Lake Wateree – January 5th 2019
he Southeastern Catfish Club hosted its 5th tournament of the 2018-2019 season on Lake Wateree Sunday, January 5th, and it was another RECORD BREAKING turnout! It was our 2nd time back to Lake Wateree since October, and we edged out the previous record by 1 with a total of 71 teams entered into the tournament making it 4 consecutive tournaments with record turnouts. The waters in front of the launch site were lit up like a Christmas tree with all the teams eager to compete for their share of the $7,040 purse!
A very special Thank You to Wendy and the staff at the Wateree State Park for opening at 5:30am and providing anglers with hot coffee! Our partnership grows stronger each event, and we very much appreciate all they do for our club.
Weeks of steady rain pushed the lake level above full pool earlier in the week, and teams that pre-fished reported an excellent bite with several monsters being caught. Another band of rain on Friday kept a steady flow of current throughout the lake and stained the waters north and south. By Saturday, the skies cleared, but the wind remained steady throughout the day. Teams reported an overall great bite with lots of quality fish brought to the scales. In the end, Aaron Buchanan and Matt Hall of Team Buchanan brought home the win with a 90.80lb stringer and collected a massive payday of $3,460!
Tournament trail vets Ashley and Jennifer Campbell of Team Rip Lipp finished in 2nd place and missed the top spot by one of the slimest margins in club history. Their 90.25 stringer was .55lbs off of 1st place, but the still brough home an impressive $1,730. Just a few pounds behind in 3rd place were Richard Warskow and Mark Turner of Team Keepin’ It Reel with a 86.80lb stringer giving them a $575 payday. They also had 2nd Big Fish of the tournament with a monster 54.25lb blue and collected another $380 bringing their total earnings to an impressive $955.
Andy Pitts, Ryan Debruhl, Chris Debruhl, and Tripp Cobb of Team Knot Workin’ won Big Fish of the Tournament with a bruiser 59.50 blue and collected $895. The monster blue put them in the lead in the Big Fish of the year race!
Congratulations to Aaron Buchanan and Matt Hall for their 1st win of the season! We also want to congratulate Gary Morton Jr. and Gary Morton Sr. of Team Good times for taking over the lead in the Season’s Points Race. It’s getting tight coming down the home stretch!
The club is certainly growing by the record number of teams coming out to join the fun, but we should feel most proud of the camaraderie that runs deep through our members. A new tradition continued this month where the winners from the previous tournament gave away a portion of their earnings today. Some have chosen to reward the smallest stringer or the 4th place team. Team Cat Baby, who won last month’s tournament, rewarded $100 to the Team Knot Workin’ for their 4th place finish. Club Member John Hendrix also donated a $5o Cabelas gift card to the 4th place team.
Finally, we would like to give a special Thank You to our sponsors that continually show their support to our club! They make the tournament experience that much more exciting for our members. Jamie Williams with Jamie K Outdoors gave away a $50 gift certificate to Team Drifters for the random draw award and also gave away another $50 gift card to Team Ain’t Got A Clue for having the smaller stringer. The fellas at Lyt “N” Bugg, in quirky fashion, picked the 13th placed team from the bottom to award $50 cash. Team Zero won the honors. It’s getting very interesting on what and how you can win, so be sure to stick around even though your team had a tough day!
Last but least, we would like to Thank club member Michael Shannon Anderson for putting together a video of the tournament! Check it out on our YouTube page below.
https://youtu.be/PCPTqrKj3Qw
We look forward to seeing everyone next month on Lake Wylie!
Tight Lines!
Brian Snipes and Josh Coggins
Total Weights
Place | Team | Members | Total Weight | Big Fish | Total Points |
1 | Team Buchcanan | Aaron Buchanan, Matt Hall | 90.80 | 36.80 | 30 |
2 | Team Rip Lipp | Ashley Campbell, Jennifer Campbell | 90.25 | 36.10 | 28 |
3 | Team Keepin’ It Reel | Richard Warskow, Mark Turner | 86.80 | 54.25 | 28 |
4 | Team Knot Workin’ | Andy Pitts, Rylan Debruhl, Chris Debruhl, Tripp Cobb | 80.90 | 59.50 | 29 |
5 | Team Fat Cat | Zach Taylor, Joni Bailey, Matthew Anthony | 73.60 | 36.90 | 22 |
6 | Team 2 Deep | Donald Kirkley, Rick Kirkley, Russ Robinson, Tony Vick | 72.15 | 33.65 | 20 |
7 | Team Chasing Whiskers | Kyle Hefner, Caitlin Propheter, Larry Hefner | 70.40 | 37.35 | 19 |
8 | Team Good Times | Gary Morton Jr., Gary Morton Sr. | 69.30 | 45.35 | 18 |
9 | Team Catfish Cruisaders | Logan Segee, Cooper Plyer, Jeff Segee | 67.10 | 39.60 | 17 |
10 | Team Cat Master | Wesley Bridges, Austin Newman, Tim Brewer | 64.60 | 43.85 | 16 |
11 | Team 2nd String | Steve Whitley, Shane Owenby, Tyler Painter | 61.35 | 27.40 | 15 |
12 | Team Jamie K Outdoors | Clay Henderson, Jason Henderson, Jason Wolfe | 59.85 | 21.25 | 14 |
13 | Team Cat Nap’n | Shane Morris, Tim Morris | 50.80 | 21.90 | 13 |
14 | Team Whiskers | Shane Queen, Quentin Queen, Toby Griffin, Ric Helms | 50.10 | 21.95 | 12 |
15 | Team Fish-on | Paul Blackwell, Chucky Ourvy | 49.60 | 25.65 | 11 |
16 | Team In God We Trust | David Faulkenberry, Reece Holley | 49.45 | 24.15 | 10 |
17 | Team Katfish Mafia | Chris Lunsford, Christopher Lunsford | 48.85 | 19.90 | 9 |
18 | Team Muddy Water Blues | Bradley Williams, Robin Lineberry | 48.60 | 16.00 | 8 |
19 | Team Whisker Blues | Mark Corburn, Alice Corburn | 48.25 | 25.60 | 7 |
20 | Team Whisker Stickers | Kevin Love, Dennis Dulin | 47.85 | 21.85 | 6 |
21 | Team Adversity | Jeff Outz, Kenny Sudderht, Trent Brooks | 47.80 | 20.00 | 5 |
22 | Team Lyt “N” Bugg | Ken Kennamer, Mike Holcomb, Tracy Bingham | 46.10 | 19.25 | 5 |
23 | Team Tightline | Brian Snipes, Bubba Branch, Mason Brakefield | 44.95 | 14.90 | 5 |
24 | Team DMT | David Catoe, Mike Rape, Tony Canthen | 44.80 | 22.30 | 5 |
25 | Team Waxhaw Hookers | Eric Hinson, Joey Osborne, Terry Osborne, David Osborne | 44.45 | 21.20 | 5 |
26 | Team Rod Bender | Jeff Smith, Jamey Hargett, Ryan Smith | 43.20 | 21.75 | 5 |
27 | Team Y-Not Fishing | William Harvey, Watson Hayes, Tommy Hayes | 42.30 | 18.45 | 5 |
28 | Team Catnip | Shane Lee, Doug Vick, Kyle Smith | 42.10 | 16.40 | 5 |
29 | Team Weekend Warriors | Jim Page, Bradley Tucker | 41.40 | 14.15 | 5 |
30 | Team Cat Baby | Ken Frost, Bill Sutton | 41.25 | 16.75 | 5 |
31 | Team Heavy Cats | Randy Smith, Ned Davis | 40.40 | 31.15 | 5 |
32 | Team SC Slime Time | Anthony Dallas, Tony Dallas, Josh Tucker | 39.80 | 16.30 | 5 |
33 | Team Sparky | Ron Carden, Bill Carden, Todd Hendrix, Cade Hendrix | 38.85 | 17.50 | 5 |
34 | Team Carolina Blues | Joshua Coggins, Jimmy Holbrook, Tim Coggins | 37.70 | 15.10 | 5 |
35 | Team All Slimed Up | Joseph Spittle, Paige Spittle, Christopher Helms | 36.40 | 14.60 | 5 |
36 | Team K&K Blue One | Kyle Barton, Ken Porter | 35.95 | 16.15 | 5 |
37 | Team Cat Snatch Fever | Phil Rollings, Wesley Rollings, Michael Thomas, Scoot Edwards | 34.55 | 18.95 | 5 |
38 | Team Rod Down | Gene Gaston, Jonathan Brunet, Allison Brunet, Jennifer Gaston | 34.25 | 15.90 | 5 |
39 | Team Zero | Brian Crook, Dillan Crook, Jason Bennett | 33.75 | 13.55 | 5 |
40 | Team Twins | Ryan Williams, Brian Williams | 33.15 | 16.10 | 5 |
41 | Team Smokin’ Blues | David Carter, Jamie Carter, Brian Carter | 31.10 | 13.60 | 5 |
42 | Team Cat Tracker | Bobby Buchanan, Jaye Dietz | 30.80 | 11.50 | 5 |
43 | Team Backland Outdoors | Blake Williams, Jamie Williams, Gerald Beck | 29.35 | 15.10 | 5 |
44 | Team Drifters | Arnold Hodge, Missy Mixon | 27.50 | 11.90 | 5 |
45 | Team Mr. Whiskers | John Faust, Laurie Faust, Cody Faust, Benny Mentesana | 26.45 | 10.35 | 5 |
46 | Team Bird | Will Bird, Jeff Bird, Will Bird Jr. | 25.45 | 11.80 | 5 |
47 | Team Katomatic | Jason Clinton, Chris Clinton, Garrett Adkins | 25.00 | 14.65 | 5 |
48 | Team All For One Outdoors | Michael Anderson, Samuel Edwards, John Phillips | 23.60 | 8.45 | 5 |
49 | Team Hard At It | Anthony Williams, Josh Christopher, Cameron Christopher, Layne Christopher | 22.95 | 22.95 | 5 |
50 | Team Ain’t Got A Clue | Brandon Whitley, Wayne Langley, Jeremy Wright | 19.85 | 11.20 | 5 |
51 | Team Flat Channel Blues | Justin Allen, Matt Allen, Charles Allen, Barbara Allen | 3.00 | 3.00 | 5 |
The remaining teams did not weigh-in.