Bassmaster Southern Open at Santee Cooper Reservoir Will be Pivotal in the Points Race
Category: Tournament
Apr 30th, 2008 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Apr 30th, 2008 at 12:00 AM
The second of three 2008 Southern Open events, the South Carolina stop of the Bassmaster Southern Open circuit set for May 8-10, is the turning point in the circuit’s points race. Pros are competing for a $45,000 top prize and crucial points in the event at Santee Cooper Reservoir out of Manning, S.C.At season’s end, the three pros at the top of the standings will qualify for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic. The top 10 will earn invitations to join the Bassmaster Elite Series, the highest level of BASS competition.Bassmaster Elite Series pro Peter Thliveros of Florida leads the points race going into the tournament. The top five include three other Floridians – Elite pro Preston Clark, Jerry Stalvey Jr. and Chris Daniels – as well as Michigan’s Jonathan VanDam, nephew of Elite pro Kevin VanDam. Those pros earner their places after stellar performance on Florida’s St. Johns River, the first Southern Open event of 2008.Fishing fans can visit Bassmaster.com to see how the Santee Cooper competition plays out. The site will present live, streaming video and real-time leaderboards of the weigh-ins Thursday through Saturday, as well as daily stories and photos of the competition.Launches and weigh-ins, which are free and open to the public, will be at the John C. Land III Boating & Sportfishing Facility at the end of Log Jam Road (SC-S-14-260) in Summerton, S.C. Daily launches will begin at 6:15 a.m., and weigh-ins will begin at 2:30 p.m.A 156,000-acre impoundment of the Santee and Cooper rivers, the reservoir is actually two lakes – Marion and Moultrie – connected by Channel Canal. The vast lakes boast 450 miles of shoreline. Both are filled with fish-friendly habitat that ranges from open water to grassy backwaters and cypress stump fields.Open pro Rodney Chastain of Fountain Inn, S.C., plans to spend his fishing time in the shallows.”It’s going to be a topwater bite. The herring and threadfin shad are likely to be spawning in the shallows, so whoever finds the baitfish will find the bass,” said Chastain, who finished seventh in the April 2007 Southern Open at Santee Cooper.”Bass pull up into the shallows to go after the baitfish, like it’s a supermarket with a sale on T-bone steaks. It’s easy pickings for the bass,” Chastain said.Clark, whose 115-pound, 15-ounce catch at Santee Cooper in a 2006 Elite event set a four-day weight record that stood for a year, said water level will determine how the reservoir fishes, so he has monitored that factor closely.”It was really low because of the drought. But last report I had was that the lakes were 2 feet low (below full pool), which is not too bad,” Clark said.”Sight-fishing will probably be over when we get there, and we’ll be into post-spawn patterns. Primary lures will be Spinnerbaits; medium-diving, square-billed crankbaits; and trick worms. Fishing will be good in the cypress stumps – they’re all over the whole lake.”Getting in the right area that’s holding the fish – that magical 100-yard stretch – is going to be the key. If you can do 17 to 18 pounds a day, you’re going to be in very good shape.”For related photos of the event, click here.Local sponsors of the Southern Open include the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce.Bassmaster Open sponsors include Toyota Tundra, Advance Auto Parts, Berkley, Lowrance, Mercury, Purolator, Skeeter, Yamaha, Optima Batteries and Triton Boats.Bassmaster Southern Open Points StandingsSouthern Open1 – Palatka, FL Boater PointsAfter St. Johns River, Palatka, Fla. Ending 01-19-2008, Day 3——————————————-Place Name St Pts——————————————-1 Peter Thliveros Fla. 3052 Jerry Stalvey Jr Fla. 2952 Jonathan Vandam Mich. 2954 Preston Clark Fla. 2854 Chris Daniels Fla. 2856 Bryan Hudgins Fla. 2767 Terry Scroggins Fla. 2728 Greg Pugh Ala. 2689 Bobby Lane Fla. 2629 Luke Gritter Mich. 26211 Josh Guess Fla. 25712 Steve Crotteau Wisc. 25413 Allen Hopper Fla. 25114 Fred Chivington Fla. 24815 John Kremer Fla. 24516 Chad Griffin Texas 24317 George Alexander Fla. 24118 David Mansue N.J. 23919 Gary Riffle Texas 23720 Patrick Kelly Ala. 23521 Aaron Martens Ala. 23322 Wesley Strader Tenn. 23123 Greg Vinson Ala. 22924 Phillip Cury Fla. 22725 ERIC Lewis Fla. 22526 Cliff Crochet La. 22327 Preston Johnson Wisc. 22128 Todd Auten S.C. 21929 Felton Jackson N.C. 21730 Brannon Jones Ala. 21531 Darrin Schwenkbeck N.Y. 21332 Jeff Fitts Fla. 21133 David Davis Fla. 20934 Matt Herren Ala. 20735 Steve Panaroni Conn. 20536 Cliff Prince Fla. 20337 David Kilgore Ala. 20138 Casey Ashley S.C. 19939 Mike Wurm Ark. 19539 Glenn Delong Ohio 19539 Chris Lane Fla. 19542 J Todd Tucker Ga. 19143 Ron Klys Fla. 18944 David Cooke N.C. 18644 Gerald Gostenik Mich. 18646 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 18347 James Nuckols Tenn. 18047 Eric Nethery Ga. 18049 Rodney Chastain S.C. 17750 Marc Schilling Texas 17551 Brian Penso Texas 17352 Terry Baksay Conn. 17153 Jimmy Mason Ala. 16853 Jamie Laiche La. 16855 Teb Jones Miss. 16556 Russ Lane Ala. 16357 John Kolinski Wisc. 16158 Doc Merkin Ill. 15858 Allen Duke Fla. 15860 Shannon Denson Miss. 15460 Scott Smith Tenn. 15462 John Cox Fla. 15163 Mark Burgess Mass. 14763 Dan Welch W.Va. 14763 Pam Martin-Wells Ga. 14766 James Anderson Fla. 14367 Harry Moore Ala. 14168 Jerry Savage Miss. 13969 Hugh Crumpler Fla. 13770 Sandy Melvin Fla. 13470 Derek Remitz Ala. 13472 Randy Alexander Ky. 13173 Skip Elliott Fla. 12974 Daryl Biron Conn. 12775 John Devries Ind. 12576 Raul Morineau Mexico 12276 Jason Lambert Tenn. 12278 Kevin Pulsifer Fla. 11979 Ryan Coleman Ga. 11780 Mike Norsworthy Miss. 11581 Brian Hatfield Ky. 11382 Ben Harris Fla. 11183 Ed Whaley Texas 10984 Britt Myers S.C. 10785 Shawn Strader Tenn. 10385 Marty Robinson S.C. 10385 Brandon Coulter Tenn. 10388 Bill Smith, Jr. Ky. 9989 Brett Mitchell S.C. 9689 Craig Fredrychowski S.C. 9691 Brian Key S.C. 9392 Charlie Hill Ky. 9193 Randy Yarnall Pa. 8893 Clint Brownlee Ga. 8895 Michael Johnson Ga. 8495 Darrell Newman Texas 8497 Kevin Langill N.C. 8198 Chad Illing N.C. 7999 Lance Vick Texas 7699 Kyle Fox Fla. 76101 Juan Ruiz Fla. 75102 Brent Broderick Ohio 74102 Jason Berg Minn. 74104 Scott Ashmore Okla. 72105 Bryan Miller Va. 70105 Troy Morrow Ga. 70107 Rick Pierce Ark. 69108 Jason Williamson S.C. 68109 Robert Miley Fla. 66109 Lisa Johnson Ala. 66111 John Chaffo Pa. 65112 Alex Ormand N.C. 64112 Greg Roth Canada 64114 Kenneth Chapman Tenn. 62115 Bob Morin Tenn. 60115 Curtis Reeves Ga. 60115 Scott Wiley Ala. 60118 Tim Ezell Fla. 58119 Chad Morgenthaler Ill. 57120 Bradley Dortch Fla. 56120 Arnie Lane Fla. 56122 Tom Hamlin Ga. 54123 Richard Kitchens Fla. 52123 Mike Haggerty Tenn. 52125 Thomas Dooley Va. 51126 Charlie Youngers Fla. 50127 Steve Linville Ohio 48127 Ashley Hayes Tenn. 48129 Mark Rogers Fla. 47130 Keith Poche Ala. 46131 Terry Segraves Fla. 44131 Austin Banks Miss. 44133 Charlie Hartley Ohio 43134 Brian Wilhoit Md. 42134 Scott Mcgehee Miss. 42136 Matt Amedeo Ohio 40137 Jason Danes Fla. 39138 Brad Wall Ohio 38138 Sean Dassau Ala. 38140 Bobby Stanfill S.C. 36140 Edward Bohn Ill. 36142 Sean Hoernke Texas 34143 Chuck Thurlow Ala. 33144 David Burch Fla. 32145 Lonnie Caywood Ga. 31146 Larry Jones Ga. 29146 Mark Denney Ga. 29146 Patrick Anderson Ala. 29149 Mark Peiser Ind. 27150 Mark Lamb N.C. 26150 Eric Johnson Ind. 26152 Lynn Oswalt Ala. 24153 Mark Morton Ark. 23154 Mickey Thomas Mich. 22155 Andrew Dick Del. 21156 Mark Stewart Ala. 20156 Raymond Derrick Fla. 20158 Keith Ray Ala. 18159 Sammy Burks Mo. 17160 John Crews Va. 16160 Craig Nels N.Y. 16162 Jeff Morrison Ill. 14163 Sam Greer Ky. 12163 Kyle Walling Ky. 12163 Troy Gibson Ala. 12166 Rick Morris Va. 10167 Chad Kallina Texas 9168 Brian Holder N.C. 8169 Ishama Monroe Calif. 7170 Cody Malone Texas 6171 James Niggemeyer Texas 5172 Antonio Modino Fla. 4172 Russell Colwell Md. 4174 Kenneth Hyatt Fla. 2175 Darrell Hicks Ga. 1175 Dustin Evans Tenn. 1175 Lee Hartley Ga. 1175 Ray Brazier Tenn. 1175 Stephen Barrett Canada 1175 Cecil Douberly Fla. 1175 Patrick Pierce Fla. 1175 Alan Bull Ark. 1175 Homer Humphreys, Jr. La. 1175 Earl Purcell Mass. 1185 Craig Taylor Fla. 0185 Patrick Tierney N.C. 0185 Tony Chachere La. 0185 Clint Belcher Ohio 0185 Kelby Waldrip Ind. 0185 Tony Sapp Ga. 0185 Sam Bass Ala. 0185 Rich Patterson Fla. 0185 Ronald Pierce Ark. 0185 Todd Wagman Fla. 0185 Mike Weiss Wisc. 0185 Frank Scalish Ohio 0185 James Butler Tenn. 0