The 2026 Bassmaster Elite Series stop at Lake Murray, South Carolina, is shaping up as one of the most strategically loaded events on the schedule, and on episode 8 of The Bass Draft the Toledo Bend regulars — Andrew Upshaw, Ish Monroe, Todd Castledine and Matt Pangrac — sat down with Bass Pro Tour pro Britt Meyers to draft picks, debate the herring spawn, and argue, again, about what forward-facing sonar has done to traditional bass fishing.
The twist this week was that Murray was confirmed late as a forward-facing-sonar event, after several of the panel had been preparing for a no-scope ruling. "I didn't know it was a live scope event though. I was ready to pick all," Upshaw said as the order shook out. Once the rulebook landed, the conversation pivoted to a question that's been hanging over Carolina events for two seasons: how much does FFS still matter on a herring-spawn lake, and how much does it actually disrupt the way the locals have always fished?
Meyers, who knows the lake about as well as any sitting pro, didn't mince words on the impact. "Those Carolina fish are used to the live scope by now," he said. "It's not just sea cast catch count and count anymore." Upshaw's read on the broader change in his home waters was sharper still. "If forward facing sonar is like a giant deal on a lake, it has totally disrupted that, like changed it," he said. "All that stuff that I [fished] for 20 years, man — I don't know if I can go back and do any of that stuff anymore."
The drafting itself broke quickly toward the room's reading of who fits the lake. With pick number one, Upshaw took Trey McKinney off the board. Castledine countered with Kyle "Father Gil" Welcher; Ish Monroe locked in Cody "Coyo" Huff; Meyers used his first pick on Fisher Nia and his second on Patrick Walters — a name the room considered a quiet steal. "Patrick is old school scope," Meyers said, "but he gets the blue back herring stuff."
In the second round, Castledine reached for Emil Wagner with a strategy answer that doubled as inside-baseball gossip. "Have you seen the man on spotted bass legs? Him and Paul Marx are like buddies," Castledine said. "Mil dominates on Lanier and every time Paul goes to Lanier they... I think those two work together." Meyers agreed. "That is a correct gut feeling."
Meyers' own second-round pick was the one that drew the loudest agreement. "I'm going with Brandon Cobb," he said, before laying out the local-knowledge case. "He lives less than an hour from there. He finished second to Forestwood Cup working with Justin Hackney. He's going to know where to be. You could get on one spot and you can literally just wait for him to come up or wait for him to get active." The panel's consensus on Murray, repeated several times across the show, came back to that thread: the lake's herring fish move on shallow points, and the points don't change. "It's like musical chairs," Meyers said. "If you don't get one of those really good spots, then you don't have a chance."
Pangrac's third- and fourth-round picks were arguably the most pointed of the night. He lifted JT Tompkins in the third round and called him a "steal," then doubled down on local intel for round four. "This is a Hamner event," he said, picking Justin Hamner. "The exact week they were here in 2014, JT Tompkins finished in third place and Hamner finished in 16th. So I feel like those are two steals." Castledine and Upshaw didn't disagree. The thinking: Hamner has won big on a Carolina herring lake before, knows the run, and is a player on water that rewards repetition.
Meyers also liked Shane LeHew, who he picked over Jason Williamson. "Shane is just far enough away from there to be deadly," he said. "No one's picking Jason Williamson, guys. He's strong. I grew up around here, Clark Hill, all that stuff." Other later-round names floated by the panel for value: Sam Hangy, Caleb Hudson (the rookie pick), Tucker Smith — "He's been around the block a few times now. He's been a solid fisherman" — and Hunter Shyrock, who Castledine flagged as a sleeper. "He's on the baby pattern because he's got one on the way," Castledine said. "He did good last time they were there."
The room also leaned into the herring-spawn timing question. Upshaw asked whether the spawn would still be running when boats hit the water. Meyers' answer — "Should be, or late" — opened a sub-debate on whether the timing actually negates a forward-facing-sonar advantage for anglers good at intercepting cruising fish in two feet of water. "I do know it works on that herring deal," Meyers said, "and those guys who are really good at it are good with it in two foot of water."
The Bass Draft episode ends with the field of pros locked in — Trey McKinney, Father Gil Welcher, Cody Huff, Fisher Nia, Patrick Walters, Emil Wagner, Brandon Cobb, JT Tompkins, Justin Hamner, Tucker Smith, Hunter Shyrock, Shane LeHew, Sam Hangy, Caleb Hudson and a few wildcards — and a clear consensus on the lake. Murray rewards local knowledge, but the cleanest path to a heavy bag is still finding the herring window in the right cove and being the boat sitting on it when the fish arrive.
For anglers watching at home, the FFS-versus-traditional debate that hovered over the whole show is probably the lasting story. "It's like musical chairs," Meyers said again as the panel wound down. "It's still a points lake. It's still a herring lake. Some things don't change."