Jordan Osborne caught a National Professional Fishing League-record 33-1 bag on Day 1 of the season opener at Santee Cooper Lakes in South Carolina. The massive stringer gave him a 1-11 lead over Jason Christie.
After a slow start to the morning and a long run to Lake Moultrie to target hard cover, Osborne settled into his “unique” area as the bite turned on in the afternoon.
“I really felt they were still going to bite despite the weather, but it just wasn’t happening for me until later in the day,” he said. “I don’t know if it was the time or what, but I got into a special-looking area that looked vastly different from the surrounding water, and in an hour, I had my five bites and left.”
Having never fished Santee Cooper before, three days of practice wasn’t much time to explore, leaving plenty of unknowns for the Texas angler about how the next couple days may shake out.
“This place is so big,” he added. “At noon, I got into a spot I had found using some Google Maps, and it just looked different to me. Sure enough, they were there. I quickly fished through what was productive, and it makes sense why those fish are there. But I don’t know if they would have bit in the morning or if i happened to be there at the right time. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.”
While he believes more fish are moving into that area, he didn’t want to overfish it, quickly securing his record-setting bag before pulling out for the day. With only one local boat in the area, he hopes to expand on the bite window the next two days.
“I caught only five fish, all within a couple hundred yards, and then bounced. I don’t know much more about it yet – I haven’t figured out what makes the wheels turn on this body of water. It may run dry, but tomorrow, I’m planning to get there earlier and expand. We’ll see what happens."
Things also started slowly for Christie, but he relocated some fish he'd found in practice and rotated through several different baits to put together a strong bag.
“I probably caught only 10 fish all day, losing a few as well, but overall, not a lot of bites,” he said. “It makes sense where they moved, but at the same time, it doesn’t – it kind of surprised me. I think they want to move, and with the warmer weather (tomorrow), I’d expect more to come. Duplicating those big bites is hard to do, even here – it seems like they’re either 2-pounders or giants."
The big fish of the day was caught by Harmon Davis, who brought in a 10-9 Santee Cooper lunker.
Here's a look at the Top 10:
1. Jordan Osborne: 33-1
2. Jason Christie: 31-6
3. Buck Mallory: 31-1
4. Patrick Walters: 28-13
5. Andrew Upshaw: 27-5
6. Kyle Glasgow: 27-4
7. Corey Casey: 27-3
8. Hank Cherry: 26-0
9. Darrel Robertson: 25-13
10. Shane Lineberger: 25-13
