Drew Cook's high-level sight-fishing skills allowed him to compile a 17-3 bag on Day 3 at Lake Hartwell.
April 26, 2025
By B.A.S.S. Communications Staff ANDERSON, S.C. — Drew Cook struggled with a clarity issue today, but when his afternoon analysis told him he was clearly not where he needed to be, the pro from Cairo, Ga., stepped on the gas and secured the necessary upgrades to maintain the lead on Day 3 of the Bassmaster Elite Series event at Lake Hartwell.
After catching 18 pounds, 12 ounces on Day 1, Cook found himself in a three-way tie for 6th place. Adding a second-round limit of 19-9, he took over the lead with a margin of 1-10 over rookie Paul Marks.
Saturday saw Cook add 17-3, tally a three-day total of 55-8, and expand his lead to a 2 1/2-pound margin over Marks. Doing so required contending with visibility limitations.
“A lot of the area I’m fishing got dirty either because of the waves, or the pollen really moved in,” Cook said. “That’s kinda the reason I practiced there – the pollen was in there and you really couldn’t see, so I figured I’d have a lot of it to myself, because everybody wouldn’t look through it.”
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Employing his uncanny sight-fishing abilities, Cook worked through the challenging conditions and even found encouraging signs that his area’s potential may be expanding.
“I did find a couple of new ones; this morning, I found a couple of new (bed fish),” Cook said. “I found like a 7-pounder, fished for it for a while and found six new ones this afternoon.
“We’re just looking for five big ones.”
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Spending most of his day in one main creek, Cook sight-fished with a Nories Front Flapper and a wacky-rigged prototype SPRO stickworm. The fish, he said, were scattered throughout his creek, but it seemed like small pockets off the main waters were more productive.
“Today was a grind, but I got one lucky bite,” Cook said. “Toward the end of the day, I was like, ‘Oh gosh, I’m behind.’ I had like 15 pounds and I’m like, ‘I don’t want to fumble right here.’
“I made a couple of adjustments, moved around really quick and caught a couple of fish that I wasn’t planning on catching, but I’m glad I did. In the last 10 minutes, I culled out a 1.3-pounder with a 2.66 and then I culled a 1.80 with a high-2. Those were very valuable.”
As Cook recalled, one of his better fish came from a perplexing scenario – one that B.A.S.S. Live viewers witnessed via drone view. One bed had seven bass clearly engaged in spawning activity.
“I honestly don’t know what was going on there,” Cook said. “I couldn’t get a grasp on who was the male and who was the female.
“There were four females nosed down on my bait. I didn’t even see the one I caught; he was underneath the females. He bit and started swimming off, so I figured I’d take my chance on it being one of the females. It wasn’t, but I needed him.”
Cook said he's committed to his bed-fishing game plan, but he’s contemplating a location change.
“We might move to the other side of the lake, just depending on the pollen,” he said.
Marks, who makes his home in Cumming, Ga., held steady at second place with 53-0. Making his first Elite Top 10, he carries daily weights of 19-7, 17-4, and 16-5.
“I’m trying to get my mind off (my first Top 10) and think about where I’m gonna go fishing,” Marks said. “I’m going to fish close to where I fished today, but different specific spots.
“I think I’ve worn my spots out. The first two days, I caught almost all my fish off of them. I caught a few there today, but they’re definitely getting smaller.”
Marks said he’s mixing up his presentations with topwaters, a Zoom Fluke Stick Jr. on a wide-gap hook and also on a shaky-head. He's caught mostly spotted bass, but he’s trying to do what he can to run into a couple of big largemouth.
“They’re smarter, but they’re there; you just have to get lucky and get one of them to bite,” Marks said. “Today, I had a small one come up and eat my topwater. That one came off and I caught a 3 1/2-pounder.
“I’m fishing points, humps, brush piles, all kinds of stuff. I’m just running around, because this time of year, there are fish on everything."
Tucker Smith of Birmingham, Ala., caught a limit of 17-2 and moved into third place with 51-15. The highlight of Smith’s day was a 4 1/2-pound spotted bass that bit around 11 o’clock.
“I started out on a herring spawn where there was spotted bass and largemouth,” Smith said. “They came up schooling a couple of times, but I missed them with my bait.
“I went and caught some spots and then went looking for largemouth later. I never found any largemouth, so I went back to spot-fishing and caught a couple more.”
Smith caught his bass on a Yamamoto D-Shad and a Yamamoto Senko.
Day-1 leader Randy Howell of Guntersville, Ala., is in the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with his 7-15.
Sunday’s takeoff is scheduled for 7 a.m. ET at Green Pond Landing. The weigh-in will be held at the Landing at 3 p.m.
Championship Sunday action can be seen on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. before moving to Bassmaster.com in the afternoon.
Day 3 Standings
1. Drew Cook -- Cairo, GA -- 15, 55-08 -- 104
2. Paul Marks -- Cumming, GA -- 15, 53-00 -- 103
3. Tucker Smith -- Birmingham, AL -- 15, 51-15 -- 102
4. Luke Palmer -- Coalgate, OK -- 15, 50-14 -- 101
5. Randy Howell -- Guntersville, AL -- 15, 50-05 -- 100
6. Jay Przekurat -- Plover, WI -- 15, 50-00 -- 99
7. Easton Fothergill -- Grand Rapids , MN -- 15, 49-14 -- 98
8. Emil Wagner -- Marietta, GA -- 15, 48-12 -- 97
9. Wesley Gore -- Clanton, AL -- 15, 48-11 -- 96
10. Jacob Powroznik -- North Prince George, VA -- 15, 47-14 -- 95
The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on Day 4
11. Trey McKinney -- Carbondale, IL -- 15, 47-14 -- 94 -- $7,000
12. Bryant Smith -- Roseville, CA -- 15, 47-11 -- 93 -- $7,000
13. JT Thompkins -- Myrtle Beach, SC -- 15, 47-06 -- 92 -- $7,000
14. Justin Hamner -- Northport, AL -- 15, 47-02 -- 91 -- $7,000
15. Andrew Loberg -- Guntersville, AL -- 15, 47-02 -- 90 -- $7,000
16. Taku Ito -- Dalton, GA -- 15, 47-00 -- 89 -- $6,500
17. Drew Benton -- Panama City, FL -- 15, 46-13 -- 88 -- $6,500
18. John Cox -- Debary, FL -- 15, 46-09 -- 87 -- $6,500
19. Jordan Lee -- Cullman, AL -- 15, 46-06 -- 86 -- $6,500
20. Bryan New -- Leesville, SC -- 15, 46-05 -- 85 -- $7,500
21. Patrick Walters -- Eutawville, SC -- 15, 46-04 -- 84 -- $6,000
22. Shane LeHew -- Catawba, NC -- 15, 46-02 -- 83 -- $6,000
23. Kyoya Fujita -- Yamanashi, JAPAN -- 15, 45-15 -- 82 -- $6,000
24. Robert Gee -- Knoxville, TN -- 15, 45-14 -- 81 -- $6,000
25. Ben Milliken -- Omaha, NE -- 15, 45-12 -- 80 -- $6,000
26. Alex Redwine -- Blue Ash, OH -- 15, 45-12 -- 79 -- $5,500
27. Cody Meyer -- Eagle, ID -- 15, 45-11 -- 78 -- $5,500
28. Matty Wong -- Honolulu, HI -- 15, 45-04 -- 77 -- $5,500
29. Evan Kung -- Pickering, ON -- 15, 45-04 -- 76 -- $5,500
30. Chad Pipkens -- Dewitt, MI -- 15, 45-01 -- 75 -- $5,500
31. Chris Johnston -- Otonabee, ON -- 15, 45-01 -- 74 -- $5,500
32. Kyle Norsetter -- Cottage Grove, WI -- 15, 45-01 -- 73 -- $5,500
33. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 15, 44-12 -- 72 -- $5,500
34. Ray Hanselman Jr -- Del Rio, TX -- 15, 44-08 -- 71 -- $5,500
35. Will Davis Jr -- Sylacauga, AL -- 15, 44-06 -- 70 -- $5,500
36. Kyle Patrick -- Cooperstown, NY -- 15, 44-01 -- 69 -- $5,500
37. Cory Johnston -- Otonabee, ON -- 15, 44-01 -- 68 -- $5,500
38. Hunter Shryock -- Ooltewah, TN -- 15, 44-01 -- 67 -- $5,500
39. Lee Livesay -- Longview, TX -- 15, 43-13 -- 66 -- $5,500
40. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, MD -- 15, 43-12 -- 65 -- $5,500
41. Timothy Dube -- Nashua , NH -- 15, 43-05 -- 64 -- $5,500
42. Justin Atkins -- Florence, AL -- 15, 43-00 -- 63 -- $5,500
43. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, MN -- 15, 42-06 -- 62 -- $5,500
44. Carl Jocumsen -- Queensland, AUS -- 15, 41-10 -- 61 -- $6,500
45. Seth Feider -- Elko New Market, MN -- 15, 41-08 -- 60 -- $5,500
46. Cooper Gallant -- Bowmanville, ON -- 15, 41-01 -- 59 -- $5,500
47. Gerald Swindle -- Guntersville, AL -- 15, 40-07 -- 58 -- $5,500
48. Bill Lowen -- Brookville, IN -- 15, 40-04 -- 57 -- $5,500
49. Cole Sands -- Johnson City, TN -- 15, 39-13 -- 56 -- $5,500
50. Caleb Kuphall -- Mukwonago, WI -- 15, 39-03 -- 55 -- $5,500
