SUMMERTON, S.C. (March 11, 2019) – Boater Lex Costas of Daniel Island, South Carolina, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 30 pounds, 12 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) South Carolina Division tournament on Santee Cooper Lakes. For his catch, Costas earned $2,993.
“I started out on the lower end of Lake Marion in the Crappie Neck area using a ½-ounce white jig,” said Costas, who earned his second career win on Santee Cooper Lakes in BFL competition. “I was fishing underwater points in 10 to 14 feet of water and caught four fish from my first two stops.”
After he caught four, Costas said he moved on to Lake Moultrie to fish Angel’s Creek, and used a Texas-rigged, green-pumpkin-colored Zoom Z Craw to catch another seven keepers.
“I culled three times throwing at stumps and brush in 6 to 8 of water,” said Costas. “I worked both sides of the creek and probably fished 20 places.”
Costas weighed three fish from the Z Craw, and two from the jig – all largemouth.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Lex Costas, Daniel Island, S.C., five bass, 30-12, $2,993
2nd: Steve Thornhill, Pineville, S.C., four bass, 25-10, $1,807
3rd: Ken Ellis, Bowman, S.C., five bass, 22-14, $931
4th: Casey Warren, Galivants Ferry, S.C., five bass, 22-12, $652
5th: Brandt Tumberg, Moore, S.C., four bass, 21-4, $559
6th: Chuck Howard, Elloree, S.C., five bass, 19-13, $1,062
7th: Robert Clarke III, Pineville, S.C., five bass, 19-8, $616
8th: Kyle Austin, Ridgeville, S.C., five bass, 17-9, $419
9th: Ron Brown, Cross, S.C., five bass, 16-15, $372
10th: Wade Grooms, Bonneau, S.C., five bass, 16-12, $326
Thornhill caught a 7-pound, 15-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $310. Steve Crowley of Inverness, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $1,397 Saturday after catching three bass weighing 13 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Steve Crowley, Inverness, Fla., three bass, 13-8, $1,397
2nd: Ronald Bryant, Batesburg, S.C., two bass, 12-11, $698
3rd: Josh Goedel, Boiling Springs, S.C., two bass, 11-8, $465
4th: Casey Griffith, Guyton, Ga., one bass, 10-2, $481
5th: Bobby McDonald, Easley, S.C., two bass, 6-9, $479
6th: Ronald Harris, Jefferson, Ga., one bass, 6-7, $306
7th: Kate Hough, Gilbert, S.C., two bass, 6-5, $383
8th: Mike Sather, Beech Island, S.C., one bass, 6-4, $210
9th: Matthew Dangerfield, Summerville, S.C., two bass, 5-7, $186
10th: Darvin Cannon, Columbia, S.C., one bass, 5-5, $163
Griffith caught the biggest bass in the Co-angler Division, a big largemouth weighing in at 10 pounds, 2 ounces. The fish earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $155.