Final day with South Carolina

I started the final day of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Southern Regional presented by Bass Pro Shops at Winyah Bay with the Day 2 leaders from South Carolina.

There was early activity as bass were feeding on shad in their area.

Patrick Walters and Tyler All had a limit within the first 10 minutes of the morning, which was just before I showed up.

But it didn’t take long for them to hook up.

They caught their limit within minutes of arriving and now they were hoping to cull up.

This keeper will help get rid of a small one from the morning.

Tyler All makes the cull in the back as Walters tries to keep the active fish fired up.

He did just that as he hooked up again.

The duo found a school of fish that were group near a big wad of shad and were feeding hard throughout the early morning period.

Walters kept the hot hand as he hooked up again.

They utilized shad imitating jerk baits to trigger the bites.

All shows off their latest catch. This one definitely helps cull.

After the first 8 fish of the morning, their bite started to die down.

Then the Day 1 leaders, John Duarte and Chesley Alford come around the bend. The Coastal Carolina teammates dropped to 3rd after yesterday and decided to scrap their gameplan and fish new water.

Walters eyeballs the competitors as they drive by. Duarte and Alford caught the biggest bag of the week on Day 1.

Walters and All were looking to catch the biggest bag on this final day and shut the door.

But it wasn’t happening at this spot so they took off to try some other areas.

Walters tries his soft plastic jerkbait at this new spot…

But Tyler All’s bait triggers a bite.

Unfortunately it was a big mudfish and they decided to pack.

Walters’ parents followed the duo on the final day.

They have been consistent through out the week with a 13-7 bag on Day 1 and 13-12 on Day 2.

After bailing on spot number two, they returned to their starting area and it didn’t take long for them to fire up the fish once again.

This one seemed like a solid fish and that it would help.

It jumps at the boat, but Tyler scoops it as it falls.

Then they weigh the fish and prepare to cull.

Moments after culling, they hooked up once more.

That fish didn’t help, but Walters set the hook about 5 minutes later and this one seemed to have some girth to it by the way he was fighting it.

The fish was surging and running away from the boat and Walters just held tight hoping to keep the treble hooks pegged to the fish.

The fish surfaces and it has one treble hook it the side of it’s face. They get the net nearby and slowly bring it towards the boat.

The big fish opens its mouth as Tyler drops the net under the fish and scoops it.

Walters erupts with a fist pump in celebration as they land the fish in the net.

The celebration continues as this fish is a game changer.

Thats the fish they needed to really jump up in weight.

Walters shows it off and knows this one was a game changer. They hadn’t caught anything above 4 pounds this week, but this one ended that streak. It looks to be close to 5 pounds, if not more.

Walters shows off the cull as he throws this little guy back.

On what seemed like his next cast he hooks one and swings it in.

But this one goes back into Winyah Bay to grow.

They begin exploring a little pocket nearby and he hooks up.

This one is a small one, but the flurry they are experiencing is impressive.

They weren’t done either as Walters makes an identical cast where he caught the 5 pounder and he hooks up again.

This one jumps as Walters brings it to the surface.

It lands in the net and that’s another great addition to their livewell.

They basically culled out the early limit that they caught in the beginning moments of the day.

They weigh this one to see where they sit.

Tyler All sets the hook and feels like he has a good one on the line.

But it ended up being a bowfin/mudfish.

Walters hot hand is stalled for a minute as he gets hung up and grabs his “Money pole” to undo his bait below the surface.

The Day 2 leaders made a strong showing on the final day and have one of the biggest bags of the week. With just over a pound lead it’ll be hard to get passed, but anything is possible on Winyah Bay.