Author: jcarrigan

April 12, 2019 – GEORGETOWN, S.C. — Photo courtesy of BASS

Self-proclaimed river rat Bill Lowen found himself right at home in the Cooper River Friday and leveraged his current-born insights to catch a limit of bass weighing 13 pounds, 15 ounces and take the lead on Day 2 of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Elite at Winyah Bay. After catching 13-4 during Thursday’s opening round, Lowen has a two-day weight of 27-3.

Lowen, who grew up fishing the Ohio River, made a nearly 100-mile run south and avoided the broad rice fields that have seen significant traffic this week. Instead, he targeted a 3/4-mile stretch where he focused on creek channels with marsh drains and current that helped optimize his bite.

“Yesterday, they were on the deep channel swings; today they were on the shallow swings,” Lowen said. “It’s either going to be one or the other. You just have to figure it out fast enough which one they’re on. And tidal fish are notorious for — if that’s what they’re doing — every single one of them is doing it.

“It seems like those two hours before the low tide is the real deal. I saw a lot of 2 1/2-pounders in practice, and I haven’t seen very many of those in the tournament, so they’re still hiding in there somewhere.”

With the tide falling upon his arrival, Lowen started catching fish almost immediately. His fortune shifted significantly around 11 a.m. ET when he caught a 5-pounder.

A spinnerbait produced all of his bites. Lowen said presentation speed and covering just the right amounts of water were the keys to his success.

“You have to fish thorough, but you have to fish fast to cover water in that four-hour timeframe (available fishing time after accounting for round-trip travel and fuel stop),” he said. “Some of the guys in the area, I feel, are fishing too fast. They want my spinnerbait up high in the water column and they want it slow.

“If I burn it along, I won’t get a bite. But if I just fish it slow and float it around that grass, they’ll flush it like a toilet bowl. After making that long run, you get over there and for the first hour you almost have to make yourself slow down because you’re going so fast. As soon as I started slowing down is when I started catching them.”

Notably, Lowen cut his day short to allow for the long return and any complications from the increasingly windy weather. The time cushion proved beneficial for Lowen and his Xpress Boats teammate Harvey Horne, who ran out of gas and needed a ride to the weigh-in.

Horne had bounced back from a dismal opening round — one bass for just 1-16 — by catching 15-10 Friday and desperately needed to weigh his fish and gain valuable points in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race.

“He was telling me to go on and go, but I wasn’t going to leave him,” Lowen said. “I put him and his fish in my boat and we came in early.”

In second place, Oklahoma angler Luke Palmer added 12-6 to his Day 1 bag of 14-2 and gained one spot with his total weight of 26-8. He ran to the Cooper River and returned to the same spot he fished on Day 1.

Again, slow presentations with soft plastics produced his bites.

“The spot is in a canal and it’s just a ridge with hydrilla that has 4 feet of water on one side and 7 on the other,” Palmer said. “I’m still trying to figure if fish I’m on are coming or going.

“This may be a spot they’re hitting on their way out of the creek. We still have fish spawning because I caught one off a bed today. Hopefully, that ridge will reload and I can get one more day out of it. If I can get lucky and catch 12 pounds out of it, I’d be tickled to death. I’d lay up and go fish another area on the final day, but I’m going to swing on them tomorrow.”

In third place, Lee Livesay made a big move from 44th place on Day 1 by catching 17-3 and pushing his two-day weight to 24-14. The Texas angler ran to the Cooper River and targeted alligator grass and hyacinth inside the hydrilla lines — a scenario many were overlooking.

Two different reaction baits produced his fish.

“There are some guys catching them out of hydrilla, but the bigger ones are suspended under the mats of gator grass and hyacinth,” Livesay said. “There might be 8 to 9 feet of depth where the mats are, and the bass are 6 inches underneath them. The winning fish are in there because I’m seeing them every day.

“I had a bunch of big ones miss my bait (Thursday). I should have had 20 pounds, but they were missing it. Today, I had three big ones eat it.”

Rounding out the Top 5 are Jason Williamson with 24-6 and Jesse Tacoronte with 24-5.

Florida angler Koby Kreiger leads the $1,500 Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award competition with a 6-8 largemouth.

Daily takeoffs will occur at 7 a.m. ET out of Carroll Ashmore Campbell Marine Complex, and weigh-ins are scheduled at the same location beginning at 3:15 p.m. ET each day.

April 11, 2019 GEORGETOWN, S.C. — Photo courtesy of BASS

Forgoing a long run to the presumed big-bass “promised land” of the Cooper River, South Carolina’s Jason Williamson remained close to the takeoff site and found the right bites to amass a five-bass limit of 15 pounds, 11 ounces which leads Day 1 of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Elite at Winyah Bay.

While over half the field committed to a hour-plus morning run south along the Intracoastal Waterway, through Charleston Harbor and into the Cooper River and surrounding waterways, Williamson stayed in the Waccamaw River and played his time-management strategy to perfection. Essential to his plan was a thorough and persistent approach.

“A lot of guys are running the bank and flipping. You have some fish that are spawning supershallow. You have some postspawners that are done. And you have some that haven’t spawned yet,” Williamson said. “What I’m doing is trying to get the best of all three worlds in one area.

“I’m fishing shallow, I’m backing out and fishing deeper and I’m doing some midrange stuff too. A lot of guys are buzzing through an area, catching what’s aggressive and then going. I caught what was aggressive, then I backed out and got a few more bites. Adjusting throughout the day was key for me today.”

Williamson threw a mix of flipping baits, topwaters and finesse baits. The right area, he said, was one with greater depth than surrounding backwater spots. This allows the fish comfortable postspawn habitat, which keeps them in the area longer.

“Some of these backwaters have 12 to 15 feet of depth, and those fish move up and down with the tide; they adjust throughout the day,” Williamson said. “I was able to move with them in one area.”

The area Williamson fished had a mix of lily pads, docks, wood and some rock. This diversity ensured significant forage to hold quality fish.

Williamson’s catch included a 6-10 largemouth that leads the $1,500 Phoenix Boats Big Bass award competition. BASSTrakk had reflected a 5-pounder on his catch record, but Williamson admits the thrill of the moment caused him to underestimate.

“I caught her this morning pretty early and I was so excited I put her in the livewell and didn’t really realize she was that big,” Williamson said. “I thought she was 5- to 5 1/2 pounds, so it was a pleasant surprise.

“You look at the weights here through history and you think ‘I don’t know if it’s possible to catch that kind of weight fishing where I’m fishing. But after today, I have a lot more confidence that there are some bigger fish that live here than I thought.”

In second place, Hunter Shryock also stayed local, committing his day to the Santee River and securing a limit that weighed 15-8. He caught his bass by flipping a Berkley Havoc Pit Boss around cypress trees.

The problem he faced was recent releases from Santee Cooper Lakes pushed a tremendous amount of water into the river and raised the level about 3 feet since his last day of practice. This eliminated many of his spots, but he was able to dial in one viable area.

“The good thing about this one area is that the higher water has the fish penned into one spot where I can reach them,” Shryock said. “If the water gets much higher, it will push them too far into the (shoreline cover), and I won’t be able to reach them. I might end up running to the Cooper River tomorrow.”

In third place, Luke Palmer made the run to the Cooper River and returned with a limit that weighed 14-2. Palmer is using an undisclosed mix of reaction baits and slower presentations. For him, the day’s stiff east wind created a challenge for his preferred game plan.

“I wish the tide would have gone out a little more than it did,” he said. “I really like for the tide to come on out and get down that drain so I can pinpoint them a lot easier. I’m staying in drains with hydrilla, and that’s the difference.”

Rounding out the Top 5 are Indiana pro Bill Lowen with 13-4 and Alabamian Clent Davis with 12-14.

The tournament will resume Friday with takeoff at 7 a.m. ET from Carroll Ashmore Campbell Marine Complex. Weigh-in will be held at the same location at 3:15 p.m.

Only the Top 35 anglers will advance after Friday’s second round.

April 7, 2019 ANDERSON, S.C. — Photo courtesy of BASS

Many anglers have led the first three rounds of a Bassmaster Elite Series event, only to have the title slip through their hands on the final day.

More times than not, pressure was the culprit.

But if South Carolina pro Brandon Cobb felt pressure a single time during this week’s Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell, he certainly hid it well.

Cobb, who lives in nearby Greenwood, S.C., took the lead on Day 1 of the event and never relinquished it, slamming the door on his first Elite Series victory with a final-day catch of 16 pounds, 14 ounces on Championship Sunday. His four-day winning weight of 72-4 earned him a $100,000 paycheck and the iconic blue trophy that goes to every Elite Series winner.

“Staying calm definitely made the difference for me,” said Cobb, who stayed at his own house and made the 50-minute drive to Lake Hartwell each day. “I don’t do well if I get flustered. I start running around a lot, and it just doesn’t go well for me.

“Being on my home lake helped, too. I literally never ran out of places where I felt like I was going to catch one.”

Cobb caught 19-9, 17-8, 18-5 and 16-14 in four days — and he did most of his damage with two baits. He used a green pumpkin Zoom Fluke Stick when he was moving through shallow areas where he thought spawning beds were present and a 1/8-ounce Greenfish Tackle shaky head with a green pumpkin Zoom Trick Worm when he was stopped, fishing for bass he could actually see on bed.

“I was going down spawning areas throwing that Fluke Stick at anything that even looked like a bed, hoping to catch them before I got there,” Cobb said. “If the fish didn’t bite before I got up there, I’d Power-Pole down, pick up a shaky head with a Trick Worm and fish for him until I caught him.”

Unlike many anglers who were forced to devote large chunks of time to a single bedding fish throughout the week, Cobb caught his bedding bass quickly — and that helped him make the most of his time on the water.

“Probably 10 minutes was about the longest I spent on one fish this week,” said Cobb, who was fishing just his 14th major event with B.A.S.S. “Today, I caught three fish off one bed, and that probably took me about 15 minutes.

“I think I only saw two fish this week that I didn’t catch, and that’s because they were spawning, rolling together — and you can’t do anything with them when they’re doing that.”

Though it’s Cobb’s first season on the Elite Series, the 29-year-old pro is not considered a rookie because he won more than $400,000 in 105 events with FLW Fishing. He won two BFL events with FLW, but never managed to claim a Tour-level championship.

“Basically, everything went exactly the way I wanted it to go this week,” Cobb said. “I don’t think I lost a single fish all week — and if I did lose one, I caught it again in just a few minutes.

“I’ve been so close so many times to winning tournaments like this and just never quite been able to put it together. But it all came together this week.”

Though Cobb struggled early Sunday morning while trying to exploit a blueback herring spawn that has just begun on Lake Hartwell, he said he always knew he could go and catch a good limit of bass doing the same things he’d been doing all week.

Once he finally started putting bass in the boat, his victory seemed like a foregone conclusion. His closest competition came from Arkansas pro Stetson Blaylock who finished second with 68-11. Georgia pro Micah Frazier finished third with 63-6 and Florida angler Drew Cook took fourth with 63-4.

Cook’s performance was enough to put him in first place in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings and the race for DICK’S Sporting Goods Rookie of the Year.

Blaylock took home the Phoenix Boats Big Bass award worth $1,500 with a 5-15 largemouth he caught during Saturday’s semifinal round.

Florida rookie Drew Cook claimed the lead in both the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year and the DICK`S Sporting Goods Rookie of Year race, after three events, earning $1,000 for AOY and $500 for ROY. Cook’s impressive rookie campaign includes three Top 20 finishes, including a fourth place finish at Lake Hartwell. The highest-scoring rookie at the end of the 10-event Elite season will collect the $10,000 ROY prize.

The two highest finishing anglers eligible for Toyota Bonus Bucks were Jamie Hartman and Chad Pipkens. Hartman finished 8th and added $3,000 to his purse, while Pipkens finished 9th earning a $2,000 bonus.

April 6, 2019 – Photo courtesy of BASS

ANDERSON, S.C. —

For three days, the field has been waiting for Brandon Cobb to stumble.

It hasn’t happened yet — and now, they’re almost out of time.

Cobb caught five bass today that weighed 18 pounds, 5 ounces and held on to the lead for the third straight day in the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell. His three-day total of 55-6 gives him more than a 5-pound cushion over his closest competitors going into Championship Sunday and a chance at a rare wire-to-wire victory in an Elite Series event.

“I don’t know how many fish I went through today that weighed from about 2-4 to 2-11,” said Cobb, whose thumbs were red and raw from handling bass today. “I caught so many fish, but I just couldn’t find any big ones in the area I had been fishing.

“That’s why I finally decided to change areas.”

Cobb went to an area that he said was “new for this tournament, but certainly not new” to him as a bass angler on Lake Hartwell. He grew up fishing the lake and was actually a member of the bass fishing team for Clemson University, which is positioned on the banks of Hartwell.

Once he changed locations, he quickly caught his biggest fish of the day — a largemouth in the 5-pound range.

“I actually caught two pretty good ones out of that area,” Cobb said. “So, I might just change things up and spend all day in there tomorrow or at least go there a little earlier.”

Coming into the week, Cobb was afraid his history on the lake would serve as a detriment because a string of unusually cold nights and a steadily falling lake level has had the fish behaving strangely.

But he survived Thursday’s first round with a catch of 19-9 and maintained the lead with 17-8 Friday. Now, he believes the conditions are normalizing on Hartwell — and he thinks that could play into his hands as he tries to become the first wire-to-wire winner on the Elite Series since 2016.

“In practice, the fish weren’t doing anything like they would normally do this time of year,” Cobb said. “So, I was really worried that my history here would hurt me — or at least not help me very much.

“But as the week has gone on, the fish have started acting exactly like they’re supposed to. Since they didn’t do it all week in practice, a lot of people aren’t ready for it — but I feel like I am.”

If Cobb is to complete the start-to-finish win, he’ll have to hold off a logjam of anglers with weights in the 49-pound range. Micah Frazier (49-12), Stetson Blaylock (49-10), Drew Cook (49-7) and Bill Lowen (49-1) are all within relatively easy striking distance of Cobb if he finally stumbles.

Blaylock, a third-year Elite Series pro from Benton, Ark., was the biggest mover Saturday, bringing in five bass that weighed 19-3 to rise from 10th place into third. His catch was anchored by a 5-15 largemouth that gave him the lead in the race for the Phoenix Boats Big Bass award.

“I thought that biggest fish would weigh better than 6 pounds when I was fishing for it,” Blaylock said. “But that’s been the story all week — they all look bigger in the water than they do when you catch them.

“I’ve spent a lot of time on fish this week that I thought were 3-pounders and they didn’t even help me. I can’t understand how they can be so long, but then be so skinny.”

Since warm conditions have settled into the region, Blaylock said big things are possible Sunday.

“I feel like the areas that I’m fishing should be running out and I should be disappointed,” he said. “But in the back of my mind, I keep thinking that they’re showing up.

“So I’m just gonna let it unfold, and hopefully they’ll keep showing up some more.”

The Top 10 remaining pros will fish on Championship Sunday with takeoff scheduled for 7 a.m. ET from Green Pond Landing and Event Center. The weigh-in will be held back at the same site at 3:15 p.m., with the winning pro earning a $100,000 first-place prize.

A special expo will also be held Sunday at Green Pond Landing with demo rides of a Nitro, Skeeter and Triton boats, prizes from Toyota and Academy Sports + Outdoors, fun activities at the Berkley/Abu Garcia Experience trailer and more.

Sunday is also B.A.S.S. Member Appreciation Day. Fans who show their B.A.S.S. member cards at the B.A.S.S. Merchandise booth will receive a free Bassmaster hat.

Sunday will also feature the Elite LIVE Watch Party from noon-2 p.m. Fans can watch Bassmaster LIVE and hang out with special guests and possibly have a chance to be on the show.