Carolina Clash preview: A Pro’s Approach with Davy Hite
It’s a shame Davy Hite was previewing the Lake Murray Elite Series tournament for us rather than helping us pick lottery numbers. If he had been doing the latter we’d all be rich now because he was basically right about everything he said.”I’ve lived on this lake for 30 years,” he laughed as he recalled his pre-tournament predictions. “I should know something about it by now. The problem is I didn’t know quite enough to win.”
That’s a reference to his self-described mistake on Day 2 that he believes cost him the tournament.”I was fishing the main lake points with Senkos, Zara Spooks, Mop Jigs and swimbaits and catching my fair share. I had a little something going. But, I also knew about the frog pattern up in the river.”I decided to try it on the second day, but I only went about halfway up and couldn’t find anything but smaller bass so I came back and fought the crowds on the points for the rest of the tournament.
“When I talked to Fred (Roumbanis) after the tournament he said the big ones were all the way up the river in the shallows and willow bushes. I didn’t go far enough. I should have known better. It cost me the tournament.”
That mistake notwithstanding, Hite finished a respectable fourth, less than 3 pounds short of the gold, with a total weight of 64 pounds, 1 ounce.And, if we consider his pre-tournament comments, it wasn’t a mistake at all. He warned us that the Lake Murray of today is different from the Lake Murray of yesterday and that the tournament could be won at either end on a wide variety of structure and cover.
His lure choice information wasn’t bad, either. He said there’d be opportunities for everyone, no matter their strengths. He was right. The top three anglers caught bass on topwater frogs, jigs, swimbaits and a plastic jerkbait. That’s diversity.Hite’s other predictions were close, if not perfect.He said that the big bass would be between 6 and 7 pounds, with the possibility of an 8-pounder coming to the scales. In fact, the Day 1 Purolator Big Bass, and Big Bass of the Tournament, weighed 8-7. Two of the other three weighed over six but less than seven and one — the Day 3 big bass — weighed 5-14.His cut weights were high but not ridiculously so. He told us it would take 27 to 28 pounds to fish on Saturday. The last spot was claimed by Jon Bondy with 23 pounds, 5 ounces. He also said an angler would need 47 pounds to fish Sunday. The last spot in that launch was claimed by Ish Monroe with 42 pounds.
In his final weight prediction, the Ninety Six, S.C., resident said it would take 70 to 75 pounds to win. That was also a little optimistic, but only a little. The winning weight was 66 pounds, 13 ounces. That’s a three pound error involving 20 fish, not bad by any standard.
Hite said five anglers could be dangerous on Lake Murray — Kevin VanDam, Terry Scroggins, Casey Ashley, Marty Robinson and Jason Williamson. Three of the five made the first cut (VanDam, Ashley and Robinson) and one of them (VanDam) fished the last day. That’s a solid prediction, even if picking VanDam isn’t exactly rocket science.Hite got it right. He deserves an A.
Carolina Clash preview: A Pro’s Approach with Davy Hite