Bradford Beavers Wins FLW Open Santee Cooper
Bradford Beavers wanted badly to savor the moment and celebrate with friends and family. After all, it's not often an angler can say he's won a major tournament on his home body of water and this one was several years in the making for the South Carolinian. But duty called and Beavers had to dash off to Tennessee to begin practice for the Lake Chickamauga FLW Tour, which begins Thursday. At some point in the near future, though, he'll be able to soak in his victory at the Santee Cooper Southeastern FLW Series, which was shortened to two days because of weather.
"I didn't even get to enjoy it," Beavers joked Monday evening after finishing up day 2 of practice at Chickamauga. While every victory is meaningful, this one shot right to the top of Beavers' list of accomplishments for two reasons: First of all, it was in his backyard. He grew up fishing the stump- and tree-infested waters of lakes Moultrie and Marion. "It's my home lake and I had a Ranger this time so it's more money," he said. "How many guys have a chance to win a big event like that on their home water?"
Secondly, it rinsed away the lingering sting he felt from the 2014 Santee Cooper Southeastern FLW Series, which he led after day 2 before zeroing on the final day and finishing ninth. "I've made peace with it now," he said. "That was my very first Costa and when I brought in 32 pounds (on day 2), I was on top of the world." Last week, he caught 31-02 on day 1 - the only 30-pound stringer of the tournament - to seize the lead, then endured the day off before adding 23-07 on Saturday to prevail with 54-09. "The potential is always there for 30-plus pounds," he said. "Sometimes you see some pushing 40. If you hit 20, it's been a good day. Anything above that is phenomenal. On the last day, I told myself, 'Just go out and don't lose it, like last time.' I figured if I could catch 20, I'd be good. I felt like I did my part and if anybody beat me, good for them. Then they flat out beat me."
History On His Side:
Beavers knows that it's easy to get caught up in fishing memories at lakes he's very familiar with, but he was happy with how he navigated that aspect at Santee Cooper. "I have a lot of history there and I know a lot of areas on that lake," he said. "After I caught them pretty quick on day 1, I knew I had around 30 and I didn't know what to do so I helped out my co-angler." The second day was shorter for me, but every time I'd fish a stump flat five feet or deeper, I wouldn't get any bites. I have a lot of places like that, but I didn't care how much history I had on a spot, if it wasn't three to five feet, I wasn't fishing it. That was a big decision that paid off. I could sit on one stretch and fish for seven hours because I have so much history there, but I wouldn't be catching anything. Too much history can hurt you if you don't know how to use it." His experience on the lakes in the spring also helped shape his game plan, which involved both lakes, but he was keenly focused on Lake Moultrie in the mornings.
"I grew up on the lower lake," he said. "The lower lake has fewer trees than the upper lake and if you don't get to them first and someone else is there to fish them they'll get picked off first. The upper lake has tons of trees, so you can go behind people and still catch fish. "It's just a lot harder on the lower lake because there's not as much habitat down there." It also didn't take Beavers long to decide what he'd be throwing. "Two years ago, I decided I was a Senko man in April, so it was never a question of what I was going to throw in this tournament," he said. "I had four rods rigged up all with the same bait on them."
Fast Start, Big Finish:
Beavers could not have scripted a better start to his tournament on Thursday. "It seemed like every time I set the hook, a 5- to 8-pounder came out from the tree," he said. "It never failed. I had 'em all by 11:30." Four of his day-1 keepers came out of Moultrie, including an 8-01 kicker, as he built a five-pound cushion. After Friday's competition was cancelled due to weather, the full field headed back out on Saturday. Beavers had the mindset that if he got to 20 pounds he'd be pretty tough to beat.
"I wasn't trying to do anything crazy," he said. "I was just trying to hit that mark." He followed the same strategy that worked on Thursday - start the day firing wacky-rigged stickbaits at trees and stumps in Moultrie, then move up to Marion later on. By 11 a.m., he had roughly 20 pounds, then caught a 5 1/2-pounder at 1:30 to cull up to 23-plus pounds. "That came off a stump in a stump flat," he said. "I felt like I'd run lot of productive trees, so I got away from them and caught that one casting to stumps. I knew when I caught that one, I'd had a good day. It was a 3-pound cull. I was real happy to catch that one. "You never feel real comfortable on that lake. Some of the guys I was fishing against, I've seen them weigh in 35 pounds with regularity."
Winning Pattern:
Beavers said he skipped over any trees that had more than five feet of water on them.
He said the bulk of the fish he caught were stationed close to the bank of the trees or stumps. "Typically, you want to get as close to the base as you can because they're either spawning on the trunk or they're in the shade of the trunk," he said. "Ninety percent of the time, they'll be right up against it."
His preference for the weightless wacky rig is that if offers a more natural fall. He was visualizing the fish on or around the beds. "You want to let it sink and let it sit there," he said. "The big thing was I knew the high-percentage trees. There are certain trees I can pull up to and say I fished it for 10 years and never caught one there, so there was no point of fishing it in the tournament. The trees that had been historically good were good again."
The key to a tree being historically good was two-fold, he said. "Either it was located in the fish's path from the bank to offshore or there was something about its root system or it had a stump next to it that gives them an ambush spot or a spot to spawn," he said. "Sometimes you don't know what's there."
Winning Gear:
Wacky worm gear: 7' medium-action Dobyns Champion SF spinning rod, unnamed spinning reel, 15-pound unnamed braided line, 14-pound unnamed fluorocarbon line (leader), size 1 Gamakatsu straight shank hook, 5" unnamed soft plastic stick bait (green-pumpkin).
He favors the bigger line on spinning gear around the trees and stumps for peace of mind. "When you're fishing that many trees, you have no worries with backlashes with a spinning rod," he said. "I learned it from watching the locals. The older guys throw it so there's no need to fight it. A lot of people throw it with 8-, 10- or 12-pound line, but I've caught so many 8-pound fish that have had me wrapped me around trees. Some people think they get more bites with lighter line, but with the size of the potential fish out there, I felt safer with heavier line."
Weightless Texas-rig gear: Same rod, same reel, same line, 5/0 Gamakatsu EWG worm hook, same bait.
He only threw a Texas-rig around areas where he was prone to getting hung up.
FLW Costa Tour Santee Cooper Winning Profile BassFan 6/1/19 (Todd Ceisner)
