MANNING, S.C. (March 3, 2005) - Rookie pro Allan Glasgow of Ashville, Ala., caught a two-day total of eight bass weighing 44 pounds, 15 ounces to lead round one of the EverStart Series Southeast Division bass fishing tournament on the Santee Cooper lakes. Glasgow set an EverStart Series record on day one with five bass weighing 32 pounds, 13 ounces. Had he not even caught a fish Thursday, he still would have finished round one in fifth place and made the cut.
One of the most productive bass fisheries in the world, the Santee Cooper lakes usually produce dozens of huge limits during tournaments in March. A powerful late-winter cold front blasted through the area earlier this week and drastically dropped water temperatures. Fish activity, consequently, decreased significantly. A few anglers, however, always manage to find the big fish. Pro Yancy Windham of Gordo, Ala., weighed 24 pounds, 6 ounces Thursday on only four bass. Snickers pro Pat Fisher of Danielsville, Ga., caught five bass that weighed 28 pounds, 8 ounces to jump from 47th place to fifth.
"I didn't fish as hard today," Glasgow said. "I tried to help my co-angler. I didn't even go to the area I went to yesterday, which is like a little 2-acre, secluded pond. There were several guys in there with me yesterday, but they were all fishing a little deeper and weren't catching much, even though they were throwing the same baits."
Rounding out the top-five pros are Windham (seven bass, 36 pounds, 10 ounces); Jason Knapp of Uniontown, Pa. (10 bass, 36 pounds, 9 ounces); Warren Wyman of Calera, Ala (nine bass, 35 pounds, 14 ounces); and Fisher (six bass, 34 pounds, 2 ounces).
David Goshorn of Harleyville, Ga., caught a 10-pound, 9-ounce bass to win the day's Snickers Big Bass award for the Pro Division and earn $725.
Fuller of Hillsboro, Ga., caught a two-day total of seven bass weighing 26 pounds, 8 ounces to lead the Co-angler Division.
"I had five bites today and landed all of them," Fuller said. "The fish were not active at all. We were fishing a large stump flat in 6-8 feet of water. The cold front that came through pushed these fish out of the shallow water."
Rounding out the top-five co-anglers are Keith Iddins of Knoxville, Tenn., (five bass, 20 pounds, 3 ounces); Cliff Cantey of Olanta (six bass, 18 pounds, 7 ounces); Arch Cornett of Huntsville, Ala. (four bass, 16 pounds, 7 ounces); and Matthew Parker of Whitesburg, Ga. (five bass, 16 pounds, 8 ounces).
Mark Cummings of Pembroke, N.C., caught an 8-pound, 7-ounce largemouth to win the day's co-angler Snickers Big Bass Award and $245.
Anglers caught a total of 410 bass Thursday weighing 1,234 pounds.
EverStart Series tournaments are four-day events consisting of two rounds. The entire field competes Wednesday and Thursday, and the top 10 pros and co-anglers - based on two-day accumulated weights - advance to the final round. Anglers start at zero Friday, and pro and co-angler winners are determined Saturday based on two-day accumulated weights.