Elite

Big bass of Lake Murray

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Captions by
Mike Suchan
Talk before the Marathon Bassmaster Elite at Lake Murray was the fishery was on fire. It lived up to that billing and then some, with giant bass, big bags and bigger drama. Drew Benton made the winning catch with minutes to go. The 103 anglers collectively weighed 1,311 bass totaling 4,477 pounds for an average fish of just under 3 pounds, 7 ounces. Let’s look at the big bass that made a difference.
Fishing shallow, Hunter Shryock got off to a great start with 22-9, including a biggest of 5-14. Shryock, who recently announced he and his wife are expecting, was among 16 anglers who topped 20 pounds on Day 1, and he moved into second with 23-5 on Day 2 when another 16 anglers eclipsed the 20-pound mark.
Drew Benton started well with a 5-4 that helped become the first to top 20 pounds on BassTrakk. He culled to 23-0 and stood in second place. On Day 1, 97 anglers had limits totaling 1,710 pounds, for an average catch of 3-6.
Patrick Walters was among the local favorites on Murray, having fished it numerous times during college. He caught 22-11 to hold third place after Day 1. With 20-9, 19-2 and 21-1, Walters never fell below fifth in the event and ended up finishing fourth, just one big catch away from victory.
Behind the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of Day 1, a 6-14, Matt Robertson led with 25-8. His big bite waned, and he fell to ninth before dropping to 29th, but he earned the $1,000 bonus.
Brandon Card took that Day 2 bonus as he equaled Robertson with this 6-14. Better yet, it helped him build a limit going 22-10, which catapulted Card from 95th to 45th. Another 20-5 on Day 3 helped Card finish 27th and salvage 68 points in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. At 95th, he had dropped to 33rd, but he left Murray in the hunt at sixth.
Jake Whitaker of Hendersonville, N.C., climbed 14 spots to sixth after 21-4 on Day 2, but four fish for 11-2 saw him drop to finish 35th. There were 100 limits on Day 2, but the average fish weight dropped an ounce to 3-5.
Jason Williamson of Aiken, S.C., saw a rise with his Day 2 best of 24-4, putting him fourth. It was enough for Williamson to make Sunday’s final round, where he settled for ninth.
Will Davis Jr. of Sylacauga, Ala., made the jump from 61st to 35th with 19-5 on Day 2. He dropped to end up 44th, but he left Murray 13th in the AOY standings and leading the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year race, equaling Kyoya Fujita with 231 points but holding the tiebreaker of full-field weight.
Of the 14 current Elite anglers who fished the 2011 Elite on Murray, Mike Iaconelli was the top finisher in second. He continued his Lake Murray success with 20-2 on Day 2 (shown here making a cull) and 20-11 on Semifinal Saturday. Ike finished 11th this time, just 1-7 from making Sunday’s round. Since refocusing his efforts after a poor 2022, Ike is 10th in the AOY standings.
After a poor first day that saw him 69th, Kenta Kimura caught 46-5 over the next two days, the most weight in that span by almost 4 pounds. Kimura had Day 2’s biggest limit of 24-9 and climbed to fourth with 21-12. The smallest Day 4 weight left him 10th.
Fellow countryman Kyoya Fujita was Mr. Consistent, weighing limits of 22-6 the first two days then taking the lead after Day 3 with 20-12 for a total of 65-8. The deep finesse bite for the four-time Japanese AOY waned, and he fell to third, but his Elite career is off to an incredible start. Fujita was second on Lake Seminole, helping him to stand 14th in AOY.
With another big bag, Drew Benton took over the lead on Day 2. His 23-9 gave him 46-9 and an 11-ounce lead on Shryock. Semifinal Saturday was much stingier to Benton, who mustered only 14-0 and was last man into Championship Sunday with 60-9.
Steve Kennedy, who was second in the 2008 Elite on Murray, landed a 6-2 on Day 3 to weigh 19-10. Kennedy’s 20th-place finish moved him 22 spots up to 33rd in AOY, inside the top 40 cut who receive automatic berths to next year’s Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic.
After falling from 15th to 34th, Shane LeHew of Catawba, N.C., busted a bag going 23-3 to finish 14th. LeHew, who was ninth at Seminole and 31st at Okeechobee, is seventh in AOY. There were 48 limits on Day 3, with the average fish weight rising to 3-9.
John Cox shows off a 6-1 in his Day 3 bag of 21-9 that put him fifth. He started 30th with 18-13 but topping 20 pounds the next three rounds saw him finish fifth with 81-13. He’s recovered from an uncharacteristic 49th at Okeechobee to stand 11th in AOY. Each of the Top 10 caught limits, and the average fish weight increased to 4-1.
Standing 44th after two days, Bernie Schultz made noise on BassTrakk and at the scales. Schultz had a 6-11 and several others close to 6 in tying for the biggest bag of Day 3 at 26-1. It moved the 68-year-old into contention at seventh. He dropped a spot on Sunday, but he’s in good position to qualify for his 10th Classic by standing 18th in AOY.
Drew Cook, among those expected to do well sight fishing for Murray’s big spawners, had slipped to 38th after two days but equaled Schultz’s 26-1 to jump into sixth. His biggest bass on the day was a 7-2, second largest in the event. He caught 20-4 on Sunday to finish seventh with 81-7, and he moved up to fifth in AOY.
After taking Day 1’s Phoenix Boats Big Bass honor with an 8-1 at Seminole, Matt Arey of Shelby, N.C., was thrilled to take the Day 3 and overall honors at Murray with this 7-11. Arey, who moved from 58th to 47th on Day 2, totaled 20-7 on Day 3 to finish 25th.
Shryock, of Newcomerstown, Ohio, seemingly was on track to win, especially after a remarkable catch of a 6-14. The fish stayed on as Shryock was prone on his front deck and worked his rod around a piling. He built a limit of 21-4 to total 85-7, but he ended up 1-10 shy of winning. It was still Shryock’s best Elite finish and biggest check at $35,000.
Benton began Championship Sunday 4-15 back of Fujita and 3-10 behind Shryock. With some solid 4s and 5s, Benton was within striking range of the leaders by noon, and his sight fishing bite was heating up. He caught two big fish late, including one with around 15 minutes left in his day. His 6-4 big bass of the day helped him rally to the biggest bag of the tournament, 26-7.
Benton, who won on Texas’ Lake Travis in 2018, earned the $2,000 bonus for VMC Monster Bag of the tournament and had a winning total of 87-0. The win was reaffirming. “I started to — not doubt myself — but wonder if it was ever going to happen again,” he said. “I finished second in an Elite; finished second in an Open I should have won. Am I snakebit? Can I close the deal anymore? So, this feels great.”
Brandon Cobb, another local favorite who lives nearby on Lake Greenwood, left Murray leading the AOY race. Cobb topped 20 pounds the first two days and had 21-2 on Sunday to total 81-13 and finish sixth. He has 286 points, five more than second-place Tyler Rivet. The field moves about two hours southeast for this week’s AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes.

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