Sabbagha Says Flip Big Weights to Win on Murray

By Pete Robbins 

 

The Big Bass Tour returns to South Carolina’s Lake Murray for it’s first fall tournament since 2020, but neither the venue nor this time of year are novel to our competitors. It’s a standard spring stop that produces lots of big fish, and we’ve also been here five times in prior autumns. 

 

Still, what local pro Joey Sabbagha makes this particular event special now is the proliferation of the lake’s submerged aquatic vegetation. It’s thick, it grows deep, and it’s a growth opportunity for the lake’s bass and baitfish populations. 

 

“Somebody’s probably going to win it flipping grass,” he said “There’s just a lot of offshore grass right now, some of it growing all the way out into 18 feet, but I’d be focused more on the 6- to 8-foot range. The best grass is in the lower portions of the lake, and that’s where the fish want to be. It’s not always easy to figure out, but when you get that flipping bite it’s usually a big one.” 

 

He'd look for the thickest grass around. “Matted is better,” is his motto, and when you hear the bream popping, that’s a sign of life. He’ll try to get through it with a ¾ ounce weight, but won’t hesitate to upsize to an ounce or more if the conditions demand it – and they often do, because he’s looking for the “gnarliest, thickest stuff I can find.” 

 

His premier lure choice would be a Berkley Pit Boss in some form of green pumpkin or watermelon to match the forage. He says the water is generally too clear in the best zones to justify using black and blue, even in the darkness of the mats. Other options include a Maxscent Creature Hawg or one of the variety of Berkley Craws, any of them that can hold a stout hook and handle the harsh treatment of passing in and out of the mats. 

 

Other ways to chase big fish in and around the grass – on edges and wherever it’s sparser or has divots – include a big Berkley Choppo topwater in panfish-imitating colors as well as a buzzbait. Sabbagha noted that a tournament held last week on Murray was won with a five-fish limit weighing 20 pounds, all caught on a buzzbait. That bite should just continue to get better over the coming weeks. A Berkley swim jig would also be a solid choice. 

 

He noted that those anglers who prefer to use their electronics could find an isolated giant out in 20- to 25-feet of water, but generally the grass is a better option. Similarly, it’s possible to catch a big one on a frog up a river, but again, he believes the better concentration of big fish is down the lake. It comes down to strategy and choices, and with three days to fish there’s time for adjustments. 

 

Murray has tons of 5- to 6-pound fish, and there are always multiple over 6 brought tot the scales in these events. The last time we had one over 7 in a fall event was 2017, when a 7.79 and a 7.50 battled for top honors. They show up more regularly in the spring, but even in that time of year we haven’t seen an 8 since 2022. That means that quality fish will stack up on top of each other, and choosing the right hour to weigh them in can mean a difference of hundred if not thousands of dollars. During the last fall event here, there were eight fish over 6 pounds, but none over 6.75, so don’t come to the scales at the wrong time and leave money on the table.