Resting before reeling

Final-day action is under way at Santee Cooper EverStart event

MANNING, S.C. – Professional bass fishing is such a hurry-up-and-wait business.

Pros race to their fishing spots and then wait on the fish to move up. Pros race back to weigh in, then stand in the weigh-in line.

This morning the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers in the EverStart Series Eastern Division tournament on Santee Cooper hurried to the John C. Land III launch site so they could wait for the official takeoff time of 7 a.m.

Before they race off to their first fishing hole, some take a few minutes to relax and reflect.

Pedigree Pro Greg Pugh of Cullman, Ala., who is in second place Saturday morning, takes a breather before his intense day of sight-fishing begins.

“I’ve got my rods ready; my boat is ready,” Pugh said. “There’s not much I can do now except hope a few more have moved up on bed.”

Ozark Trail pro Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., in seventh this morning, is also kicked back waiting for the day to start.

“What gets me is how stable the weather has been for this tournament,” Morgan offered. “Usually the wind blows at least a day or two on Santee. But we’ve had the same exact weather for four days in a row. Weird.”

The man with the pressure on him today is Ricky Shumpert of Lexington, S.C. Shumpert is in the lead by 1 pound, 11 ounces.

“I’m pretty excited,” he said. “It’s the same conditions we’ve had for four days and no wind. I know where a good limit of fish is on bed; I just hope they are still there.”

The final day EverStart Eastern festivities will be held at the Manning Wal-Mart today. The Family Fun Zone featuring the Fuji trout pond will be open by 3 p.m. Eastern time and the weigh-in will begin at 4 p.m.