|
|
Brett Hite Leads Day One on Santee Cooper
 MANNING,
S.C. - It was feast or famine for anglers during day one of the CITGO
Bassmaster Tour on Santee Cooper Reservoir, where Arizona's Brett Hite leads
the field with 23 pounds, 2 ounces.
So far, the Tour finale has been a fitting closer to a season memorable for
its ups and downs. Rookie Scott Suggs, who stood poised to take home the
CITGO Bassmaster Angler of the Year award, was one of many who stumbled out
of the
blocks on Thursday and will have to make up significant ground in order to
earn
the $111,550 season champion's purse.
But, increasing temperatures and a cloudy forecast are just the conditions
that
could bring in big catches on Friday and anglers predict that the tournament
could turn into a serious slugfest before the field cuts to the top 12 after
day two.
Brett Hite's current perch atop the leaderboard puts him in a good position
to
make that cut, and earned him $1,000 for the Busch Heavyweight catch of the
day. If his weight stays in the top 10 for the rest of the tournament and
the
upcoming Bassmaster Elite 50 series, Hite will earn a berth at the $160,000
Busch Shootout tournament in September on a mystery lake.
"I'm just glad I caught them today because they're going to really be
catching
them tomorrow," said Hite. "It's going to be like 52 tonight and they're
going
to be moving up all night long and you'll get a lot of fish that are going
to
bite tomorrow.
"I just fished around in the areas that I thought they would start coming
up,
where they had some warm water. I ended up scratching one out really early
and
just kind of blind fishing."
Number two angler Mike McClelland said Thursday's bite was slow and, while
the
Arkansan didn't want to give up too much information about his 22-5 catch,
he
admitted that the key to finding fish was the fact that he didn't fish here
a
year ago.
"I took a year off (last year) to work for Champion Boats as a sales rep and
didn't fish here last year, so I wasn't exposed to what happened, which was
probably in my best interest," he said. "I came down here knowing that a
person was going to have to catch a bunch of big fish and basically I
practiced
to do that.
"I think the biggest thing about the way I'm catching my fish is that I'm
concentrating on pre-spawn fish that are still staging. The weather
conditions
are finally getting to the point where these fish are really starting to
make a
move and I just hope that enough of them stay put out there. There is enough
stuff in the area that I think I can stay with the fish if they do move, but
it
could really be time consuming to figure out what they're doing if they do
move."
California's Skeet Reese (21-5), North Carolina's Chris Baumgardner (20-0)
and
Texas' Cody Bird (19-11) round out the top five on the pro side after day
one.
Alabama's Gerald Swindle, who was second in the Angler of the Year standings
heading into the finale, split the $1,000 Purolator Big Bass prize on the
pro
side with Mississippi's Paul Elias. Both anglers brought in 8-pound, 3-ounce
lunkers to earn the checks, but were both an ounce shy of the 8-pound,
4-ounce
bass of Alabama amateur Walter Stringer. The 8-4 will earn Stringer $500
from
Purolator. If his fish remains the largest of the tournament for all four
days, he will receive an additional $1,000 from Purolator for the Big Bass
of
the Tournament.
Stringer was also tops in the amateur standings Thursday. His 12-1 total put
him firmly in the lead after day one. Stringer was followed by North
Carolina's Gary Abernethy and Alabama's Charles Johnson with weights of 9-0
and
8-2, respectively.
The CITGO Bassmaster Tour on Lake Eufaula will continue Friday. Launch will
be
at the John C. Land III Landing at 6 a.m. Weigh-ins will be at the landing
beginning at 2:45 p.m.
Fans can catch the finale of the CITGO Bassmaster Tour presented by Busch
Beer
on the Santee Cooper Lakes, Saturday, April 3 at 10:30 a.m. ET/9:30 a.m. CT
on
ESPN2.
Day 1 Pro Standings
| Rank |
Name |
Hometown |
Bass |
Weight |
| 1 |
Brett Hite |
Phoenix, AZ |
5 |
23-02 |
| 2 |
Mike McClelland |
Vella Vista, AR |
5 |
22-04 |
| 3 |
Skeet Reese |
Auburn, CA |
5 |
21-05 |
| 4 |
Chris Baumgardner |
Gastonia, N.C. |
5 |
20-00 |
| 5 |
Cody Bird |
Granbury, TX |
5 |
19-11 |
| 6 |
Randy Blaukat |
Lamar, MO |
5 |
19-04 |
| 7 |
Greg Hackney |
Gonzales, LA |
5 |
18-10 |
| 8 |
Tim Horton |
Tuscumbia, AL |
5 |
18-05 |
| 9 |
Brian Snowden |
Springfield, MO |
4 |
18-04 |
| 10 |
Matt Reed |
Madisonville, TX |
5 |
18-02 |
| 11 |
Chad Brauer |
Osage Beach, MO |
5 |
17-12 |
| 11 |
Kelly Jordon |
Mineola, TX |
5 |
17-12 |
13. Jack Gadlage
Benton, Ky.
5 17-10
Day 1: 5 17-10
14. Shaw E Grigsby, Jr Gainesville, Fla.
5 17-04
Day 1: 5 17-04
15. Chad Morgenthaler Coulterville, Ill.
5 17-02
Day 1: 5 17-02
16. Paul Elias
Pachuta, Miss. 5
17-01 $500.00
Day 1: 5 17-01
17. Aaron Martens
Castaic, Calif. 5
16-15
Day 1: 5 16-15
17. Ray Sedgwick
Cross, S.C.
5 16-15
Day 1: 5 16-15
19. Bud Pruitt
Spring, Texas 5
16-14
Day 1: 5 16-14
20. Terry Scroggins Palatka, Fla.
5 16-13
Day 1: 5 16-13
21. Stacey King
Reeds Spring, Mo. 3 16-06
Day 1: 3 16-06
22. Stephen Browning Conway, Ark.
4 16-03
Day 1: 4 16-03
22. Mark Kile
Tonto Basin, Ariz. 5 16-03
Day 1: 5 16-03
24. Alton Jones
Waco, Texas
5 16-00
Day 1: 5 16-00
24. Tommy Martin
Hemphill, Texas 4
16-00
Day 1: 4 16-00
26. Marcel Veenstra Brighton,
Mich. 5 15-15
Day 1: 5 15-15
27. Dean Rojas
Grand Saline, Texas 5 15-14
Day 1: 5 15-14
28. Davy Hite
Prosperity, S.C. 5
15-13
Day 1: 5 15-13
29. Harold Allen
Shelbyville, Texas 5 15-12
Day 1: 5 15-12
29. Jim Bitter
Fruitland Park, Fla. 5 15-12
Day 1: 5 15-12
29. Chris Daves
Hopewell, Va. 5
15-12
Day 1: 5 15-12
32. Charlie Weyer West
Hills, Calif. 5 15-11
Day 1: 5 15-11
33. Brooks Rogers
Quitman, Texas 5
15-09
Day 1: 5 15-09
34. Homer Humphreys, Jr Minden, La.
5 14-15
Day 1: 5 14-15
35. Robert Hamilton Jr Hattiesburg, Miss.
5 14-09
Day 1: 5 14-09
36. Kevin Wirth
Crestwood, Ky. 5
14-08
Day 1: 5 14-08
37. O T Fears III
Sallisaw, Okla. 4
14-06
Day 1: 4 14-06
38. Jason Quinn
Clover, S.C.
5 14-04
Day 1: 5 14-04
39. Takahiro Omori Emory,
Texas 5
14-01
Day 1: 5 14-01
40. Darryl Burkhardt Gresham, Ore.
4 13-15
Day 1: 4 13-15
40. Mark Tyler
Scottsdale, Ariz. 5 13-15
Day 1: 5 13-15
42. Rick Clunn
Ava, Mo.
5 13-14
Day 1: 5 13-14
42. Dennis Kolender Henderson,
Nev. 5 13-14
Day 1: 5 13-14
44. Peter Thliveros Jacksonville,
Fla. 5 13-13
Day 1: 5 13-13
45. Byron Velvick
Boulder City, Nev. 3 13-08
Day 1: 3 13-08
46. Sean Hoernke
Magnolia, Texas 4
13-04
Day 1: 4 13-04
47. R J Bennett
Grass Valley, Calif. 5 13-03
Day 1: 5 13-03
48. Randy Dearman
Onalaska, Texas 3
12-15
Day 1: 3 12-15
48. Joe Thomas
Milford, Ohio 4
12-15
Day 1: 4 12-15
50. Bernie Schultz
Gainesville, Fla. 4 12-13
Day 1: 4 12-13
From BASS
 |
 |