The BassTrakk numbers were quite impressive once again from Day 2 of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes. With 559 total catches (up from 517 on Day 1) logged for the 94 Elite anglers, that’s an average of nearly 6 fish per angler. Some anglers obviously caught more than others, so those averages don’t imply that everyone had a 5 fish limit.
And honestly, an average of 6 fish per angler isn’t that high. You’d expect to see much higher numbers of fish caught on lakes like Smith or Beaver in Alabama and Arkansas respectively. But those are better known as numbers lakes, where you catch a lot of numbers. Lakes like Marion and Moultrie that comprise the Santee Cooper Lakes are big fish lakes, where anglers are hoping to get 5 to 10 bites a day, but the average weight of those bites is expected to be heavy. Santee did not disappoint.
Big fish
On Day 2, there were 108 fish caught by the 94 Elite Series anglers at an estimated weight of 4- pounds or better at the time of the fish catch. That’s up from a total of 83 bass caught over 4- pounds on Day 1. The numbers from Day 2 look like this: 53 4- pounders, 22 5- pounders, 19 6-pounders, 11 7- pounders, 2 8- pounders and 1 9- pounder (that 9- pounder being Pat Schlapper’s 9- pound, 10- ounce beast which is currently leading the Phoenix Boats Big Bass race for the week.)
The most striking takeaway to me from that list is the 14 total bass caught over 7- pounds. From Day 1 to Day 2, there was a big jump there, with only four bass over 7- pounds caught on Day 1. Fourteen bass over 7- pounds in a single day is quite impressive. A 5- pounder is a good fish, a 6- pounder is a big fish, but you enter a whole new class of bass when you get above 7- pounds. The Santee Cooper Lakes have got that class of bass by the boatload.
I predict we’ll see several more tomorrow, and perhaps even the biggest stringer of bass caught all week. This off day, and the inclement weather that caused it, will give the bass a chance to rest. The pressure from local anglers and vacationers to the area will also die down a bit today due to the rough weather. So there’s a good chance a fresh wave of giants will move into an area and we’ll see a guy like Drew Cook or John Cox bust another 30- pound plus stringer on Championship Sunday.