Steve Whitley, John Terry team to earn Catawba Catfish Club season title
Steve Whitley and John Terry managed only a 12th place finish Saturday in the Catawba Catfish Club’s season finale tournament at Lake Wylie, but it was enough to propel the duo to the organization’s 2014-15 season championship.
Whitley and Terry, “Team Trophy Hunter,” finished with 166 points in the series of nine events on different Catawba River Lakes and won $2,124. It is their first title.
The prize for big catch of the year went to Coy Robinson for his 47.75-pound blue catfish, boated in March at Fishing Creek Reservoir in South Carolina. He won $354.
Winning last weekend at Wylie were the duo of Robert Couick and Jason Love with a limit of three fish scaling 83.25 pounds. In topping a field of 29 other teams they collected $590.
Mike Melton and Larry Godwin finished second with 65.45 pounds.
Brian Snipes caught the finale’s largest catfish, a flathead weighing 36.6 pounds. Tom Higgins
S.C. deer harvest down in 2014
South Carolina hunters bagged approximately 203,000 whitetail deer in 2014, a decrease of about nine percent from the previous season, according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources.
Charles Ruth, deer and wild turkey program coordinator for the agency, attributes at least part of the dropoff to a growing coyote population in the state.
Ruth indicated a recent study showed a 70 percent fawn mortality rate, with coyotes accounting for 80 percent of those.
Top counties for harvest last season were Bamberg, Greenwood, Hampton and Spartanburg, each with a rate in excess of 14 deer killed per square mile.
The department’s survey of hunters showed an estimated 109,466 bucks taken, along with 93,506 does.
Hunters using centerfire rifles accounted for almost 163,000 deer. Those using shotguns took 18,000 and archers nearly 14,000. Muzzleloaders, crossbows and handguns accounted for the rest.
The survey also indicated that 31,300 coyotes were killed incidental to deer hunting along with 29,400 feral hogs. Observer News Services
Briefly
▪ Robert Bauguess and Rodney Morrow teamed for a limit of five largemouth weighing 17.51 pounds to win a Carolinas Bass Challenge Series tournament Saturday at Lake Hickory. They earned $12,500.
Second with 17.43 pounds were Darren Sigmon and Brian Huffman, collecting $6,200. Israel Gibson and Brian Silvers took third with 17.27, good for $3,200.
▪ While wildlife officials in South Carolina are planning the state’s alligator hunting season this fall, their North Carolina counterparts are cautioning against harming the creatures. It’s not only unlawful to kill or hurt alligators in N.C., but also to feed or harass them. “Those who encounter a ‘gator should give it plenty of space,” said Sgt. Charles Smith, a wildlife officer stationed in Onslow County. “Leave it alone. Do not approach or follow it. Go away.”
Catches of the week
▪ A mix of approximately 90 smallmouth and spotted bass boated and released during three days of fishing at Fontana Lake by David Clubb of Mooresville and Ed Clark of Peachtree City, Ga. The fish hit shiners.
▪ Limits of Fontana Lake smallmouth and spotted bass on an almost nightly basis by the husband/wife duo of Harold and Karen Johnson of Stecoah. They hooked their fish in the two hours before dark on Gulp! minnow lures.
▪ A king mackerel weighing 37 pounds, 12 ounces at Oak Island Pier by Donna Paris of Lynchburg, Va.
▪ A 53-pound dolphin off Hatteras Village by Jordan Vazquez of Kernersville.
▪ A 42-pound wahoo off Hatteras Village by Keith Comer of Advance.
▪ A 7 1/2-pound largemouth bass at Lake Lee by Bill Sims of Monroe.
▪ A 20-pound turtle at Lake Lee by Willie Smith of Monroe. The "cooter" hit an artificial frog.
This story was originally published May 13, 2015 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Steve Whitley, John Terry team to earn Catawba Catfish Club season title."