Top 10 Baits from Santee Cooper
Tools to survive a slugfest in the swamp
The shad spawn, bass spawn and ample shallow cover make for fantastic fishing on Santee Cooper in the spring, as the Costa FLW Series Southeastern Division’s best sticks proved last week. The top 10 pros primarily relied on ChatterBaits, punch rigs and finesse soft plastics to make the cut.
The tournament, which was presented by Bass Pro Shops and hosted by the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce, was the season finale for the division.
Here are the full details of the baits used by the top finishers.
1. Ronnie McCoy (shown in lead image) brought home all the marbles with a 1/2-ounce double-willow-leaf spinnerbait teamed with either a Zoom Tab Tail Grub or a 4 3/4-inch Black Flagg Slikk Shadd swimbait, and a 3/8-ounce Z-Man/Evergreen ChatterBait Jack Hammer teamed with the same Slikk Shadd trailer.
2. Daniel Howell caught his big bass on day one with a BOOYAH Pad Crasher frog. He also caught a few on a Gambler Fat Ace. When targeting fish foraging on the shad spawn he used a 1/2-ounce spinnerbait.
3. Jonathan Canada punched up 26-15 on day one with a Reaction Innovations Kinky Beaver under a 1 1/2-ounce Fitzgerald Fishing Tungsten Flippin’ Weight. Then he went to work on the shad spawn with a 3/8-ounce Z-Man/Evergreen ChatterBait Jack Hammer teamed with a white Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper and a 3/8-ounce Dirty Jigs Swim Jig trailed by a Reaction Innovations Twerk.
4. Joey Sabbagha’s primary shad spawn lures were a 1/2-ounce spinnerbait with a Zoom Split Tail Trailer and a 3/8-ounce ChatterBait, with no skirt, trailed by a 4 3/4-inch Black Flagg Slikk Shadd swimbait.
5. Robbie Crosnoe punched a Reaction Innovations Kinky Beaver (magic craw swirl) on a Mustad 3X flipping hook, topped with a 1 1/2-ounce Fitzgerald Fishing Tungsten Flippin’ Weight. When fishing trees he used a 3/8-ounce Z-Man/Evergreen ChatterBait Jack Hammer (green pumpkin shad) trailed by a Z-Man Razor ShadZ.
6. Bryan Thrift did all his tree skipping with a Damiki Hot Dog wacky rigged on a 3/0 Berkley Fusion19 Weedless Wide Gap Hook.
7. Kent Ware favored a weightless Texas-rigged black Yamamoto Senko for Santee’s grass and trees.
8. Mark Hutson kept it simple with a wacky-rigged watermelon candy Yamamoto Senko.
9. Buddy Gross played the tree-skipping game with a nail-weighted Zoom Trick Worm in green pumpkin magic on an Owner Wacky Hook. He also fished a Zoom Z Craw.
10. Lex Costas stuck to a Carolina-rigged Yamamoto Senko and a Texas-rigged Zoom Dead Ringer.