Ironically, neither fished the BWS regularly, but both entered this year because the BWS National championship will be held on Santee Cooper in November.

Grooms was declared the points champion for South Carolina and has an automatic bid to the National Championship because his total weight for the year was 1.02 pounds more than Howard’s, although Howard actually caught more fish during the year.

Both anglers fished the Mobile Delta where the BWS Weekend Series Regional Championship will be held Oct. 7-8 in 2007 in the FLW EverStart Series Championship and both say the tournament next weekend is going to be “tough.”

But, hopefully, not as tough as it was in 2007.

That year the Southeast was parched by a pervasive drought which allowed saltwater intrusion into the bay and that killed the hydrilla which provided cover for bass. Most of the anglers who finished in the top 10 actually rode 100 miles up the Tensaw River to find fresh water.

Grooms opted to fish closer to the launch site and did not manage a limit in two days of fishing. Howard is hoping to do better in the BWS regional championship, but Grooms is not as concerned about how he finishes.

“My goal is to do as well as I can, but not spend a lot of money doing it,” Grooms said. “ I plan to be very conservative because as long as I go down there and register for the tournament I will qualify for the National Championship on Santee Cooper.

For that reason Grooms plans to drive down in time to get in about two days of practice. Howard, however, left this week so he can get five or six days of practice in.

“I usually go about a week ahead of time to a tournament so I don’t have to kill myself going three days ahead and fishing 12 to 15 hours a day in practice,” he said.

Howard also plans to fish close to the launch in this tournament so he can maximize his fishing time.

“I hope not to burn more than two or three gallons of gas total during the tournament. I know the last time I went the other way and in two days I only caught five fish.”

During the South Carolina season Grooms and Howard swapped the lead back and forth a time or two. Grooms took the lead in the tournament at Lake Wateree in April with a fifth place finish. That was Howard’s worst tournament and he finished 23^rd.

Then Howard took the lead back in the tournament at Lake Hartwell in May, finishing third while Grooms finished 10^th.

Going into the final tournament at Clarks Hill in late August Howard had a small lead over Grooms, but he finished 9^th while Grooms finished 6^th. Since it was a double-points tournament, Grooms tied Howard for total points and, according to BWS rule, his total weight for the season gave him the title.

“I probably caught as many fish as anybody in the tournament at Clarks Hill, but did not catch any of the right size,” Howard said.

He needs to finish in the top 50 to advance to the National Championship at Santee Cooper.

At the Regional Championship, the first-place boater will take home a Triton/Mercury boat package. The top 50 Boaters and Co-anglers will advance to the no entry fee, $680,000 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series Championship Nov. 6-12 at Santee Cooper.

The Southeast Regional Championship will pit anglers from the South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia Central and Florida divisions. The top 40 Boaters and Co-anglers from each division by points advance to the Regional Championships.

The winning boater of the National Championship will win $100,00 with up to $105,000 in additional bonuses available. The winning co-angler will win $50,000 with $52,500 in additional bonuses available. The Boater Champion advances to the 2012 Bassmaster Classic® and a shot at the world title.

“It’s just a matter of catching five fish a day,” Howard said. “It’s not going to take a lot of weight at Mobile Bay. I know if I can catch 12 pounds a day I won’t win it, but I will be way up there.”

The whole idea for both of them entering the BWS this year was the opportunity of fishing the National Championship on what they consider their home water.

“Fishing on your home lake for $100,000 does not happen often and I don’t know if it will happen again anytime soon in the fall. You just don’t find a tournament in the fall for $100,000 anywhere,” Grooms said.

“If the fall a local angler is more favored. In the springtime the bite is more wide open. I am looking forward to next weekend, but I am looking forward to November and the big one even more.”

 

Bassmaster Weekend Series Regional Championship

Divisions: Alabama North, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina

Oct. 7-8, 2011

Tensaw River / Mobile Delta

Call Randy Sullivan 256-230-5633 or Billy Benedetti 256-230-5632

www.abaproam.com