LEESBURG, Fla. — Suzuki Marine Stage 2 Presented by YETI on the Harris Chain of Lakes has largely turned into an old-school Florida flipping fest. And no one on the Bass Pro Tour does old-school quite like Mark Davis.
The 61-year-old Davis led the way through Saturday’s Knockout Round, stacking up 60 pounds, 2 ounces on 22 scorable bass. That put him 8-4 clear of Fletcher Shryock and easily earned him a trip to Sunday’s Championship Round. There, Davis will look to add his first Bass Pro Tour victory to his Hall of Fame résumé, which already includes two national-tour Angler of the Year titles and a Bassmaster Classic win.
Davis and the rest of the top-nine finishers from the Knockout Round will be joined by Qualifying Round winner Jacob Wheeler in a one-day sprint for the Stage 2 trophy. The angler who amasses the most weight will take home $150,000. Catch all the action live on the MLFNOW! livestream from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET at MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF mobile app, MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) and the Major League Fishing channel on Rumble.
Full results can be found here.
Davis stalking first win in 18 years
Like many of the top anglers this week, Davis has been fishing slowly, using his years of experience to identify sweet spots among the emergent vegetation that lines the shallows of Lake Apopka and methodically picking them apart with a Yamamoto Senko.
Once he got into the right zone Saturday, he stacked up weight in a hurry. During a stretch that lasted a little more than 2 hours (including the break between Periods 1 and 2), Davis boated 16 scorable bass that weighed a combined 43-6. The flurry shot him to the top of SCORETRACKER® and only ended because he decided he’d done enough to secure a spot in the Championship Round and set off to scout new water.
“It was a lot of fun,” Davis said. “It was the way I love to fish, just casting a Senko and getting a lot of bites. Had a few mishaps there in that first period, but I got it lined out and caught a 5 1/2-pounder there in the second period. I said, ‘Yep, we need to get out of here,’ and I just went kind of looking around after that.”
Davis is optimistic that he not only left some fish in that zone that he might be able to catch during the Championship Round; he said he has two other productive areas that he never visited Saturday.
That said, Davis is “not counting any chickens” yet. The veteran knows how fickle Florida bass can be, especially given the strong south wind forecast for Sunday. He experienced that firsthand in 2023, when the Bass Pro Tour opened its season on the nearby Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. Davis sacked up a gaudy five-fish total of 34-10 during that Knockout Round, but the wind switched, and he was only able to muster 14-0 the following day, opening the door for Chris Lane to pass him and steal the win.
“There’s no telling what’s going to happen,” Davis said. “Everything down here is susceptible to wind and weather. If you get bad wind and weather, you can go from a hero to a zero. You just never know. It’s hard; there’s no protected areas, so depending on direction and how hard the wind is blowing, it could just take you right out of it.”
Regardless of the weather, Davis said he’s committed to Apopka. He and the rest of the anglers fishing there will benefit from the MLF trailering policy, which will be enacted on Sunday to accommodate for the wind. That frees up a minimum of 90 minutes traveling to Apopka and dealing with the lock.
“I really don’t have any other options,” he said. “I’ll have to go down there and try to make something happen no matter what the weather does.”
Davis would love to get some redemption and leave Florida with a trophy in tow. He knows better than just about anyone that opportunities like this don’t come often. His last national victory came in an FLW Tour event on Fort Loudon and Tellico Lakes in 2007, and he’s realistic about the fact that he doesn’t have too many years left in his career to earn another one.
“It’d mean a bunch,” Davis said. “At my age – I’m 61, been at this now for 40 years – it would be great to lift a trophy one more time.”
Stomach bug can’t slow Shryock
Shryock awoke Saturday morning feeling “awful.” Battling a stomach bug that brought with it a fever, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to endure the 8-hour competition day.
A red-hot punching bite was the best medicine he could ask for.
Shryock, long one of the best on tour with a big weight, returned to the hydrilla mats where he’d spent virtually the entire event and found the bass biting. By the midpoint of the day, he had hauled in 16 scorable bass totaling 47-6 – more than enough to advance to his first Championship Round since 2022. So, Shryock used the second half of the day to check some new water and conserve his strength.
“If I had to go hard all day – it’s going to be hell tomorrow, I know that,” Shryock said.
While his chosen technique – wielding a heavy rod and winching bass out of thick grass mats – might not be the most suitable for someone feeling less than 100%, Shryock put a positive spin on it.
“I’m looking at it as a positive, like it might slow me down just a little bit,” he explained. “Because I got to the point today, like, it was hurting to set the hook. I’ve just got body aches and stuff. So, I’m definitely a lot more patient. Maybe that’s the deal.”
Shryock has had to deal with some company in his primary area this week – he said he spent most of Day 2 “playing defense.” But he’s the only angler in the Top 10 who has found the punching pattern, which excites him.
“I really feel good about just fishing my own deal tomorrow, and there’s no excuses,” he said.
Like Davis, though, Shryock knows how temperamental Florida bass can be. Fishing the same technique in largely the same area for the past three days, he’s now experienced two in which the action has been fast and furious and one that saw him “begging for a bite until noon.” He thinks he’ll be around enough fish to earn his first career BPT win, but whether they cooperate remains to be seen.
“When the sun comes up in Florida, you don’t ever know what you’re going to get,” Shryock said. “I know that much. Today was phenomenal. I don’t expect tomorrow to be as easy, just because it never is.
“Can I win? Absolutely. Can I go out tomorrow and finish ninth? Absolutely. I’m going to flip around and find out.”
Other notes:
- After Stage 1 winner Justin Cooper finished 20th at the Harris Chain, we are assured of a new leader in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year race. It will either be Wheeler or Wall, who are the only two anglers to make the Championship Round at both events to start the year. Keep up with the standings throughout the season at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
- Jacob Wall earned the ninth and final spot above the Elimination Line after catching two scorable bass in the final 15 minutes of Period 3. His total of 32-12 edged Drew Gill by 3-7.
- Locking into either Lake Apopka or Lake Griffin remained the dominant strategy Saturday. One angler who successfully bucked the trend, though, was Matt Becker. The 2023 Angler of the Year started Saturday in Lake Eustis, where he totaled 28-3 on seven bass in the first period. That included the day’s Berkley Big Bass, a 7-15. From there, he cruised to a sixth-place finish.