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Malcom Is The Man At Santee Cooper
Georgia co-angler takes Stren Series win

MANNING, S.C. –(FishNLand.com)- Fishing in his first Stren Series, Shawn Malcom of Monroe, Ga., won the Co-angler Division of the Santee Cooper event with a three-day total of 34 pounds, 13 ounces to take home a new Ranger boat and $5,000.

And the ironic part is Malcom had the tournament won even before day three started since he had nearly an 8-pound lead with 29-12 going into day three and no other co-anglers challenged that lead today.

Of course he did not know that all day while he fished his heart out, feeling it break every time he lost a fish.

“I wish knew I had it won,” Malcom laughed. “I probably took several years off my life out there worried sick every time I lost a fish.”

Malcom did end up boating three keepers on the day for 5 pounds, 1 ounce to put an exclamation point on his win.

During the week Malcom fished nothing but a Senko in red bug and june bug colors. The Senko wasEven though he did not need it, Shawn Malcom iced his win with a nice fish on day three. rigged weightless with a 3/0 Gamakatsu hook and tied to 10-pound test Trilene Fluorocarbon line spooled on a spinning outfit.

“That Trilene is the best line in the world, hands down,” Malcom said. “I was targeting lily pads all week, fishing the Senko real slow. And when I’d get a fish on, I could horse him through those pads without a problem thanks to Trilene.”

In addition to this being the first Stren Series tournament he has ever fished, this was also the first time Malcom had ever fished for bass on Santee Cooper.

“My dad has a place over here and all we have ever done is catfish here,” he said. “This is the first time I have ever bass fished on this lake – and I think I’ll do some more of it from now on.”

Donald Miller of High Point, N.C., had the heaviest catch in the Co-angler Division on day three, weighing in four bass for 7-9. That moved Miller into the runner-up spot with a three-day total of 24-15 giving him $3,504 in winnings. Miller second

Donald Miller of High Point, N.C., had the heaviest catch in the Co-angler Division on day three, weighing in four bass for 7-9. That moved Miller into the runner-up spot with a three-day total of 24-15 giving him $3,504 in winnings.

Miller is recovering from mouth surgery and was not able to speak much with his pros during the week. But that did not stop him from casting Zoom Z-nails, Flukes and lizards out of the back of the boat to catch his fish.

Bladow third

Jamie Bladow of Houston, Ala., finished third with a three-day total of 24-8 for $2,628 in winnings.

On day one Bladow caught his fish on a Skinny Dipper and then switched to a Zoom Horny Toad on day two.Jamie Bladow of Houston, Ala., finished third with a three-day total of 24-8 for $2,628 in winnings.

“Anyone who wants to learn how to bass fish ought to enter these Stren Series as a co-angler,” Bladow said of the tournament. “These pros will definitely put you through school.”

Breckenridge, Buck round out top five

Larry Breckenridge of Dothan, Ala., finished fourth with a three-day total of 22-3 worth $2,190.

Ron Buck of Port St. Lucie, Fla., finished fifth with a three-day total of 19 pounds worth $1,971.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers in the Stren Series event on Santee Cooper:

6th: Luke Campbell of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., three-day total of 19-0, $1,752
7th: Cleve Morris of Manning, S.C., three-day total of 18-1, $1,533
8th: David Olinger of Pikeville, Tenn., three-day total of 17-9, $1,314
9th: Walter Cumbee of Moncks Corner, S.C., three-day total of 15-13, $1,095
10th: Bernie Bailey of Chesapeake, Va., three-day total of 14-5, $876

About:

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.

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Hutson Wins Stren Series Event On Santee Cooper
Malcom wins co-angler title
MANNING, S.C. -(FishNLand.com)- Pro Mark Hutson of Moncks Corner, S.C., caught four bass weighing 15 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win the Stren Series Southeast Division 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.

After four qualifying events are complete in each Stren Series division – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western – the top 40 pros and 40 co-anglers based on the points standings from each division will advance to the Stren Series Championship on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala., Nov. 5-7 for a shot at $150,000 in the Pro Division and $60,000 in the Co-angler Division. The top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers from each division will also qualify for the 2010 Walmart FLW Tour® and Walmart FLW Series®, bass fishing’s top professional circuits. The highest-finishing pro and co-angler from each division at the Stren Series Championship will also qualify for the $2.5 million 2010 Forrest Wood Cup, where anglers will compete for the $1 million grand prize – the most lucrative award in bass fishing

In Stren Series competition, pros supply the boats, fish from the front deck against other pros and control boat movement. Co-anglers fish from the back deck and compete against other co-anglers. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points that determine angler standings. Two hundred points are awarded to the winner, 199 points for second, 198 points for third, and so on. The full field competes on days one, two and three, with the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers advancing to day four based on their three-day accumulated weight. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.

Total awards are based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.

About:

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.

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Hutson Spies His Way To Stren Series Lead
Local pro finds enough visible fish to take over top spot

MANNING, S.C. –(FishNLand.com)- The tail end of Santee Cooper’s bass spawn trailed across the weigh-in stage on day two of the Stren Series event on Santee Cooper today.

Several of those sight-fish belonged to Mark Hutson of Moncks Corner, S.C., who now leads the event with a two-day total of 34 pounds, 6 ounces, giving him a slight 1-pound lead over second place.

Hutson is scratching and scraping for every visible fish left he can find on Santee’s lower Lake Moultrie. He weighed in just four bass today for 13 pounds, 3 ounces.

“It’s slim pickings down there now,” Hutson said. “I didn’t have a fish at 11 o’ clock and I went to one of the very last places I thought I might find a fish left on bed and ran into a few there.”

Hutson finished second in this event in 2007 by sight-fishing. His game is to find deeper fish bedding out on stumps that other anglers trolling the bank might miss.

“We had a lot of clouds and wind this afternoon,” Hutson added. “And that really kept me from being able to see down there deep where I normally find them. But I’m not giving up hope. I still feel that this next moon will bring in more fish. I saw some fish cruising around in one pocket late this afternoon and there’s still a chance they might lock down by tomorrow.”

Cordell climbs to second Jason Cordell’s second-place limit was anchored by a 7-pound, 9-ounce lunker which took the Folgers Big Bass award for day two.

Jason Cordell of Pelahatchie, Miss., moved up into the second place position today with a 19-pound, 14-ounce catch to amass a two-day total of 33 pounds, 5 ounces.

Cordell’s limit today was anchored by a 7-pound, 9-ounce lunker which took the Folgers Big Bass award for day two.

“I actually lost that fish yesterday,” Cordell said. “In fact, that was my problem yesterday, I lost several big ones. But today, I got them in the boat.”

Cordell is fishing a post-spawn pattern over deeper grass in the lower lake.

“I’m out off the bank and I’d say 80 percent of my fish are post-spawn,” he said. “I’m catching them on a wacky rig out over deeper grass and I’m just having to fish painfully slow.”

Tharp rockets to third

Randall Tharp got back in the game today with a 21-pound, 3-ounce catch that pushed him into third place with a two-day total of 31 pounds, 9 ounces.After some mechanical difficulties yesterday, Randall Tharp of Gardendale, Ala., got back in the game today with a 21-pound, 3-ounce catch that pushed him into third place with a two-day total of 31 pounds, 9 ounces.

Tharp won a BASS Open on Santee in May of 2008 and today he found himself right back in the very place where he won last year.

“I went back to the same place where I won last year and fished the same stuff and they bit again,” Tharp said. “I’m throwing a different lure this time, but I fishing the same area I was fishing this time last year.”

Last year, Tharp won with a floating topwater frog, but he did reveal that’s not working this year.

“I’ve tried it, they won’t eat it,” he added. “Today I threw a fast moving bait and they seemed to want it much better.”

Attaway slips to fourth

Day-one leader Norm Attaway of Clearwater, S.C., slipped to second place today with three bassNorm Attaway of Clearwater, S.C., slipped to second place today with three bass weighing 9 pounds, 10 ounces for a two-day total of 31 pounds, 6 ounces. weighing 9 pounds, 10 ounces for a two-day total of 31 pounds, 6 ounces.

“I couldn’t get on my best areas today,” Attaway said. “There were too many other boats on some of my best grass patches. I had them to myself yesterday, but today there were already boats on them when I got there.”

Undeterred, Attaway headed for some of his back up water, but the wind was whipping his other banks on the lower lake.

“I tried to fish them anyway – even in the wind – and right at the end of the day my co-angler and I caught our three best fish off one stretch. So the fish are still in those areas. I plan to start on them tomorrow before the wind gets up.”

Wolf fifth

Cecil Wolf of Hanahan, S.C., rounds out the top five in the Pro Division with a two-day total of 30 pounds, 12 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top-10 pros in the Stren Series event on Santee Cooper after day two:

6th: Brent Riley of Ridgeville, S.C., two-day total of 30-7
7th: Matt Peters of Roswell, Ga., two-day total of 30-4
8th: Ken Ellis of Bowman, S.C., two-day total of 29-12
9th: Chuck Howard of Elloree, S.C., two-day total of 28-11
10th: Scott Canterbury of Springville, Ala., two-day total of 28-7

Malcom leads co-anglers

Shawn Malcom of Monroe, Ga., leads the Co-angler Division of the Stren Series event on Santee Cooper with a two-day total of 29 pounds, 12 ounces, which gives him a over an 8-pound lead going into tomorrow.Shawn Malcom of Monroe, Ga., leads the Co-angler Division of the Stren Series event on Santee Cooper with a two-day total of 29 pounds, 12 ounces, which gives him a over an 8-pound lead going into tomorrow.

“I’m fishing a Senko really slow around lily pads,” Malcom said of his pattern. “I just have a lot of confidence in doing that and if my boater gets me around some pads tomorrow, I think I could do well again.”

Jamie Bladow of Houston, Ala., is in second place in the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 21 pounds, 8 ounces.

Ron Buck of Port St. Lucie, Fla., is in third place with a two-day total of 19 pounds, even.

Larry Breckenridge of Dothan, Ala., slid to fourth place with a two-day total of 17 pounds, 14 ounces.

And Donald Miller of High Point, N.C., is in fifth place with a two-day total of 17 pounds, 6 ounces.

Big bass

Robert Carter of Pamplico, S.C., caught the big bass in the Co-angler Division on day two weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers in the Stren Series event on Santee Cooper after day two:

6th: Luke Campbell of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., two-day total of 15-5
7th: Cleve Morris of Manning, S.C., two-day total of 14-15
8th: Bernie Bailey of Chesapeake, Va., two-day total of 14-5
9th: David Olinger of Pikeville, Tenn., two-day total of 13-5
10th: Walter Cumbee of Moncks Corner, S.C., two-day total of 12-8

Day three of the Stren Series Southeastern on Santee Cooper will begin Saturday at 7 a.m. from John C Land III Landing located at County Road S-14-260 (Greenall Road) in Summerton, S.C.

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