CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. – The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech got off to a fascinating start on the Harris Chain, but nobody would say the fishing was good. Now, less than 400 miles north and after a very late start due to weather canceling Day 1 and then heavy fog postponing takeoff on Day 2, the anglers are ready for Stop 2 Presented by Star brite at Santee Cooper, which could be one of the best events ever. The field is now shooting it out over two days, and despite the shortened event, expectations are almost unbelievable.
Practice produces shock and awe
Typically, tournament practice leaves pros disappointed, or at least they say they’re disappointed. That has emphatically not been the case this time. One house saw all six anglers staying there catch more than 30 pounds on one practice day, Austin Pemberton caught 43 pounds the first day of practice and there are superlatives for days.
“If I don’t have 30 a day I’ll be disappointed,” Kyle Austin said.
New York’s Alec Morrison echoed his sentiment, and then some.
“This place is insane,” he said. “If we could ‘Scope all day, it would take 35 pounds a day to win.”
Drew Gill is blasting them, Skeeter Crosby isn’t even trying and he’s blasting, and Matt Becker caught an easy, breezy 37 pounds (with an 11-pounder) on the second day of practice.
Plus, though it wasn’t technically practice, things started with everyone abuzz for a 40-pound tournament sack. In a recent CATT event on Santee, Jeremiah Westberg won with 41.92 and weighed three 9-pounders. In second, Jenna Johnson and Bennett Lawshe tallied up 32.38.
Mitigating factors abound
Although practice has been truly off the wall for many, that in itself could be an issue – surely, there are only so many 6- and 8-pounders to be caught, right? Additionally, it’s worth noting that forward-facing sonar is allowed throughout practice, not only in a three-hour increment, as it will be on derby day. A lot of the biggest practice weights are being caught with the aid of modern sonar, and while some anglers have figured out how to mix and match, knocking out a huge bag in three hours is very hard to do.
Another pretty important factor is the weather, and this could be both a good and bad thing. The first and last days of practice were both quite windy, which may have protected some fish, but also concentrated anglers. Now, with another off day due to wind, the fish may be ready to munch again, but anglers may also need to relocate schools in a short timeframe.
The local perspective
One of a few excellent locals in the event, Crosby had a shot to win a big event last year on Santee, and he is pretty fired up for this one. Right now, the fish are prespawn, and they’re doing almost anything you could ask for – you can catch fish on docks, grass, trees, brush, floating and in groups. According to reports, warm weather got the big fish moving, and then the recent cold snap has served to concentrate them – at least in practice, big numbers hadn’t dispersed in the shallows.
“It’s going to be 100% prespawn. There are going to be a lot of big fish weighed-in, and a lot of fat ones,” Crosby said. “We have such an abundance of bait. We have American shad, gizzard shad that are 14 inches long, threadfin shad, and there’s herring in here. We have such an abundance of bait, these fish have so many options. Another two years with this grass in this lake, and this lake will be better than Guntersville.”
Some might say it’s the best lake in the country right now – without qualifiers. But, regardless of the ranking, it won’t be an easy event to win. For one, the winner will need huge weight. For two, the lake historically doesn’t give up big bags willy-nilly.
“A lot of these guys, they’re out there in deep water trying to catch ‘em,” Crosby said. “The thing is with Santee, it’s no different than Florida – as the week goes on, it’s going to warm up. At any time, that switch could flip, and that area where supposedly 15 bags over 30 got caught yesterday – they gone.”
Pressure is also a factor.
“When pressure gets on the fish, they’re going to turn off,” Crosby said. “They will only take a trolling motor over their head and a minnow shaking at them so many times. Most likely, the areas those boys are doing it in, if they’ve been doing it a few days, it don’t look good.”
Crosby could be right – if he is, and if some of the huge practice weights turn out to be a mirage, he and other locals could look great.
“If we could ‘Scope all day or whenever we want throughout the day, it would be crazy,” said Austin. “Whoever manages their ‘Scope window will do very well, but they will need more than ‘Scope to win this one.”
Crosby is right there with him.
“With the wind that we’ve got coming and only having three hours of ‘Scope, you’d better have more than one way to catch them,” he said.
So, what is the record?
Considering this is now a two-day event, you need to massage the data a little bit – while MLF and FLW have run a ton of three-day events to compare to, two-day events are historically confined to Phoenix Bass Fishing League Super Tournaments in the fall.
In April of 2019, Bradford Beavers put up a winning weight of 54-9 on Santee in a Toyota Series event with a canceled day. Weighing 31 pounds and then 23 pounds, he had a great tournament, but his total is very much in jeopardy.
If you look at just the top weights through two days (admittedly, not a perfect statistic), it’s a wild ride through history.
- Greg Hackney – Falcon Lake – East-West Fish-Off – 71-11
- David Fritts – Falcon Lake – East-West Fish-Off – 70-9
- Dan Schoonveld – Falcon Lake – Toyota Series – 68-2
- Chad Prough – Lake Okeechobee – Pro Circuit – 67-7
- Terry Bolton – Falcon Lake – East-West Fish-Off – 66-9
- Michael Yoder – Falcon Lake – Toyota Series – 65-15
- Koby Kreiger – Falcon Lake – East-West Fish-Off – 65-5
- Randall Tharp – Lake Okeechobee – Pro Circuit – 63-13
- Dylan Nutt – Lake Chickamauga – Toyota Series – 63-2
- Fred Roumbanis – Lake Okeechobee – Pro Circuit – 61-14
Falcon Lake and the 2008 Walmart FLW Series East-West Fish-Off loom large in the stats; for someone to knock off Hackney, they’d need to average more than 35 pounds a day. It’s probably impossible, but the fact that it seemed worth researching should be notable.
Right now, shooting for total weight records is probably a bit of a stretch, but the possibility for some massive single-day catches absolutely exists. The top 10 single-day limits in MLF history don’t include Santee Cooper, and it seems like that could be due for a change.
- Keith Combs – 2010 – Falcon Lake – 41-1
- Rogne Brown – 2013 – Lake Chickamauga – 40-14
- Casey Martin – 2017 – Lake Guntersville – 40-11
- Derek Mundy – 2021 – Sam Rayburn – 40-10
- Riley Harris – 2025 -Toledo Bend – 40-8
- Anthony Sharp – 2020 – Sam Rayburn – 40-6
- Cody Pitt – 2023 – Toledo Bend – 39-15
- Greg Hackney – 2008 – Falcon Lake – 39-11
- Derek Mundy – 2021 – Sam Rayburn – 39-7
- Richard Cathey – 2009 – Falcon Lake – 39-1
If you dive into just the best single-day limits on the Pro Circuit/FLW Tour/FLW Series (not the Toyota Series), you get a list that looks ripe for some new entrants. In fact, just a couple years ago, Marshall Hughes shook it up at Sam Rayburn. This field has a bunch of pros who are very comfortable slugging it out, and given that the event is only two days, you’re not likely to see much laying up.
- Greg Hackney – 2008 – Falcon Lake – 39-11
- Terry Bolton – 2008 – Falcon Lake – 38-15
- Marshall Hughes – 2024 – Sam Rayburn – 38-7
- Greg Hackney – 2008 – Falcon Lake – 37-11
- Clifford Pirch – 2009 – Clear Lake – 37-8
- Koby Kreiger – 2008 – Falcon Lake – 37-4
- David Fritts – 2008 – Falcon Lake – 37-2
- Terry Bolton – 2008 – Falcon Lake – 36-13
- Sean Stafford – 2008 – California Delta – 35-12
- Chad Frie – 2008 – California Delta – 35-10
As you read this, someone in the field is probably looking at a 7-pounder, and most likely a 6-pounder or three have already hit BUBBA scales. So, buckle up for a great tournament, some wild weigh-ins and a fantastic time on MLFNOW!.
Follow along
You can follow the action at Stop 2 Presented by Star brite at Santee Cooper during both days of competition, Feb. 27-28, on MLFNOW! and stay locked to MajorLeagueFishing.com for on-the-water galleries, daily stories and more.