Davis plans surgery

Mark Davis didn't want to mention it during the Elite Series season, and he doesn't want this to sound like an excuse now, but his left shoulder has kept him in considerable pain all year.

Mark Davis didn't want to mention it during the Elite Series season, and he doesn't want this to sound like an excuse now, but his left shoulder has kept him in considerable pain all year.

On Oct. 27, the pain will get worse, before it gets better. That's when Davis is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair the rotator cuff and remove a bone burr.

"I've been putting band-aids on this thing for the last year," said Davis in reference to various treatments and injections his doctors have recommended in order to ease the pain. "I could barely set the hook at (Lake) Dardanelle."

Davis turned 51 years old on Oct. 11. The former Bassmaster Classic champion was in contention this season to become the oldest man to win the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year title. It would have been his fourth. The Mount Ida, Ark., native was the AOY champ in 1995, 1998 and 2001.

By examining the 2014 Elite Series tournament results, it's easy to see when the pain started to impact Davis' ability to fish. In the first three tournaments of the season, Davis finished third, third and fourth. In event No. 4 at Arkansas' Lake Dardanelle, Davis fell to 81st.

He placed 116th in BASSfest at Lake Chickamauga, where no AOY points were at stake. An 80th-place finish at the Delaware River ended his chances for an AOY title. Davis finished strong: 16th place at New York's Cayuga Lake and third at Lake Michigan's Bays de Noc. He was fifth in the final AOY standings, 25 points behind champion Greg Hackney.

Davis is right-handed, but he casts and sets the hook with his left hand. He needs to be a quick-healer in order to be at full speed for the 2015 Bassmaster Classic at South Carolina's Lake Hartwell. It will begin less than four months from Davis' surgery.

"At least I know what I'm getting into," Davis said. "I had surgery on the other shoulder about 10 years ago. I hope I'm ready for the Classic."

Davis might be able to fish the Classic, but there's little chance his shoulder will be 100 percent.

"After that last shoulder surgery, it was about a year before I didn't think about it anymore," Davis said.