Saying no to sight-fishing

Three of top 10 pros not sight-fishing on Santee

MANNING, S.C. – Sight-fishing, sight-fishing, sight-fishing. For three days in a row, the leading angler in the Stren Series Southeast on Santee Cooper has been a sight-fisher.

On day one, it was Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla., with 22 pounds, 9 ounces. On day two, it was Ron Klys of Gainesville, Fla., with a two-day total of 36 pounds, 4 ounces. And Friday, Bryan Hudgins brought 19 pounds, 7 ounces of sight-fishing bass to the scales to take the lead.

This begs the question: Does anyone not sight-fish anymore?

The answer is yes. Actually, there are three pros who made the top 10 on Santee Cooper this week by not sight-fishing at all.

One is local pro Ken Ellis of Bowman, S.C., (second) who has been using weightless plastics on light line, fished around trees and stumps. Another is Roger Crafton of Boca Grande, Fla., (fourth) who is using Senkos and topwaters to catch his fish. And finally, Tony Couch of Buckhead, Ga., (ninth) is also not sight-fishing.

So it is still possible to make top-10s without sight-fishing in the spring. And these three anglers may end up having the advantage today. An approaching front is bringing thunderstorms and high winds to Santee Cooper today – not exactly conducive for sight-fishing.

The final weigh-in begins at 4 p.m. today at the Wal-Mart in Manning.

Saturday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:42

Temperature at takeoff: 67 degrees

Water temperature: 70-75 degrees

Expected high temperature: 75 degrees

Wind: SSW at 10-20 mph

Day’s outlook: cloudy, breezy, 60-percent chance of storms