South Carolina native Davy Hite, a Bass Fishing Hall of Fame member, knows the Santee Cooper Lakes as well as anyone. His prediction of how this tournament would go remains noteworthy.
“It’s going to be feast or famine. There will be some real good stringers and some people who can’t catch one,” Hite said Wednesday.
And, sure enough, there were three bags over 20 pounds and six zeroes, although a couple of those zeroes were from anglers who caught fish, but got stuck and couldn’t make it back by check-in time.
“I could see a guy catching 27 pounds one day and 10 the next. Consistency is going to be the key, just like at Guntersville,” Hite predicted.
Sure enough, Carl Jocumsen caught 25-8 on Day 1 and less than half that on Day 2, 12-7.
Even leader Brandon Palaniuk has struggled a bit with consistency. He had 23-1 the first day, before a 2-pound penalty reduced his official weight to 21-1. Then Palaniuk spent most of Day 2 trying to catch five before a rally in the last two hours gave him 18-13.
Throwing another mystery in the consistency game is today’s weather. Instead of the bright sunshine of the last two mornings, there are overcast skies as Day 3 begins and an increasing possibility of rain as the day goes on. The question remains: Who can be consistent on Santee Cooper in this fickle bass fishing season of early fall?