Lugoff Bassmasters Tournament Report: Lake Wateree, 6 Dec 08
On 6 Dec 08, Lugoff Bassmasters held their 5th tournament of the season. As always, somebody finds them, but Lake Wateree continues to fish tough. If you're fishing on history, you're going to be disappointed. Last year at this time, the club had 3 members catch over 18lbs. A hugely different story this year. It was just plain cold to start the day! I showed 26 degrees on my truck thermometer. Water temps ranged from 46 to 49 degrees. Thick fog made it seem even colder at blast off. The fog didn't lift until 11:00 AM, making it difficult to run very far without wasting time. It stayed cloudy and cold throughout the day. Joe Ashkar took 1st place with a limit weighing 11.84lbs, 2nd place went to Darrell Munn with a limit of 8.13lbs, and 3rd place was won by Gene Gibbs with 4 fish weighing 6.37lbs.Big Fish went to Earnie Jones, who boated a great 4.16lbs bass. All members managed at least 1 keeper, but there were only three 5-fish limits for the day. The majority of the bass were taken on shad raps, spot removers, c-rigs, and t-rigs. All of the fish came from Colonel Creek and West. All members reported that the bite down the lake was non-existent. Also, no bass were taken on a jig. Most fish were taken off of docks or points. Wood or grass wasn't a factor. The lack of sun kept the shad from moving shallow into cuts. The fog and cloud cover had the bass roaming and not relating to cover. You needed stained, not clear, water to find bass. See the results page for full results and standings.
Parting Bites
1. Darrell Munn continues his hot streak and still leads the points race.
2. Jim Timmerberg logs his 4th consecutive 4th place finish.
3. William Hodge placed highest among the new members for the first time this season.
4. Dale Goff is unable to continue his impressive streak of wins and is only able to boat 1 keeper.
5. Randy Kitzmiller's "luck" runs out, and he can't continue his run of top 3 finishes.
~Jim Timmerberg