Epting’s 30 Pounds Tops on Santee Cooper

Cox nets co-angler title

SUMMERTON, S.C. – Chris Epting of Chapin, South Carolina, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 30 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to win the second Walmart Bass Fishing League South Carolina Division tournament of 2015 on Santee Cooper. For his victory, Epting earned $3,679.

“It feels great to win a tournament against the talented anglers on this lake,” said Epting. “I couldn’t believe the size of the fish I was catching. That’s probably the heaviest stringer I’ve ever weighed.”

In order to reach the impressive 30-pound mark, Epting threw a Texas-rigged Zoom Baits U-Tail worm around grassy points, mats and isolated trees in lower-lake spots.

“I had my limit before 9 a.m.,” Epting said. “After that I put a larger bait in my hand and went big fish hunting. It worked out.”

Around 10:30 a.m., Epting said that he switched to a solid brown jig with a brown trailer and began catching some sizable bass. He said he culled every fish he had caught that morning.

“Even though the sun didn’t shine as much as I wanted, the fish still were up shallow in less than 4 feet of water,” Epting said. “They were pulling up to spawn and looking to eat everything that they could.

“During practice I checked out 35 to 40 spots,” Epting said. “I didn’t even need to return to half of them. I’d pull in, make 10 or 15 casts and head to the next place. It was a lot of runnin’ and gunnin’.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Chris Epting, Chapin, S.C., five bass, 30-2, $3,679

2^nd:         Lex Costas, Daniel Island, S.C., five bass, 26-12, $1,840

3^rd:          Jess Williams, Sumter, S.C., five bass, 22-14, $1,225

4^th:          Brent Riley, Cross, S.C., five bass, 22-10, $859

5^th:          Wade Grooms, Bonneau, S.C., five bass, 22-0, $736

6^th:          Wayne Clifton, Moncks Corner, S.C., five bass, 21-4, $675

7^th:          Daniel Howell, Starr, S.C., four bass, 20-12, $613

8^th:          Sandy Oliver, Hartsville, S.C., five bass, 20-0, $552

9^th:          Carlton Thompkins, Myrtle Beach, S.C., five bass, 19-15, $491

10^th:        Bo Chappell, Olanta, S.C., five bass  , 19-12, $429

Complete results can be found here.

Chris Marshall of Forest City, North Carolina, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $480.

Cox wins co-anlger division

Dennis Cox of Pinewood, South Carolina, weighed in three bass totaling 16 pounds, 9 ounces Saturday to win $1,840 in the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Dennis Cox, Pinewood, S.C., three bass, 16-9, $1,840

2^nd:         Michael Smith, Piedmont, S.C., five bass, 12-1, $920

3^rd:          Brian Howard, Andrews, S.C., three bass, 11-15, $612

4^th:          Judd Bolen, Summerton, S.C., five bass, 11-9, $429

5^th:          Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., five bass, 11-8, $368

6^th:          Ernest Stephens, Orrum, N.C., three bass, 9-7, $337

7^th:          Gregory Littles, Columbia, S.C., three bass, 8-10, $307

8^th:          Chad Craven, Irmo, S.C., three bass, 8-4, $276

9^th:          Shannon Bryson, Cheraw, S.C., four bass, 8-0, $245

10^th:        Stephen Britt, Columbia, S.C., two bass, 7-12, $215

Cox also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $240.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 8-10 Regional Championship on Lake Sinclair in Milledgeville, Georgia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.