Angler of the Week: Mark Davis
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Right now 20 of the MLF anglers are competing at the 2018 Bassmaster Classic in South Carolina, and MLF Pro Mark Davis is one of them. We caught up with him at the end of media day while he was headed to Lake Hartwell to prepare his tackle.
“That’s about all you can do is just prepare your tackle, and prepare your mind for a week of a roller coaster ride,” Davis explained.
Major League Fishing Pro Mark Davis meeting fans at the Classic
Davis is no stranger to the Classic. This is his 20th time competing (which is an accomplishment in itself). He knows the drill, but he says it’s always exhausting.
“It’s a hard week,” Davis said. “The Classic is a hard event because it’s so long. You know, you drive to the site and then you practice three days, then you have a day off, then you have a day of business, and then you have another practice day. Then you have a media day. Then finally the timer starts. Well, you add all that up together and it is a pretty grueling week.”
Davis says he’s been preparing for the Classic mentally and physically. When he was competing in the 2018 Summit Cup (which was shot in August 2017), he was battling a shoulder injury, so we asked him how he’s feeling going into this competition.
“Unfortunately, not great,” he replied.
But it’s not his shoulder that he’s worried about.
“I’ve had more than my share of shoulder trouble,” he explained. “All fishermen have shoulder trouble to some degree. It just depends on how long you’ve been doing it, to what degree. You’re going to have shoulder trouble if you bass fish.”
Davis says right now, his biggest problem is his hip.
“I’m faced with a hip replacement surgery in the near future. But you know, I’m just taking it one day at a time. But I have quite a bit of pain throughout the day,” he said.
Davis says the last place you want to be when you’re dealing with a hip injury is on a rocking boat, because it just amplifies the pain. But he’ll have to tough it out over the next few days of competition.
“Not much you can do other than take a pain reliever, Advil, stuff like that,” Davis said.
Despite the aches and pains, Davis is eager to compete.
“I’m actually looking forward to getting out there,” Davis said, “A lot of guys say they’re looking forward to getting out there because people expect them to say it. But I genuinely am looking forward to going tomorrow, so I’m kind of excited about it. We’ll see what happens. You never know.”
Davis calls Lake Hartwell a “better than average bass fishing lake” but he explained that it’s much different than the lakes back home in Arkansas because it’s a blueback herring lake.
“Herring lakes are notorious for the fish are here today and gone tomorrow,” he said.
“Normal fishing lakes, like in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, and most of the country for that matter, the main forage is shad. And shad, they tend to be lazy, and they don’t move around a lot and the bass behave a certain way when they eat shad. But herring on the other hand, they move, they roam, they’re constantly on the move. So for the fish to take advantage of eating those guys, they have to constantly move with them. So it’s a different game.”
Davis drove out to the Classic from his home in Mt. Ida, Ark. His wife, Tilly, and twin 16-year-old sons, Hunter and Fisher, came with him to cheer him on.
“Having them along keeps me from being homesick. I know there’s no place like home but when you got your family with you on the road, it makes it nice.”
The Davis family
Tilly says she and the twins stay busy while Davis is fishing.
“B.A.S.S. has little things for us to do at night and our boys are, of course, doing school work as well, which doesn’t make them happy,” she explained.
Davis and his wife also have an older son, James. Davis says out of the three kids, Fisher is the most likely to follow in his footsteps as a pro angler.
“He’s more passionate about fishing than he is anything else,” said Davis. “He’s already won a lot of high school events, and that sort of thing. So only time will tell.”
The clock started on Lake Hartwell early Friday morning, and the competition will end on Sunday. Davis says he enjoyed meeting with fans on Thursday, and he was surprised by what they wanted to talk to him about.
“The number one topic that people want to talk to me about all day was guess what… MLF,” Davis said.
While Davis is competing in the Classic this weekend, you can watch him compete on Major League Fishing, as well. The 2018 Summit Cup Sudden Death Round 2 will air on Outdoor Channel from 2-4pm EST on Saturday, March 17. Davis will be one of nine anglers who will race to a cut weight of 22 pounds to make it to the Summit Cup Championship.