MANNING, S.C. (May 2, 2009) - Pro Mark Hutson of Moncks Corner, S.C., caught four bass weighing 15 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win the Stren Series Southeast Division bass fishing tournament on Santee Cooper with a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 49-13. For his victory, Hutson earned $21,336 cash.
"What a day," Hutson said. "I caught the big one on my first pitch this morning. I hooked her probably 30 yards from the boat in lily pads on 10-pound braid. I had to go to her. She bogged down and I got to her, and she was still there and we got her in the net. I caught a five-pounder two or three casts after that. After that, it was one here and one there."
Hutson said he caught bedding fish early in the week on a Zoom Speed Craw, but caught his fish on the final day of competition on a soft plastic stickbait.
"I really hunted the first two days for fish," Hutson said. "The fish I had in practice were either caught or gone. It was a struggle.
"I didn't have but one area this morning where I saw a few bedding bass, but my non-boater said he was on some fish and I decided to go with that due to the weather pattern we had," Hutson added. "It was windy, and I didn't think I would be able to see my fish at the depth that they were."
Hutson said a contributing factor that led to his victory wasn't a location or bait, but another piece of equipment on his boat.
"My Power-Pole was (key) to how I landed my fish today because they would get tied up in lily pads and all I could do was put the trolling motor on high and run to them and slam the Power-Pole down to stop me right on top of them," Hutson said. "Without that, I might have gone on past them and they might have gotten off."
Hutson opened the tournament in second place Thursday with five bass weighing 21-3. He then caught four bass weighing 13-3 Friday to make the crucial top-10 cut in first place.
Rounding out the top five pros are Cecil Wolf of Hanahan, S.C. (13 bass, 45-7, $8,535); Ken Ellis of Bowman, S.C. (15 bass, 45-2, $6,828); Norm Attaway of Clearwater, S.C. (13 bass, 44-13, $5,974); and Chuck Howard of Elloree, S.C. (15 bass, 44-9, $5,121).
Eddie Melton of Charleston, S.C., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Thursday - a 9-pound, 1-ounce bass - that earned him the day's big bass award of $357.
Shawn Malcom of Monroe, Ga., won the Co-angler Division and a 177TR Ranger boat and trailer, with a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 34-13.
Malcom caught five bass weighing 12-6 Thursday while fishing with pro Alan Rae of Columbia, S.C., to open the tournament in fourth place. On Friday he added five more bass weighing 17-6 to make the top 10 cut in first place while fishing with pro Wayne Clifton of Moncks Corner, S.C. Finally, on Saturday, he sealed the win with three bass weighing 5-1 while fishing with Hutson.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Donald Miller of High Point, N.C. (nine bass, 24-15, $3,504); Jamie Bladow of Houston, Ala. (six bass, 24-8, $2,628); Larry Breckenridge of Dothan, Ala. (nine bass, 22-3, $2,190); and Ron Buck of Port Saint Lucie, Fla. (eight bass, 19-0, $1,971).
David Olinger of Pikeville, Tenn., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday - a 7-pound, 6-ounce bass - that earned him the day's big bass award of $179.
The next Stren Series Southeast Division event, hosted by the Decatur-Morgan County Convention & Visitor's Bureau, will be held June 4-6 on Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Ala. Boats will launch from Ingalls Harbor in Decatur, and the final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart located at 2800 Spring Ave. SW in Decatur.