COLUMBIA, S.C. – When 20-plus-pound stringers are on the line, competitors will gladly brave the cold, as they did Wednesday on Lake Murray and as they will again today, with forecasts calling for even cooler temperatures and possibly a little snow.
Rain is moving into the Columbia area today, and temperatures likely won’t rise over 50 degrees. However, Lake Murray coughed up six stringers in excess of 20 pounds yesterday, and some competitors think the fishing could be even better today, so they suited up and took off with a chilly wind chapping their faces.
Though it hardly feels like spring, pro John Sappington said the fish are acting that way, and it’s their springtime pattern that has made the fishing on cold Lake Murray so hot this week.
“Today there is supposed to be a little bit of wind, and that should help the bite,” Sappington said. “I think the weights will go up, and there will be more big fish weighed in today.”
Yesterday, Danny Correia brought in the heaviest bass weighed to date on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour in 2006, a 9-pound, 5-ounce behemoth that, unless it is topped today, will in all likelihood earn end-of-season Snickers Big Bass honors. However, Lake Murray seemed to be feast or famine yesterday, as competitors tended to catch one or two huge fish or nothing else, or caught five huge fish or practically no fish at all.
“I caught a limit of 8 pounds yesterday, so today I’ve got to catch a limit of 8-pounders,” Sappington joked. “Yesterday the problem we had was really calm conditions. A lot of the fish are up, and they’re getting spooky because so many people have been fishing here. You really have to do something to make them react.”
Sappington said this week’s event could be the last chance to get while the getting’s good at Lake Murray, at least until the hydrilla grows back. According to Sappington, it was Lake Murray’s once-abundant grass that produced such huge lunkers, but the lake is now largely hydrilla-free.
“A lot of people that live on the lake are recreational, and that’s what they’re concerned about, but we’d like to see the hydrilla,” Sappington said.
Logistics
The two-day, opening-round cut will be made following Thursday’s action. The full field competes in the opening round for one of 10 slots in Friday’s competition based on their two-day accumulated weight.
Weights are cleared for day three, and co-angler competition concludes following Friday’s weigh-in. The top 10 pros continue competition Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
Hosted by Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board, the tournament features 400 anglers from 37 states, Japan and Canada, with 200 of the world’s best bass pros fishing for a top award of $200,000 cash. Two hundred co-anglers will compete for a top award of $40,000 cash.
Anglers will take off at 7 Eastern time each morning from Jakes Landing. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will also be held at Jakes Landing beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 2401 Augusta Road in Columbia beginning at 4 p.m.
Thursday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 7:16 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 35 degrees
Expected high temperature: 50 degrees
Wind: NNW at 9 mph
Maximum humidity: 50 percent
Day’s outlook: morning showers, with partly cloudy skies in the afternoon