“We’ve got them coming and going so it is kind of a potpourri of fishing right now,” said Stephens wo won a fishing forum tournament with his partner, Mark McCormick, last Saturday with 17 pounds, 1 ounce.

“”We caught some off the beds and we were able to catch some shallow on some historical spots. Shallow fishing was pretty sparse, but we were able to catch three nice once, including a couple that were pushing 5 pounds.”

Stephens said the bass have been spawning on Lake Murray for the past 2-2 ½ weeks, a little earlier than normal because of the warmer weather.

Stephens was the all-time leading money winner as a co-angler in Bassmaster competition with $143,128.92 in career winnings until BASS eliminated the co-angler concept in its Elite Series in 2008.

“I did that for about 10 years, traveling with Davy Hite and Kevin VanDam, practicing and rooming with them. It was a great deal, but when they eliminated co-anglers in 2008 I decided to return to my roots and fish locally, mostly here on Lake Murray,” he said.

The South Carolina Division of the Carolinas Bass Challenge is growing quickly like the North Carolina Division, said Brett Collins, tournament director.

“We are already close to 100 teams pre-paid for the Lake Murray tournament and we will reach that number by Saturday. We had 79 at the first South Carolina Division event on the Cooper River,” he said. “I really look for at least 130 teams, but we could hit 150.”

Collins said that if his previous experience on Lake Murray this month is any indication fishing will be excellent Saturday.

“In the two Carolina Anglers Team Trail tournaments we held on Lake Murray in March it took over 29 pounds to win,” he noted.

The Carolinas Bass Challenge is a two-division series promoted by Skeeter Boat dealers Marshall’s Marine in Lake City, S.C., Foothills Marine in Morganton, N.C., and Palmetto Marine in Greenville, S.C. The sponsoring boat dealers provide free food for the anglers at the weigh-ins.

The remaining schedules for the two divisions include :

South Carolina Division – March 31, Lake Murray, Dreher Island State Park; April 28, Santee Cooper, John C. Land; May 12, Lake Wateree, Clearwater Cove; June 23, S.C. Divisional Final, Lake Wateree, Clearwater Cove.

North Carolina Division – April 21, Lake Norman, Pinnacle Landing; May 19, Lake Hickory, Whittenburg; June 2, N.C. Divisional Final, High Rock, Tamarac Marina.

The Carolinas Bass Challenge Championship will be held on Kerr Lake October 27, 2012.

The entry fee per tournament is $200 per team and each team member must pay a $35 membership fee. First place in each qualifying tournament is guaranteed $5,000, with $1,000 for big fish. Teams may fish three of four qualifiers in a state division to make the Divisional Final and Championship or they may fish a combination of three qualifiers across divisions and make the Division Final and Championship. The team that wins the points in each state division will win $1,000.

The winning team at both the South Carolina Division Final and the North Carolina Division Final will win a Skeeter TZX190/150 with a Yamaha 150HPDI. The winning team in the Championship on Kerr Lake in October will win a Skeeter ZX200/200 Yamaha SHO.

 

Carolinas Bass Challenge – South Carolina Division

Sat Mar 31, 2012

Lake Murray

Dreher Island State Park

Call Brett Collins 803-413-7521

[email protected]

www.carolinasbasschallenge.com