Georgia's Drew Cook takes the Day 2 lead at the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell in Anderson,
S.C., with a weight of 38-5.ANDERSON, S.C. — Persistence plus keen observation paid big dividends by way of a late-day kicker that sent Drew Cook to the top of the leaderboard on Day 2 of the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
Adding a five-bass limit of 19-9 to his first-round weight of 18-12, the pro from Cairo, Ga., tallied a two-day total of 38-5. Cook heads into Semifinal Saturday with a lead of 1-10 over Paul Marks and a surge of momentum from ending his second day on a high note.
“At 9 o’clock, I found a 4 1/2-pounder that wasn’t there yesterday and fished for it for probably an hour and a half,” Cook said. “I got it to bite like three times and I finally pulled the plug and said, ‘I gotta keep going,’ because I only had one bass.
“I went down the creek and ended up filling my limit. I caught two of the females that were in there and then went back to that fish I had found earlier. I fished for her again for like 45 minutes and then I was like, ‘I gotta keep on going.’”
As his day came to an end, Cook made a final visit to the fish that had long perplexed him. This time, detecting a key detail allowed him to close the deal.
“I went back to that fish at 2:45 and I was able to catch her,” Cook said. “Thankfully, I found out where the male was. There was another male that was up there — a 2 1/2- to 3-pounder — and that’s the one I thought that she was with. That male kept leaving and coming back and acting weird.
“Finally, I realized that there was a 10-inch male about 12 to 15 feet to the left, and that’s where the bed actually was. Once I found that out, it was pretty easy. I got that big female to bite pretty quickly.”
Cook said he started his day fishing points, where he targeted fish feeding on the blueback herring spawn. When that effort proved unproductive, he headed for his shallow spawning areas and spent the rest of his day looking for bed fish and cruising fish.
“I was just trolling down the bank, looking for them on beds and fishing as I’m going,” Cook said. “I caught all of my fish on a Nories Front Flapper rigged on a 4/0 Gamakatsu G-Power flipping hook with a 1/4-ounce weight.”
Cook said his presentation strategy plays a big role in pushing indecisive fish over the edge. Once he flips his bait into a bed, he holds his rod above the reel with his left hand and uses his right hand to steadily tap his rod butt. This creates enticing bait motion without moving the bait out of the bed.
“Most of my fish came out of one creek,” Cook said. “They’re steadily swimming in there. I’m planning on having to leave, but I’m going to give that creek its due because I saw three prespawn females at the mouth of it coming in this afternoon.
“We’re going to try something a little different tomorrow and maybe fish a couple different points. After that, we’re going to put the trolling motor down and keep hunting after them. Hopefully, we can run into five more big ones and get it done.”
Hailing from Cumming, Ga., Marks is in second place with 36-11. After placing third on Day 1 with 19-7, he added 17-4 and gained one spot.
“I pretty much had the same game plan, I just didn’t catch any largemouth today,” Marks said. “I caught all spots and had pretty much what I had yesterday without the largemouth.
“I went and checked some bed fish and looked for some new ones, but I couldn’t get any of them to bite. I probably hit 40 or 50 spots today. I had my weight by about 10:30.”
Marks caught his fish on a Zoom Super Fluke, a Zoom Fluke Stick Jr and a shaky head with a Fluke Stick Jr. He did all of his work in the lake’s lower end.
“From Green Pond to the dam is where the biggest spots live,” Marks said. “It’s just the biggest water, more open water and way more (habitat) for them to live around.”
Day 1 leader Randy Howell of Guntersville, Ala., slipped to third with a two-day total of 36 pounds. After catching a Day 1 limit of 21-11 — the event’s heaviest bag —he added 14-5.
After starting his first morning with a first-cast kicker — a 7-pound, 15-ounce largemouth he had marked on a bed during practice — Howell spent the first hour of Day 2 throwing a Livingston Walking Boss for bass chasing blueback herring. After that, he spent all day searching for shallow bed fish.
“I fished a lot of new water today and caught a bunch of little fish on the 5-inch Yamamoto Senko in green pumpkin purple/green and green pumpkin purple/copper,” Howell said. “I only got three over 3 pounds today so, hopefully, tomorrow, I’ll get in a better rotation and catch some 4-pounders to get back in contention for Championship Sunday.”
Howell is in the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with his 7-15.
Jay Przekurat of Plover, Wis., leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 369 points. Lee Livesay of Longview, Texas, is in second place with 347 points, followed by Will Davis Jr of Sylacauga, Ala., with 341, Shane Lehew of Catawba, N.C., with 341, and Chris Johnston of Otonabee, Canada, with 328.
Tucker Smith of Birmingham, Ala., leads the Dakota Lithium Elite Series Rookie of the Year standings with 290 points.
Saturday’s takeoff is scheduled for 7 a.m. ET at Green Pond Landing. The weigh-in will be held at the Landing at 3 p.m.
Semifinal Saturday and Championship Sunday action can be seen on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. before moving to Bassmaster.com in the afternoon.
Visit Anderson is hosting this tournament.
