College: Day 1 on windy Winyah

Day 1 of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Southern Regional presented by Bass Pro Shops at Winyah Bay started off with rainy conditions, but the storm cell passed and a strong north wind followed.

The first team I found was Joshua Butts and Reid Connor of Wallace State.

They were trying to find their fish from practice, but the wind was making it difficult to thoroughly pick apart the shallow cover.

Winyah Bay offers some different pleasure boats compared to most lakes.

We made a move down river in hopes of finding more anglers in close vicinity and it didn’t take long until we found a team from Bryan College.

I also found the team of Chris Hiott and Kendall Pierce from the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB). They had an early start and had four fish in the boat already.

The team of Nathan Ragsdale and Wesley Griner were idling out of this canal system.

So was Tyler Brown of Clemson University.

The Bryan College team of Cole Sands and Nathan Bell were in the back of the canal system and I stopped in to watch them for a few.

They were one of the few teams trying to target some deeper fish even with water temperatures in the 60’s.

Jake Smith and Larry Partain of Wallace State were fishing down the bank nearby.

Bell and Sands were mixing it up, but they said this spot was hit or miss and it normally didn’t take long to find out.

After leaving the duo I found another team at the dead end of a canal and they were fishing the dock thoroughly.

I passed by a boat tied to a dock and by the looks of it they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

AJ Faught and Austin Scott had one fish in the boat, but the boat pressure was messing with their gameplan.

But the good news is this drink stand could open at any time…

A cold front began blowing through the area on Day 1 of the event. The temperatures started in the 60’s this morning, but with the wind on the water it certainly was worthy of a jacket and something to cover your face.

I headed out in search of some other teams and found Hunter Bland and Connor Young of the University of Florida.

The Gator duo was stuck on one fish, but they were flipping every piece of cover available in hopes of getting another bite.

Everything certainly looks fishy at Winyah Bay. Even more so on a high-tide.

But it can be deceiving because you can find the winning stretch and if you fish it at the wrong tide then you would believe there wasn’t a fish in the area.

But they do get shallow and around the obstructions in the water.

I ducked into another creek and found this team from Augusta University.

Zachary Ramsey and Joshua Rockefeller had four keepers in the box and was looking for a kicker to anchor their bag.

They believed their four fish were all 2 1/2 pounders, which is a solid average given the vast nature of this fishery.

They mixed it up, but were also picking apart as much cover as possible.

My last stop resulted in no luck either as this team was pulling the trolling motor up and heading to another spot.

The first flight of boats is due in at 2:30 p.m. ET and the following flights are every 15 minutes later.