 check for making the Day 2 cut.
Starting 99th in the AOY standings, Paul Mueller averaged 5-2 for his five weighing 25-10 that put him in third place and gave him hopes of making a run to qualify for the 2024 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake.
Veteran Mark Menendez got it going on Santee Cooper Lakes, starting sixth with 21-14 that included a 6-5. Four fish on Day 2 knocked him back to 34th, but the Paducah, Ky., pro would be heard from over the final two days.
California rookie Bryant Smith, coming off a 12th at Lake Murray, found two big bites late to weigh 26-15, the day’s second best. Smith began the tournament 28th in AOY and fourth in the Dakota Lithium Rookie of the Year standings. Despite not weighing another limit, he finished seventh to take over the ROY lead.
Weighing 20-15, David Gaston had the 12th best bag on Day 1. It included Day 1’s Phoenix Boats Big Bass of 8-5, which held up as the overall biggest of the tournament and earned him $3,000 in bonuses. Gaston had a 6-13 on Day 3 when he was one shy of a limit and half a pound short of making Championship Sunday. The Sylacauga, Ala., pro finished 12th in the event and is 12th in AOY, just one point behind Smith in the ROY race.
Coming off Lake Murray where he led after Day 1, Matt Robertson was at it again, catching the VMC Monster Bag of 28-1 to lead the event and earn the $2,000 bonus. He followed up with 21-13 to hold the two-day lead with 49-14. Only two fish on Saturday then blanking on Sunday left him 10th, but Robertson climbed 20 spots to stand 38th in AOY points, inside Classic qualification.
After starting 73rd with a small limit, Jason Christie was 75th in the AOY standings and staring up a hill if he hoped to earn a spot on Grand Lake, where he was second in the 2016 Classic and seventh in 2013. On Day 2, the 2022 Classic champ finally found some big bites to total 22-7 and jump up to 22nd. He salvaged a bundle of points by finishing 30th, which moved him to 61st in the AOY standings. If he’s among the 40 or so who earn automatic Classic berths via the points, he might credit this Day 2 rally.
Steve Kennedy, who has posted three top 15 finishes at Santee Cooper Lakes, moved 22 points up the standings to fifth with his Day 2 limit of 22-3. Three fish put him in the Top 10, and he ended eighth, jumping 15 spots in AOY to 18th. On Day 2, only 54 anglers landed limits and the average weight dropped to 3-2.
Drew Benton, who won at Lake Murray after starting the final day in 10th, made another big move with his limit of 23-5 that included a 7-8, the second biggest of Day 2. Benton improved 32 spots to seventh. However, two fish on Day 3 dropped him to 27th, but Benton did move up eight spots to ninth in AOY.
‘Big Fish’ Brandon Cobb was at it again, landing the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of 7-11 on Day 2 and moving up to second in the tournament with 24-15, the big bag of the day. Very significant bass, indeed.
Hank Cherry, who won back-to-back Classics in 2020 and 2021, was in a similar situation as Christie. Cherry came into Santee Cooper Lakes 66th in AOY and dropped to 76th after four fish on Day 1. Rally time. Cherry did in a big way, with a 7-3 in his Day 2 limit of 22-5 and a 6-8 in Day 3’s 19-6. He jumped from 83rd in the tournament to 13th, which ended up giving him a 20-spot climb in AOY to 46th.
Greg DiPalma brought in a 7-2 on Day 3 that was almost half his 15-15 weight. The bass helped bump him up 15 spots to 33rd and helped salvage enough AOY points to account for five places.
After dropping on Friday, Palaniuk caught 21-11 on Semifinal Saturday before settling for fifth to continue an impressive record on the fishery. It also helped the reigning champ move up 23 spots to 33rd in AOY.
Illustrating the difference between a keeper and a kicker, Jacob Powroznik holds a 7-7 that helped him reach the Top 10. Powroznik had 18-0, 20-12 and 16-14 before zeroing on Championship Sunday, yet he still finished ninth to move up 19 spots to 41st in AOY.
Cobb was at it again on Semifinal Saturday, landing a pair of overs in his bag of 21-8 that kept him in second. He was the closest to Palmer, 3-8 back, heading into Championship Sunday. A slow Day 4 left him fourth, yet combined with a third at Okeechobee, 20th at Seminole and sixth at Murray, Cobb increased his AOY lead from five to 18 points.
The Phoenix Boats Big Bass of Day 3 was caught by Paul Mueller. This 7-10 was almost half his 15-8 bag of four, which helped him finish sixth. Mueller jumped to 77th in AOY with hopes of climbing through the remainder of the schedule. On Day 3, there were 27 limits with the average bass weighing 3-2.
After falling to 34th, Menendez climbed back with a vengeance. His assault included a 7-0, a 6-8 and 6-0 on BassTrakk. His total of 28-4 on the unofficial scoreboard threatened Robertson’s VMC Monster Bag, but when he weighed it was 27-13, putting him fourth.
Luke Palmer, who finished fourth last year at Santee Cooper Lakes just 4-9 shy of 100 pounds, had a big Day 3, posting catches of 6-12, 6-8 and several around 5 on BassTrakk.
Starting Semifinal Saturday third 5-2 off the lead, Palmer, of Coalgate, Okla., weighed 26-3, the second biggest limit of the day, to take over the top spot with 70-15. Photographer Kyle Jessie captured Palmer’s excitement from landing this 7-1, his biggest of the day.
With a storm affecting Championship Sunday, Menendez picked up where he left off. While he started 11-13 back of Palmer, his two big bass, posted as 6-1 and 5-14, gave him the lead at 7:49 a.m.
Although it took him awhile, Palmer had an answer. With a 6-0 on BassTrakk, Palmer regained the lead at 8:38 a.m.
Palmer increased his margin through the morning with several more big fish. Only he and Menendez caught limits on the final day, when the average fish weight went up to 3-12. Palmer, the only pro to weigh a limit each day, averaged almost 4-14 for his 20 fish.
When Menendez got to the scales, he had 23-9 to finish second with 82-11. Starting the event 55th in the AOY standings, Menendez earned 102 points to move into Classic contention at 27th. The 58-year-old’s last runner-up finish was at a 2009 Open and his last Elite win came in 2009 on Lake Dardanelle.
Palmer had Day 4’s big bass of 7-5 in his top limit of 25-1 that left him with a winning total of 96-14, just 3-2 from a Century Belt. His 14-3 margin of victory ranks sixth all-time. Palmer, the third first-time Elite winner in 2023, improved 26 spots in AOY to 13th. The Elites have a week off before reconvening May 11-14 for the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Lay Lake in Alabama.

Related