Winning Pro Angler will take home big bucks, a boat and motor after 3-day tournament at Santee Cooper Lakes Sept. 12-14

SUMMERTON - A school of the region's best bass-fishing professionals and Strike King co-anglers will be competing for more than the Santee Cooper lakes on Sept. 12-14 for the third and final event of the Major League Fishing (MLF) Toyota Series.

The three-day tournament which is hosted by the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce is presented by Phoenix Boats and Suzuki Marine. The tournament offers a top prize of up to $100,000 in the pro division and a new Phoenix 518 boat with a 115-hp outboard motor. The top prize in the co-angler division is $5,000.

"These tournaments are great for our local economy," said Sadie Serio, Clarendon County Director of Tourism. "Today (Sept. 5) I was delivering flyers to all the landings, campgrounds and places along the lake and everyone is booked for that weekend. Everyone was in good spirits. That's a good bit of business. It's incredible."

Pro Angler Wade Grooms of Bonneau has five top-10 finishes in MLF competitions on the Santee Cooper Lakes.

"I have been looking forward to this one," Grooms said. "For the first time that I can recollect, we're having a Toyota Series event here in late summer. Typically, the majority of tournaments here are held in the early spring, so fishing is always the same. The event being held this time of the year makes things extremely different. We're going to see totally different patterns and strategies."

The temperatures for the tournament are predicted to hover in the low 80s, even dipping into the upper 70s, which is quite a bit cooler for this time of year on the Santee Cooper lakes. With high water levels and lower that normal temperatures, the fish should still be found in their summertime patterns.

"There is a lot of grass right now, which is really going to help some people and really going to hurt some people," Grooms said. "It spreads the fish out and makes them pretty hard to find. But if you find the right area, it can definitely create a lot of opportunities."

Grooms added that he expects to be a mix of grass and stumps.

"It's going to be a lot like Florida fishing," Grooms shared. "An early morning topwater fish is going to be extremely important in this tournament. Everyone will have limits, but if you can have four keeper fish and one larger than average fish, that will really shoot you up the leaderboard."

Grooms who lives on the south end of the fishery said he's struggling to make a weight prediction for this tournament.

"I live here, and normally I'm pretty good and can predict within a pound or two of the winning weight, but I'm struggling with this one because there are so many unknown variables," he said. "There is a cool front coming, water levels could be dropping at any time, there is so much grass - and we don't know if it will help the fishing or make it tougher. I think we'll see a few limits in the low 20s the first day, but that's hard to maintain. I think 18 pounds a day, over three days, will be extremely strong in this event."

Anglers will launch each day at 8 a.m. from John C. Land III Landing, 4404 Greenall Road. Weigh-ins will be held at 3 p.m. each day at the landing. Fans are welcome to attend the launches and weigh-ins. They are also encouraged to follow the event online through the "MLF Live" weigh-in broadcasts and the daily coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.