Will Davis Jr. has already experienced one of life’s unforgettable moments this week. It came on Day 1 of the Champions Power Equipment Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee. That’s when Greg DiPalma, Brandon Palaniuk, Timothy Dube and Davis combined to bring 97 ½ pounds of largemouth bass to the weigh-in scales. They shared one spot, occasionally bumping boats and taking turns casting to what Davis calls “The Juice.”
In the ultra-competitive environment that is tournament fishing in general and Elite Series competition in particular, that just doesn’t happen.
“Never,” said Davis. “It’s usually very, very awkward. I’m real fortunate that we all got along. But I didn’t expect anything different because I know those guys.”
However, you never expect that many anglers landing on one relatively small spot to the point they had to alternate making casts to avoid snagging each other’s line.
Davis, 32, from Sylacauga, Ala., wonders how many bass are left in “The Juice.” He won’t be going there Sunday, leaving that to tournament leader Palaniuk and second-place DiPalma, who trails Palaniuk by 18 pounds, 3 ounces.
“Over 200 pounds have come out of that one spot,” Davis said. “If a guy had it to himself, he could have weighed 110, 115 pounds this week.”
“The Juice,” as Davis calls it, is a ditch that runs between a high spot and the bank. It’s about 75 feet long and 30 feet wide, Davis estimated.
“It’s a choke point,” he said. “There were so many fish in there, so many fish.”
Davis grew up in the fishing world. His father, William, started Davis Bait Company in Sylacauga over 40 years ago. While working full-time at a paper mill and fishing tournaments on nights and weekends, Davis got frustrated with the quality of some of the lures and tackle on the market and started making baits. It has grown into a full-time business featuring a wide variety of lures. Davis Bait Company claims to be the originator of the shaky worm jighead. Anglers were putting plastic worms on crappie jigs before William Davis began making a shaky worm jighead for bass fishing.
But Will didn’t grow up with a father who funded his professional bass fishing dreams. He earned his way into the Elite Series through the B.A.S.S. Nation, the circuit set up for full-time workers/part-time tournament anglers. Will was working as a guide on an Alabama quail hunting preserve when he won the Nation championship in 2022.
That B.A.S.S. Nation bond was a big factor among three of the four pros sharing that one spot on Day 1 at Okeechobee. Palaniuk and Dube also earned their way to the Elite Series through the B.A.S.S. Nation.
Davis’s first Elite Series tournament was at Lake Okeechobee in 2023. He finished 14th. Palaniuk made an impression on him then.
“I was having trouble with my GoPro (camera),” Davis recalled. “He hopped in my boat right before blastoff and fixed it. I’ve learned a lot from him. I’ve learned hard work. I’ve learned how to become a better fisherman and a better person. He’s a very humble guy and just a good person to be around.”
Davis will take one of his father’s latest creations, a half-ounce, white-and-chartreuse swim jig named “The Beast,” and go to the Kissimmee River today, just like he did Saturday, when he was culling bass “in the first five minutes.”
Starting the day 27 pounds, 11 ounces behind Palaniuk leaves him no illusions of a miraculous comeback victory. But that won’t keep him from trying to walk across the Day 4 weigh-in stage with a big bag of bass. He’s not concerned where that will leave him in standings.
“I go by the Ricky Bobby philosophy,” laughed Davis, referring to the “Talladega Nights” movie. “If you’re not first, you’re last.”
