Sunday on Santee with Pirch

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Photography by
Andy Crawford
Clifford Pirch began Day 3 in eighth with 43-10, so we caught up with him about lunch to see how his day was going. 
Pirch caught all of his bass yesterday sightfishing, but he said he was having trouble finding any on beds. “I think there’s been other anglers and locals come through my areas,” he said. “I’m not seeing many.”
While following Pirch, an osprey dove into the water looking to pick off a fish, but came up empty.
The wind had kicked up, chopping up even the coves off the main lake.
Pirch was working shallows on the lee sides of coves, looking for bedding fish among the lilies.
He finally hooked up with a bass that was bedded up along some reeds.
After boxing the bass, Pirch moved down the reeds and cast to another bed.
And was soon running to the back of the boat and scooping another keeper in the boat.
Apparently he found the right stretch of reeds because Pirch was soon setting up on yet another spawning bass.
That fish allowed him to cull up a bit.
Not all the fish were on beds: Pirch was swimming a worm through lilies away from the bank while looking toward the reeds to find another bed, and was soon wrestling yet another cull fish to the boat.