2013 Bassmaster Elite Lake St. Clair Day 3: Mark Davis Still Lead; Martens Wins Second AOY!

Bass Press Release

DETROIT — Mark Davis came to Michigan for the Aug. 22-25 Bassmaster Elite Series Plano Championship Chase ready to risk all to bag his 17th Bassmaster Classic qualification.

Mark Davis has a chance to claim Elite tournament.
(Photo:BASS)

Saturday, leading the Chase for the second consecutive day, the 1995 Classic champ from Mount Ida, Ark., put himself in position to do just that. His risk was a round-trip daily run of 180 miles that left him soaking wet, hat to shoes, and shaken like a James Bond martini.

“It was definitely the Classic berth that drove me to do it,” Davis said.

The risk he took to get to Erie and back without a time penalty or mishap paid off. Davis weighed 20 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to retain the Chase lead with a three-day total of 63-10.

After his third consecutive day of turning in a 20-plus-pound bag, he was 1 pound, 1 ounce ahead of first-day leader Chris Lane of Guntersville, Ala. Lane brought in 22-15 — the day’s largest sack of bass — for second place and a three-day total of 62-9.

2013 Bassmaster Elite Lake St. Clair Day 2: Mark Davis Grabs Lead at Smallmouth Heaven

By Deb Johnson

BASS Press Release

AUG 23, 2013

DETROIT — Mullygrubs?

Yup. Mark Davis said he had them on Thursday, the first day of the Bassmaster Elite Series Plano Championship Chase out of Detroit, Mich. He said he caught the mullygrubs after not boating two big smallmouth bass he hooked. He settled for second place.

Mark Davis lands another 20lb bag to grab lead.
(Photo: BASS) 

He shook off those mullygrubs Friday. Not hard to do after spending a great day on the water, weighing 20 pounds, 10 ounces of smallmouth bass, and taking the Chase lead with a two-day tally of 42 pounds, 11 ounces.

“Mullygrubs,” the pro from Mount Ida, Ark., explained, is an old Arkansas term that means something that falls between the grumps and the blues, and maybe is tangled with regrets over missed chances.

“No mullygrubs today, everything was good. Everything went pretty well. I caught a limit pretty quick. I did lose one huge fish, but you aren’t going to catch all these big smallmouth,” said Davis, the 1995 Classic winner who also took the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year title that same season. He went on to claim another AOY crown in 1998, and a third in 2001.