Jason Williamson and Hunter Shryock are first and second after Thursday. And guess what? They are not making the long run to the Cooper River.
Will fishing local pay off? Williamson is banking on it.
“It’s going to be difficult to repeat what I caught yesterday with the wind shift, cloud cover and some rain,” he told me this morning. “But I now have the confidence and peace of mind knowing that I made a good decision to stay up here.”
The South Carolina pro then reaffirmed—and made himself feel better—when asked about the advantages and disadvantages of making the long run.
“When you are running over 100 miles there are a lot of things that can go wrong. The wind can shift and add travel time to the day that cuts into your fishing time. You’ve got to watch your gas. You might get the wrong tide.”
Here is what made the most sense to me. He then added:
“Those guys making the long run might initially have the better weights, but then if they have a bad weather day, take too long to refuel, or get the wrong tide, then those things will equal out. So if a guy can fish consistently and fish local then he’s got a better shot of making it until Sunday.”
Some of those predictions are coming to fruition. The wind has shifted from the east to the southeast. That will add travel time—Garrett Paquette said about 20 minutes—but it’ll make the tide better. That is because yesterday it held the water in, even with the tide.
Shryock is confronted with flood stage conditions on the Santee River. He’s going with the flow and sticking with the game plan.
“I’m chasing the last hour of the low tide and it’s falling away from me,” he told me. “I’m chasing that last hour because it puts the fish into position for me to catch them.”
Using the Winyah Bay entrance as a reference point, the NOAA tide predictions chart for today shows a low tide of 7:50 a.m. Keep in mind there are other influences in play here, such as the high water flow pushing into his area.