Who says South Carolina bass won’t bite when it’s freezing cold, snowing, and windy?

On January 16 in the Next Level Fishing open tournament 27 teams competed, with two teams bringing in 28+ pound bags and 9 teams catching 20+ pounds.  The tournament big fish was 8.43 pounds.  It was inevitable that tough conditions yesterday would keep a lot of anglers away, but for the “gladiators” who braved the conditions the fishing was still very strong.  With ten hardcore bass fishing teams competing three sacks over 20 pounds were caught (about the same ratio as the previous week), with the winning team of Kenny Hawk and Matthew Bostic weighing in an impressive 24.27 pounds anchored by a monster 7.89 pound bass (the tournament big fish). Second place went Quionne York and Mike with 22.39 pounds, and David Kneece took third with 21.74 pounds.

Reports indicate that fish were caught shallow with crankbaits and Alabama rigs.  A lot of fish are getting caught in the mid lake area right now, but anglers who have ventured to other areas report that fish can be caught almost anywhere on the lake.

My thanks to Next Level Fishing for results and information.  Their club schedule will start up next week on Lake Murray (non-open tournament), but stay tuned to their Facebook page – Next Level Fishing – for information about upcoming open events.