You can buy all kinds of tools, appliances, furniture and building supplies at Luke Palmer’s Coalgate, Oklahoma store – along with a limited supply of fishing tackle — but the one piece of hardware he can’t buy or sell is a big blue Elite Series trophy.
He’s hoping to add one anyway, and is one day away from making it happen at Santee Cooper.
Palmer might want to haul in some fencing to push back the hammers on his tail, most notably home stater Brandon Cobb, who is three and a half pounds behind. He might also consider using some sort of stakes or weights to keep from flying away – tomorrow’s going to be windy, and that might impact the ability to get to one’s fish, catch them, and get back safely. He’s making it look easy, but – keeping with the hardware theme — the weather always seems to throw a wrench into the equation.
Here’s what stood out to me on Day Three at Santee Cooper:
Twenties – On Day One the full field produced 15 bags over 20 pounds, including two over 26. Yesterday, the biggest limit was 24-15, and there were still a remarkable 12 catches over 20 pounds. Today, with a reduced field, Mark Menendez set the pace with 27-13 and leader Luke Palmer added 26-3. In total, 5 of the 50 remaining anglers brought in catches of 20 pounds or more, and not surprisingly they’re situated in first through fifth place.
Pitching a perfect game – Luke Palmer (1st) and Brandon Cobb (2nd) are the only anglers who’ve brought at least 20 pounds to the scales each day in this event. Palmer’s smallest bag was 21-3 on Thursday. Cobb likewise had his smallest weight on Thursday, a 21-0 limit that most of the field would have loved to have sacked.
What could have been – Through two days of competition, the top 50 finishers weighed in six bags under 10 pounds, the lowest of which was Kyle Norsetter’s two bass for 7-7 yesterday. Today that same group had 14 bags under 10 pounds, and nine catches that weighed less than Norsetter’s Day Two catch. Two members of the top ten – Mark Menendez (4th) and Matt Robertson (9th) each had a sub-10 pound bag this week. Perhaps the most painful one of all belonged to Hank Cherry. He weighed in 4 for 9-6 on Thursday before adding 22-5 and 19-6 limits. He missed the top ten cut by just over a pound.
Why was it tough – In addition to the fact that it was a weekend, and that these fish have now been getting pressured by the best of the best for nearly a week, there might’ve been another reason for the decreased catches – dropping water. Jason Christie said that the water in his area had fallen approximately 8-12 inches, which he suspects makes the shallow fish extra-spooky.
Different by design – Matt Robertson (9th) and Steve Kennedy (10th) were both throwing similar swimbaits this morning, and both have a big hill to climb if they’re going to win this week, but the similarities end there. If either were to claim the trophy, the celebrations would likely be quite different – Robertson’s six-figure check would probably be spent on various forms of traditional hedonism, while Kennedy would almost certainly invest in a new Auburn hat, some marine biology books and family tickets to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Spin to win – “I feel like we’ve seen a lot of spinning rods this week,” Dave Mercer said on LIVE. In addition to Brandon Cobb running roughshod with light tackle, we watched Jacob Powroznik wrestle a giant out of thick cover with spinning gear early this morning. There was a time when you could win more than just once every blue moon with only Bubba techniques, but that may be over at the top levels of the sport. Jason Christie finally won a Classic when he mastered light tackle (as well as forward-facing sonar). Gussy won this year’s Classic with it, too. Plenty of big bass and big limits will continue to be caught with heavy line, but the balance continues to shift day in and day out.
Bulking up – Brandon Palaniuk won in his first Elite Series visit to Santee Cooper and came in third when he returned last year. Thanks to his 21-11 catch today – his second limit over 21 pounds this week – he jumped up from 13th into 5th, earning himself his signature Cut Ice Cream. “You get it for a top 50, a Top 10 and a win,” he said, making clear that he’d likely settle for a mini ice cream tonight. Even with that kind of restraint, if the Palaniuk clan were to move across the country to South Carolina the ultra-fit Prodigy might find himself needing Weight Watchers.
Halfway home – If Drew Cook manages to win this event he’ll be halfway to California pro Robert Lee’s standard of excellence for a single fishery. Lee won four Bassmaster events on the California Delta between 1997 and 2003. Palaniuk of course is also in position to add a second Santee win.
Menendez memories – This week is the first Elite Series top ten appearance for Mark Menendez (4th) since the St. Johns River in February of 2021. It has the potential to be his first top three since February of 2019, also at the St. Johns. He earned his last Bassmaster win in May of 2009 at Lake Dardanelle in Arkansas. He fished his first BASS event in September of 1991 on the Illinois River, when current leader Luke Palmer was 11 months old. At the time Brandon Cobb was almost 2 years old and Drew Cook was almost 3 years away from being born. That tournament was won by Woo Daves, who had 18-13 over 3 days. Menendez finished tied for 64th at the Illinois River event with 5-6. Today his 27-13 bag included a single fish that weighed more than that.
Steve Bowman on big fish: “I like the fat ones. I like the slobs.”
Patrick Walters on the importance of working your best areas thoroughly: “You pick up your trolling motor once, you’re not going to win. You pick it up twice, you’re not getting paid.”
Brock Mosley, in admiration of Drew Cook and Drew Benton: “This is one of the few lakes in the country that you can win sight fishing four days.” Cook kept up the pace with 23-4 today but Benton, who hasn’t had a day off in what seems like forever, only weighed in two bass and fell to 27th.
Bryant Smith (8th) goes big with his first Day Four Cut: “I think I caught more fish over 5 pounds than under 5 pounds.”
Steve Kennedy, who spent $10,000 on swimbaits after Clear Lake in 2007, and keeps on buying them: “I wish I’d bought more.”
Most legit Canadian accent on tour – Cooper Gallant makes Gussy and the Johnstons sound like they’re from Lower Alabama.
Mark Menendez, happy camper: “Today it was as smooth as ice cream.”
Get your back brace ready, Mark. It’s likely to be a bumpy ride tomorrow, but as Team Palaniuk can attest, ice cream – even a mini – solves a lot of problems (and a hundred grand will buy you a lot of it, with toppings).
