CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — A week ago, when asked on Wednesday evening to predict the outcome of the Elite Series tournament at Lake Murray, Steve Kennedy was almost spot-on. He thought it might take as much as 18 pounds a day to make the Top 50/Day 2 cut, and a two-day total of 25 pounds would leave you finishing in the 90s. It ended up taking just over 17 pounds a day to make the cut. That’s an unusually high number. Three anglers had two-day totals of 25 pounds plus some ounces, and they finished 91st, 92nd and 93rd.
So, what does the master prognosticator think about the four-day AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes, which begins Thursday?
“I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know,” said Kennedy, who is coming off a 33rd-place finish at Lake Murray. “It’s strange. I have no clue what’s going to happen. It’s been weird. Half the field may not catch a limit in this one.”
Kennedy’s comments are right in line with those surveyed late Wednesday afternoon, including last year’s Elite Series Santee Cooper champion Drew Cook.
“It’s really tough,” said Cook, who earned a BASS century belt with his 105-pound, 5-ounce four-day total on March 20, 2022. “It’s super tough to get bit just fishing. Some fish are up shallow on beds, and there’s a shad spawn early that’s a huge deal. Apparently, these fish bite at daylight, and don’t bite the rest of the day.”
What’s the difference between late March last year and late April this year?
“The big difference is we had fish coming (shallow to spawn) the whole time last year,” Cook said. “There was a full moon too. This year there’s no moon, and most of the fish are coming off the spawn.”
There’s also a big difference in the amount of aquatic vegetation in Santee Cooper Lakes, which includes Lake Marion’s 110,000 surface acres and Lake Moultrie’s 60,000 acres. Cook believes that bodes well for the future, but how the fish are relating to it is a puzzle now.
“This place hasn’t had eelgrass in it for about eight years,” Cook said. “It’s got it galore now, and hydrilla also. If we were here on the full moon in late March or early April next year, it wouldn’t surprise me to see 130 pounds (for a winning weight). Five to seven years from now, this place will be the No. 1 lake in the world.”
Luke Palmer finished 4th last year here with a total of 95-7, which included a five-bass limit weighing 33-7 on Day 3 and a big bass weighing 9-4. (Big bass of the tournament was a 9-10 caught by Pat Schlaper.) However, Palmer hasn’t been able to duplicate his method of success from a year ago.
“I’m bumfuzzled right now,” he said. “It’s been tough, tough. I’ve caught one over 7 pounds every day, but everything else has been 2 to 2 ½ pounds. The eelgrass has really exploded. But I can’t get multiple bites out of it. One here, one there, and then I’ll go four hours without a bite.
“I think it will take over 80 pounds to win, but I don’t think there will be a lot of limits caught. It may take only 13 to 13 ½ pounds a day to make the (Day 2) cut.”
In the last two years of Elite Series events at Santee Cooper, Brandon Palaniuk posted a win with 72-2 in October 2020, and finished third with 98-0 last March. He predicted a winning weight of 84 pounds this week, but said he could easily finish in the 90s like he did at Lake Seminole earlier this year.
“I haven’t figured out how to be consistent here,” said the 2022 Bassmaster Angler of the Year. “Every time we come here it’s like a new lake. This is my third time, and it’s a completely different lake. The crazy thing is, I think it’s tougher fishing than the last two times, but the lake looks better than it’s ever looked. There’s way more grass, way, way more grass.”
Palaniuk thinks there will be a 30-pound bag or two this week, but the angler who accomplishes that one day may have 12 pounds the next, and it may take only 12 pounds a day to make the Top 50/Day 2 cut.
