2017 Carhartt Bassmaster College Southern Regional Winyah Bay Day 2

Day 2 of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Southern Regional presented by Bass Pro Shops at Winyah Bay started off with near freezing temperatures. I went out on the water and found the Day 1 leaders from Coastal Carolina.

John Duarte and Chesley Alford of Coastal Carolina had 15 pounds, 10 ounces and led by 2-3 over 2nd place.

Duarte and Alford were running and gunning early to hit as many spots as possible while the tide was moving.

They caught a 5-13 largemouth that anchored their weight and helped them rise to the top.

They already had four fish in the boat when I found them after an hour on Friday.

Duarte hooked up and Alford was ready with the net.

But the fish came off and Duarte’s bait flew into the air.

The duo was hard at work picking apart the cover and moving to the next area.

Alford hooked up with a possible 5th keeper.

And he swung it in the boat.

It looks like a 12-incher at minimum.

He takes it to the measuring board…

And then lowers it into the livewell to give the teammates a limit.

It didn’t take long before they were off and running to the next spot.

Alford hooked up at this spot too.

But it was a smaller fish and didn’t keep for the team.

Duarte pulled the trolling motor and headed to what seemed like spot number 10.

They fished the mouth of a small pocket and saw another college team fishing there as well.

A Florida Gators team was fishing some vegetation in the back of the pocket.

No surprise as Duarte and Alford packed up.

Some geese were cruising around at the next spot.

The teammates wedged themselves into a small finger-pocket and fished in some overhanging trees.

They came out with no luck, but they knew rotating a lot of spots as the tide was moving would help their chances.

This area was a no wake zone and they idled through the substantial gap.

They didn’t have any company back in this area.

From the looks of their area the tide was slightly different here and was already coming back up instead of falling.

So they picked up and headed deeper in the river, so I turned back and headed to see some more teams.

I found the Alabama Southern team of Justin Barnes and Cole Blackmon.

Barnes slings a soft plastic around some cover on the main river.

He hooked up so fast it caught me off guard.

But Barnes was happy with the teams 3rd keeper.

They caught them good in practice and struggled to adjust as the conditions changed on Day 1.

Barnes fished in the Bassmaster High School series last year.

Blackmon and Barnes were in the 50’s and were hoping to jump into the Top 20.

I left that duo and found Cody Stahl and Daniel Kennedy of the Savannah College of Art and Design.

They were in 8th place after Day 1 after weighing 10-10 on Thursday.

Zach Bodford and Hunter Whitman of NC State were idling out.

Meanwhile Stahl and Kennedy were looking for new water for Day 3. They said they had 10 pounds today as well and should be good for the Top 20 cut.

Kennedy was looking for a big bite to boost their bag above 10.

They are 1 of 2 SCAD teams that were in the cut after Day 1.

I watched NC State sneak back into a small pocket and went in after them.

Bodford and Whitman were in 25th and were just ounces out of the unofficial cut line.

They had four fish and were hoping for a few afternoon bites.

I had wandered into this river looking for 3rd place and after 30 minutes I had all but given up.

Time had ran out so I had to leave, but Max Gresham and Zack Blake were looking to stay in contention.