Lunker: 10-09 largemouth bass on Day 1
Angler: Harmon Davis (Marlow, Oklahoma)
Lure: Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver 4.20 in Tramp Stamp — Davis was fishing this beaver bait on a 4/0 flipping hook behind a 1 1/4-ounce tungsten sinker he pegged against the head of the bait.
Rod: 8-foot heavy action flipping rod
Reel: Abu Garcia Revo (8.1:1 gear ratio)
Line: 50-pound braid
Method: Santee Cooper is known for big bass in heavy cover—particularly the upper lake, Lake Marion, where Davis caught his giant, a tie for the biggest bass ever caught in NPFL history with a fish taken by Jesse Wise from Lake Amistad during the 2024 NPFL Championship.
When the cover is matted vegetation, often the only way to pull bass from it is by punching a soft plastic lure or jig through the canopy to the somewhat open water underneath. When the cover mats and canopies on the surface, it cuts off sunlight to the vegetation below, leaving tunnels and pathways through the cover that bass and bait thrive in.
A conventional Texas rig won’t often penetrate such cover, but a compact and streamlined bait paired with a tungsten sinker weighing an ounce or more will often “punch” through and plummet past a bass that will react by gobbling it up without thinking or intentionally feeding—a vertical reaction bite.
Cast: “During practice,” Davis says, “I found a big mat of dead hyacinths that was holding some really big fish. The mat was over seven feet of water toward the back of a creek on a channel swing—a perfect spot for pre-spawn largemouths! Unfortunately, high winds postponed the start of the tournament and blew out about 80% of the hyacinths. I fished what was left and caught the 10-09 on the morning of the first day.”
The fish struck the beaver on the initial fall, as they typically do. When they don’t, and the water’s cool to cold, rather than let the bait sit on the bottom and bounce it up and down a couple of times before bringing it back for another presentation, Davis will lift it until it hits the underside of the canopy and shake it there for a few seconds. Bass often hold with their backs up against the warm cover in these conditions and are receptive to such a presentation. If that doesn’t work, he reels it in and pitches to another spot.
Lesson: “I think a lot of anglers actually use a sinker that’s too heavy when punching,” says Davis. “The bigger your sinker, the harder it is to get a good hookset and the more likely you are to blow the fish’s mouth open by using a slack-line or shock hook-set with a big weight.
“You certainly have to use a sinker that’s heavy enough to penetrate the cover,” Davis notes, “but I’ll go as light as I reasonably can and just pull into the fish to set the hook. When I feel the bite, I lean back hard and steady and that gives me my best hook-up percentage. The bass don’t want to let go of the bait, and setting the hook on a slack line can blow the bass’s mouth open and send the weight flying back at you, which is dangerous.”
In a pro career that’s seen him qualify for back-to-back Forrest Wood Cup championships in 2002 and 2003 before taking a lengthy hiatus to raise his family, Davis has another piece of outstanding tournament advice: “Do what you’re good at,” he says.
“I feel like I have a chance to do well with a flipping stick in my hand, so I’m always open to that opportunity. Simplifying my fishing has made me a better angler.”
