Getting even ‘bedder’
Day two might be better than day one at Santee Stren Series
MANNING, S.C. – Stren Series pro Andy Montgomery sat in his boat before Thursday’s takeoff at the Santee Cooper event, sharpening his hooks and pondering his fishing situation.
Montgomery weighed in a laudable 21 pounds, 1 ounce on day one of the event and found himself outside the top 10 in 11th place.
“That’s something, isn’t it?” chuckled Montgomery. “Catch 21 pounds and not be in the top 10? But that’s Santee in the springtime for you. And to tell you the truth, I think it’s going to get a whole lot worse on day two.”
When Montgomery says “worse,” he actually means a whole lot better, in terms of the weights going up even higher today.
“You just thought these boys caught them on day one,” he clarified. “With the wind laying down, they’re really going to catch them on day two.”
Normally weights in a multiple-day bass tournament fall off after the first day, but occasionally things line up where fishing can be just as good or even better after the opening day, which may be the case at Santee Cooper.
As Montgomery mentioned, the wind is supposed to lie down to near calm today, and daytime temperatures are supposed to near 80 degrees. That, alone, will be a tremendous help in bringing more fish to the weigh-in today.
Several pros remarked yesterday that they could not even get to their best places and had to fish “backup stuff” on day one because of the 15- to 20-mph winds.
In addition, sight-fishing becomes much easier when there is not as much ripple on the water.
And finally, pros who are fishing cypress trees, like fourth-place pro Michael Brown of Rocky Face, Ga., can make accurate presentations without the wind hindering them.
“Lure presentation up under those trees is everything,” Brown said. “When it’s windy, it’s hard to position the boat and present the bait right. But when it’s calm and slick, you can put your boat in one spot and skip all the trees around you at many different angles.”
Calm wind, however, is only half the equation. The other half is the full moon coming up on Sunday, which is bringing a new wave of Santee bass to the bank.
Several pros noted that new fish are moving up on beds daily, which can only help things get `bedder’ today.
The day-two weigh-in will start at 3 p.m. at the John C Land III Landing located at County Road S-14-260 (Greenall Road) in Summerton, S.C.
Thursday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:47 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 41 degrees
Expected high temperature: 80 degrees
Water temperature: 68 degrees
Wind: light and variable
Day’s outlook: sunny and calm