Mark Hutson of Moncks Corner caught four bass weighing 15 pounds, seven ounces, to win the May 1 Stren Series Southeast tournament on Santee Cooper with a 3-day total of 13 bass weighing 49 pounds, 13 ounces. “What a day,” said Hutson, who won $21,336. “I caught the big one on my first pitch this morning. I hooked her probably 30 yards from the boat in lily pads on 10-pound braid. I had to go to her. She bogged down, and I got to her, and she was still there and we got her in the net. I caught a 5-pounder two or three casts after that. After that, it was one here and one there.”
Hutson said he caught bedding fish early in the week on a Zoom Speed Craw, but on the final day of competition he caught them on a soft plastic stickbait.
“I really hunted the first two days for fish,” Hutson said. “The fish I had in practice were either caught or gone. It was a struggle.
“I didn’t have but one area this morning where I saw a few bedding bass, but my non-boater said he was on some fish, and I decided to go with that due to the weather pattern we had. It was windy, and I didn’t think I would be able to see my fish at the depth that they were.”
Hutson opened the tournament in second place with five bass that weighed 21-3. His four bass the next day, weighing 13-3, boosted him into first place as the field was cut to the top 10.
Rounding out the top five pros were: Cecil Wolf of Hanahan, second with 13 bass weighing 45-7, for $8,535; Ken Ellis of Bowman, third with 15 bass weighing 45-2 for $6,828; Norm Attaway of Clearwater, fourth with 13 bass weighing 44-13 for $5,974; and Chuck Howard of Elloree, fifth with 15 bass weighing 44-9 for $5,121.
Eddie Melton of Charleston caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division on the first day – a 9-1 lunker — to win $357.
Shawn Malcom of Monroe, Ga., won the co-angler division and a fully-rigged boat and trailer with a 3-day total of 13 bass that weighed 34-13.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were: Donald Miller of High Point, N.C., second with nine bass for 24-15 and $3,504; Jamie Bladow of Houston, Ala., third with six bass for 24-9 and $2,628; Larry Breckenridge of Dothan, Ala., fourth with nine bass for 22-3 and $2,190; and Ron Buck of Port Saint Lucie, Fla., fifth with eight bass for 19 pounds and $1,971.
Clemson is second at Santee
The Clemson team of Erin Schumpert of Greenwood and Andy Wicker of Pomaria weighed in three bass at 10 pounds, 13 ounces, to take second place and $5,000 in the National Guard FLW College Fishing Southeast Division tournament on Santee Cooper May 2.
Coastal Carolina — Jonathan Ledoux of Myrtle Beach and Wyatt Hammond of Conway — weighed in four bass at 6-10 to finish fifth and win $2,000.
The University of Florida team —Jake Gipson of Niceville, Fla., and Matthew Wercinski of Gainesville, Fla., — won the tournament with four bass that weighed 12-7, taking home $10,000.
The prize money won by the student anglers is split evenly between the school and the school’s bass fishing club.
Browning wins Lake Russell BFL
Scott Browning of Franklin, N.C., won the Walmart BFL Savannah River Division tournament on Lake Russell May 9 with a 5-bass limit that weighed 19 pounds, 5 ounces, taking home a check for $3,963. Browning said he targeted spawning and post-spawn fish with a floating worm.
Rounding out the top five boaters were: Kerry Partain of Elberton, Ga., second with five bass for 17-1 and $1,981; Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, third with five bass for 15-7 and $1,322; Travis Moon of Belton, fourth with five bass for 15-4 and $925; and Jack Corey of Lincolnton, Ga., fifth with five bass for 14-11 and $793.
Browning also won the Boater Division big bass prize of $535 for a 7-3 lunker.
Jeremy Teal of Carnesville, Ga., caught five bass that weighed 11-1 to win the co-angler division and $1,981.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were: Joe Anders of Easley, second with five bass for 10-15 and $991; Drew Williams of Clemson, third with five bass for 10-7 and $662; Zach Hyder of Landrum, fourth with five bass for 9-13 and $462; and David Faulkner of Greenville, fifth with four bass for 8-14 and $396.
Teal’s 5-7 lunker was co-angler big fish, worth $267.
3 BASS pros cash at Guntersville
Pro anglers Davy Hite of Ninety Six and Wade Grooms of Bonneau finished 23rd and 24th respectively in the Bassmaster Elite Series Marine Formula STA-BIL Southern Challenge on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville May 7.
Hite finished with 15 bass that weighed 67 pounds, 14 ounces and won $9,506. Grooms had 15 that weighed 67 pounds, one ounce, and also won $9,506.
Britt Myers of Lake Wylie finished 33rd with five fish that weighed 63 pounds, four ounces, and also won $9,506.
Aaron Martens of Leeds, Ala., won the Guntersville tournament with 107-9.
SC anglers score at Wheeler
Joseph Kastner of Leesville weighed three limits for a total of 35 pounds, 2 ounces, to finish 14th and win $2,457 in the Bassmaster Southern Open on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake May 2.
Other South Carolina anglers in the money included: Brian Easler of Inman, 24th with 15 bass, 31-6 for $1,573; Jason Quinn of York, 32nd with 10 bass, 22-9 for $491; Casey Ashley of Donalds, 10 bass, 35th, 22-0, $491; and Jason Williamson of Aiken, 47th, 10 bass, 20-12, $491.
Stanley James of Inman finished 24th in the co-angler division with 11 bass that weighed 19-14, good for $440.
CATT finals have big pay-outs
Three Carolina Anglers Team Tournament divisions held their Spring Finals in early May.
Howard Stephens of Columbia and Mark McCormick of Chapin beat out 45 other teams to take first place at Lake Murray on May 9 with a limit that weighed 23-1, worth $3,000. Close behind were Neil Hufstetler of Pomaria and Tim Hufstetler of Little Mountain, the defending champions, who weighed in a 20-1 limit for second and $2,040.
Phillip Anderson and Andy Lake, both of Saluda, wrapped up third place with a limit that weighed 19-12 and won $1,135.
At Santee Cooper, Rick McLean of Dalzell and Corey Allsbrook of Sumter finished first with 19-11 and won $2,500. Jim Smoak and Mike Watson finished second with 17-9. They also had the big fish at 6 pounds, 9 ounces, to win a total of $1,140. David Malin of Ladson and Robbie Sacora of Monks Corner finished third with 15-12 and won $370.
At Lake Wylie, Chris Carroll of Kings Mountain, N.C., and Earl Rice of Shelby, N.C., weighed a limit at 18-6 to finish first and win $3,000. Tim Chapman of Kings Mountain, N.C., and Mark Leech of Gastonia, N.C., finished second with 17-11. They also had second big fish at 4-14 and wound up with a total of $1,666. Tom Russell and Doug Gilmer, both of Fort Mill, finished third 17-9 and won. $850.McEachern wins TBF-SC youth title
D.J. McEachern of Northeast Columbia won his second straight TBF-SC Junior Championship on Lake Murray May 16 in the 15-18-year-old Division.
McEachern and Drew Brantley of Swansea, winner of the 11-14 age division, will represent South Carolina in The Bass Federation’s 2009 Junior World Championship.
Shane Cantley of Elgin took second in the 15-18 age division, and Ashley Brantley of Swansea was second in the 11-14 age division. All four are members of the St. Andrews Junior Bassmasters.
Wilson wins Lake Murray TBF-SC
Billy Wilson of Lexington, a member of St. Andrews Bassmasters, took first place in the next-to-last TBF-SC qualifying tournament of the season on May 23 on Lake Murray with a 5-fish limit that weighed 12.89 pounds. He won $877.50.
Jay Keith of Camden, a member of Wateree Bassmasters, was second with a limit that weighed 10.71 pounds, winning $585. Darrell Shull of West Columbia, representing Mid State Bass Anglers, had the big fish of the tournament at 4.92 pounds and won $130.
On the co-angler side, Tommy Lindler of Lexington, a member of Mid State Bass Anglers, weighed in four bass at 5.06 pounds for first place and won $526.50. Kenny Grimes of Lexington, a member of St. Andrews Bassmasters, was second with two bass that weighed 4.95 pounds and won $351, plus another $130 for co-angler big fish.
Lake wins, takes ABA points lead
Andy Lake of Saluda weighed in five fish at 17.83 pounds on May 3 to win the American Bass Anglers Division 96 tournament on Lake Murray and win $593. Lake also edged Sean Anderson, also of Saluda, by one point to take the lead in the Division 96 Angler of the Year points race.
Ron Hornsby of Lexington finished second with 17.17 pounds, including the big fish at 6.31 pounds, to win $642. Howard Stephens of Columbia had five fish that weighed 16.64 pounds and won $224 for third place.
Kevin Fulmer of prosperity was fourth with five fish that weighed 14.33 pounds, worth $104.
BASS TOURNAMENTS
American Bass Anglers Couples Series,
SC Division 11, Lake Russell, May 16
1. John and Susan Mills (Leesville), 5, 11.16 pounds, $563; 2. Donald and Donna Poteat (Morganton, N.C.). 5. 10.96, $338; 3. Daniel Brown and Jenna Phillips (Honea Path), 5, 10.27, $225.4 Ladies big bass: Susan Mills, 2.93 pounds, $70. Men’s big bass, Deron Johnson of Anderson, 4.32 pounds, $75.
STRIPER TOURNAMENTS
Midlands Striper Club Lake Murray, May 16, 2009
1. Lee Thomas (Leesville), 17-1; 2. Rick Kellemeyer (Chapin), 16-1; 3. Kreg Frady (Leesville), 14-14. Big fish: Rick Kellemeyer, 7-0.
Tournament directors: Send your schedules and your tournament results in the format shown as soon as possible after your tournaments. Be sure to include names, hometowns, number of fish caught, total weight, prize money and big fish information. Email to Pat Robertson: patrob@upthecreek.net.
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