Anglers banking on continued Santee Cooper production

Stren Series ready for a turn on South Carolina’s tournament hot spot

MANNING, S.C. – By now everyone who knows tournament bass fishing has heard about Santee Cooper’s phenomenal bass population.

The legendary lake crushed BASS records at the end of March at the Elite Series. A week later, Santee continued to give-up 20-plus-pound strings at another BASS Tour event. And over this past weekend, Lakes Marion and Moultrie again yielded solid strings to the Stratos Owners Tournament Trail and the Fishers of Men events.

So is their anything left for the 200 pros and 200 co-anglers who launched at the John C. Land III Sportfishing Facility in Summerton, S.C, this morning for the fourth and final Stren Series in the Southeastern Division?

According to several anglers, the spawn is still in full swing on Santee Cooper, and despite the intense tournament pressure, bass continue to move into the shallows and make beds.

“I think they’re still moving up,” said Illinois’ Chad Morgenthaler. “I saw more fish up yesterday than I did three days ago. In one area, I watched a school of five-pounders swim right passed my boat. I don’t know where they went, but I do know they were moving in, not out.”

Well-known Santee local Ricky Shumpert, who has five Stren top-10’s on Santee Cooper, including two wins, has found the same thing.

“There are more fish on beds now than there were over the weekend,” said Shumpert, who also finished fifth in the recent Stratos Owners tournament . “We had a tough time finding sight-fish over the weekend, but I’ve been back to those same places over the last two days and they’re back.”

With water temperatures holding in the low 70’s, it looks as if sight-fishing, the technique which has dominated many of the tournaments here this spring, will once again prevail.

Logistics

Stren Series anglers will take off from John C. Land III Sportfishing Facility in Summerton, S.C., at 7 each morning. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina, which is located at Lake Marion in Summerton beginning at 3 p.m.

Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 481 West Boyce St. in Manning beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

Anglers competing in the Pro Division of the Stren Series will fish for a top award worth as much as $60,000, including a fully rigged Ranger 519VX powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard, Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and EverStart batteries plus $10,000 cash. Pros will have the chance to earn an additional $10,000 bonus award from Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. Ranger will award another $3,000 to the winner if he or she is a participant in the Ranger Cup program, or $1,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant. Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup earnings if the participant meets “Powered by Yamaha” guidelines.

Co-angler competitors cast for a top award worth as much as $35,000, including a Ranger boat and trailer if contingency guidelines are met. Competitors will also be vying for valuable points that could earn them a berth into the $1 million Stren Series Championship in Decatur, Ala., for a shot at $140,000 in the Pro Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. The highest finishing pro and the highest finishing co-angler from each division at the championship will qualify for the 2007 $2 million Forrest Wood Cup, where the winning pro will have a shot at bass fishing’s first $1 million prize.

As many as 200 pros and 200 co-anglers will compete for two days to determine the top 20 pros and top 20 co-anglers who advance to Friday’s semifinal round, based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for the semifinal round and anglers compete for 10 spots in each division in the final round. Winners on day four are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.

Wednesday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:45

Temperature at takeoff: 49 degrees

Water temperature: 72 degrees

Expected high temperature: 74 degrees

Wind: light and variable

Day’s Outlook: Overcast with showers at times