Pieper victorious

South Carolinian captures co-angler title at EverStart Eastern event on Santee Cooper

MANNING, S.C. – As in the Pro Division, it was a South Carolinian who ultimately claimed the title of Santee Cooper champion in the Co-angler Division. Co-angler Albert Pieper of Summerville won the EverStart Series Eastern Division event with 17 pounds, 5 ounces.

This was Pieper’s first EverStart tournament and he collected $5,000 for his win.

“I’ve fished the lake for 24 years,” Pieper said. “I was familiar with the areas that my pros took me to, and it helped. I knew the cover in the area and what to throw.”

Pieper fished Zoom worms, lizards and tubes in green pumpkin and watermelon for most of his catch during the week.

Adams takes second

Edward Adams of Egg Harbor, N.J., won the Co-angler Division of the Lake Okeechobee EverStart earlier this year, and he almost added a Santee Cooper win to it today.

Adams had the come-back stringer of the day among co-anglers, 11 pounds, 9 ounces, which propelled him from sixth place yesterday to second today with a two-day total of 15 pounds, 14 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 in the Co-angler Division of the EverStart Eastern event on Santee Cooper were Marty Mixon of Goose Creek, S.C., in third place with a two-day total of 13 pounds, 11 ounces; Jason Hampson of Cartersville, Ga., in fourth place with a two-day total of 12 pounds; Mark Cummings of Pembroke, N.C., in fifth place with a two-day total of 7 pounds, 8 ounces; Stephen Semelsberger of Mt. Airy, Md., in sixth place with a two-day total of 6 pounds, 13 ounces; Jeremy Pressley of Oxford, Ala., in seventh place with a two-day total of 5 pounds, 7 ounces; Brent Long of Sherrills Ford, N.C., in eighth place with a two-day total of 5 pounds, 1 ounce; Jeff Routch of Sumter, S.C., in ninth place with a two-day total of 4 pounds, 12 ounces; and Matthew Hall of Clintwood, Va., in 10th place with a two-day total of 2 pounds, 9 ounces.