Based on the number of 20-pound bags caught, bass fishing was more than twice as good on Day 2 as it was on Day 1 at the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes. Thursday’s 14 20-pound bags were topped by Friday’s 29.
Drew Cook stayed on pace to top the 100-pound mark for this tournament and expanded his lead in the process. Cook’s two-day total is 56 pounds, 9 ounces, followed by Brandon Palaniuk with 48-15 and Greg Hackney with 48-1.
But nobody illustrated the possibilities at Santee Cooper better than Pat Schlapper. He had the “cull of the year” Friday afternoon when he replaced a 1 ¼-pound keeper in his livewell with a 9-pound, 10-ounce new big bass of the tournament – an 8-pounds-plus cull. The Eleva, Wis., pro also had a 7-pounder in his 26-4 limit that vaulted him from 25th place (18-12) on Day 1 to 5th place (44-0) on Day 2.
More and more bass are moving shallow to spawn and anything is possible over the next two days at Santee Cooper.