Record
Weigh-in at Hill's Landing Spring Fling Tournament!
Hill's Landing on the Diversion Canal held their
8th annual Spring Fling Catfish Tournament this past weekend and the
team captained by Lynwood Thornhill took first place honors with a
record-breaking weight. Their 10-fish limit over the two-day event broke
the 300-pound mark for the first time in the history of this tournament.
Previously, the top weigh-in for this tournament was just over 290
pounds. Thornhill and crew shattered that mark as they brought 327 lbs
to the scale. Capt. Thornhill and his brother Brian are both catfish
guides on the Santee-Cooper Lakes System, and their experience helped
them in this event, which started on Saturday morning and ran all day
and night, with one weigh-in at 4p.m. Saturday and the final one at
11a.m. Sunday. Another optional weigh-in took place at 11p.m. Saturday
night.
Team Thornhill also took big-fish honors with a 53.9 lb catfish which
they caught Saturday, and weighed in another 50+ pounder at the same
weigh-in.
Ronnie Johnson's team finished a distant 2nd with a total weight of
238.7 lbs, followed by Harry Collins in 3rd with 212.6 lbs.
The tournament limit is 5 fish per team, per day, and tournament rules
follow state law when it comes to blue catfish. An angler may keep only
one blue catfish that is 36-inches long or longer, and this regulation
hurt one angler who was forced to fish alone after his teammate canceled
on him. Rick Walker shoveled snow out of his boat to pull it to the
tournament from Nebraska. Rick owns a house in Platt, Nebraska and one
in North Charleston and has fished this tournament for years. Fishing
alone, he caught a 36"+ blue catfish before the final weigh-in, and with
that fish in the livewell, he caught a second blue that exceeded 36".
Abiding by state law, he had no choice but to release the second blue
immediately. Still, fishing alone, Walker, a retired firefighter,
finished in the money, taking 4th place with a total weight of 204.6
lbs.
Hill's Landing promotes catch-and-release, and all catfish caught in
this tournament were released in accordance with tournament rules.
The Spring Fling is only one of two annual catfish tournaments run by
Jamie and Tenley Courtney, who own the landing along with the cleanest
tackle store/restaurant on the Santee Lakes. The second tournament takes
place in November of every year and is the bigger of the two events. One
of the unique things about the November tournament is that 10th place
wins the same prize money ($1000) as 2nd place, with 3rd-9th paying
less. Jamie Courtney states he decided to give that a try for no
particular reason, and that it is a big hit with all the anglers and
sponsors. With a low entry fee and guaranteed prize money, this event is
a must-stop for catfish anglers. Look for more information about the
November tournament in the fall at
http://www.midlandsoutdoors.com/,
http://www.hillslanding.com/,
and http://www.sctraveler.com/.
And don't forget that Hill's Landing has plenty of lodging on site, as
well as an inboard/outboard motor and boat-trailer repair shop.
An angler who did not participate in the tournament caught the biggest
catfish of the weekend out of Hill's Landing.
Photos By BrianCope: (Top) Capt. Lynwood Thornhill receives his first
place check from Jamie Tenley, owner of Hill's Landing. (Middle)
Tournament angler and Santee catfishing guide Tony Hall hefts a 25+
pound catfish onto the scale. (Bottom) This mess of catfish, like all
caught in this tournament, were weighed in and released healthy, keeping
the resource alive for future anglers.
7th Annual BIG CAT Fishing Tournament- Nov. 14-15, 2009
The Boat Doctor GUARANTEED
$7,500 PAYOUT SEI
Santee Embroidery, Inc.
Strick's One Stop
Butler Marine
Shuman Food
Key West
First National Bank of South Carolina
50 Boats Caught & Released 6,671 lbs. of Santee Cooper Catfish!
Jamie, Tenley, and
the Staff at Hill's Landing would like to thank everyone for their support in
The 7th Annual BIG CAT Tournament. We would like to invite everyone to
next year's Spring Fling Tournament the 2nd weekend of March. March 13-14, 2010.
(November 16, 2009) Hill's Landing,
located on the Diversion Canal in Cross, SC. hosted their 7th Annual BIG CAT
Catfishing Tournament November 13-15, 2009. Sponsored
by The Boat Doctor, SEI Santee
Embroidery, Inc., Strick's One Stop, Butler Marine,
Key West,
First National Bank of
South Carolina, and Shuman Foods 50 boats competed for the guaranteed
pay-out of $7,500!
Santee Cooper's incredible lake system is home
to some of the countries greatest fishing with 3 world record and 4 state
record catches. Hill's Landing's previous tournaments have all seen monster
catfish caught. This tournament was no exception.
Anglers caught & released 6,671
lbs. of Santee Cooper Catfish!
Under skies with the most incredible
pink sunset, the event began with Friday night dinner. Food was supplied by
Shuman Foods of Reevesville, SC. The absolutely fabulously delicious barbque
and chicken with potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans and dessert was
prepared by Ms. Patsie, who has been the landing's cook for 50 years.
Afterwards followed the Captains' Meeting.
Blast off was at safe light on
the cloudy Sat. morning. Hill's central location gave anglers easy access to
both lakes, Marion and Moultrie.
A 10 fish boat aggregate, 5 fish
could be weighed in by 4:00 p.m. Saturday, and 5 fish on Sunday from 7:30
a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The 1st Total Weight team, (shown
left) Captained by Joe
Payne, weighed in 290.1 lbs. taking the Grand Prize of $2,000! Fishing with
him were Rebecca Banner, Chris & Barbara Lyles, and George and Elaine
Weatherford.
2nd Total Weight went to Gene Hicks
and his son Jeremy (shown left) with 252.5 lbs.
winning $1,000.
Jeremy (shown right) also won $200,
1st Place Youth Award, with his 36.0 lbs. catfish.
Tim Farris, (shown right) from Lake Wylie, won 3rd Total
Weight with 244.1 Lbs paying $500.
4th Total Weight was won by Stan Pierce
(shown left) who
weighed in 236.5 lbs. giving him $450. Pierce also caught the biggest
fish that was 48.2 lbs. Big Fish paid out $500.
5th Total Weight went to Paul Osbourne,
(shown right) of
Manning, SC with 229.6 lbs. taking home $350. His Teammate, Wendy also took
3rd Place Lady Angler Award with her 39.7 lbs. catfish.
6th Total Weight was Keith Leggit
(shown right) weighing in
220.8 lbs. and winning $300.
Chris Brown's 215.9 lbs. gave him 7th Total
Weight paying $250.
8th Total Weight was 208.5 lbs caught by
David Lovelace winning him $200.
9th Total Weight was Ray Hill with 207.0 lbs
paying $150.
10 Total Weight: Mike Maxwell 188.3 lbs.
winning $1,000!
1st Place Lady Angler
award went to Kay Hill of Covington, Ga. (shown right) with her $200 44.2 lbs. catfish.
Kay was fishing with her husband, Monty Hill, who won 1st Place at The
Spring Fling last March with Capt. Tony Hall.
2nd Place Lady Angler that paid $100 was
awarded to Denise Connell (shown below) for her 39.9 lbs. catch. Nice
fish, ladies!
Owner, Jamie
Courtney is helping preserve the catfishing sport with the
Catch and Release Rule and
encourages you to bring a kid fishing. All youths who fished received a
rod and reel.
The 2nd Place Youth Award went to Mathew Brooks
(shown left) for his 32.3 lbs. catfish paid $100. Mathew, know at the Hill by
"little man" is only 11 years old and has fish all 7 BIG CAT Tournaments.
The Spring Fling Catfishing Tournament March 7-8, 2009 in conjunction
with the spawn was an exciting event with record weigh-in catches! Next year's Spring Fling Tournament is
the 2nd weekend of March. March 13-14, 2010. To make
lodging reservations
or questions for the upcoming Spring Fling call Jamie Courtney
1-843-753-2731.
BIG FISH PAYS $500.00
Hill's Landing Spring Fling Catfish Tournament
March 7-8, 2009
Big Fish
1st Place Ronnie Yandle, Columbia, SC 52.8
lbs.
Ralph "Buzzard" Buckner, Joe Carnley, and Ronnie Yandle. Photo provided by
Joe Carnley .
2nd Place Monty Hill, Covington, Ga. 49
lbs.
3rd Place George Brooks, Comer, Ga. 41.3
lbs.
Total Weight
1st
Place~ Monty Hill, Covington, Ga. 273.8 lbs.
Jamie Courtney and Monty Hill
2nd Place Mike
Sandusky 243.9 lbs.
3rd Place David
Lovelace 187.8 lbs.
4th Place Scott Bailey
177.7 lbs.
5th Place Gene Hicks
174.8 lbs.
6th Place Rick Walker
173.7 lbs.
7th Place David Rorie
166.2 lbs.
8th Place Ronnie
Johnson 159 lbs.
9th Place Steve Wood
147.8 lbs.
10th Place Paul
Osbourne 145.2 lbs.
All children 15 and under who
fished the tournament received a rod n reel.
Hill's
Landing hosted our 5th Annual BIG CAT Fishing Tournament November 10th &
11th, 2007. There was a 100% Cash Payback. Teams were
1,2,3 or 4 people. All fish
weighed in were alive and released back into Santee Cooper Lakes. There was a children’s
division and all children were rewarded with a rod and reel. Tournament boundaries were all waters
navigable by boat from the top of the lock on Lake Moultrie to I-95 on Lake
Marion.
It was a 10 Fish Boat Aggregate. 5 Fish could
be weighed in on Saturday and 5 Fish on Sunday. Fish were weighed in by 4:00
p.m. on Saturday, November 10th and from 7:30 a.m. through 1 p.m. on Sunday,
Nov. 11th.
Here are the Tournament Results with 16
boats competing to weigh in the "BIG CAT".
Theo
Garland 90.03 lbs. This Monster
Catfish is believed to be the biggest catfish caught and released in a
fishing tournament in the Santee Cooper Lakes~ ever!!
Under skies with the most incredible
pink sunset, the event began with Friday night dinner. Food was supplied by
Shuman Foods of Reevesville, SC. The absolutely fabulously delicious barbque
and chicken with potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans and dessert was
prepared by Ms. Patsie, who has been the landing's cook for 50 years.
Afterwards followed the Captains' Meeting.
4th Total Weight was won by Stan Pierce
(shown left) who
weighed in 236.5 lbs. giving him $450. Pierce also caught the biggest
fish that was 48.2 lbs. Big Fish paid out $500.
5th Total Weight went to Paul Osbourne,
(shown right) of
Manning, SC with 229.6 lbs. taking home $350. His Teammate, Wendy also took
3rd Place Lady Angler Award with her 39.7 lbs. catfish.
1st Place Lady Angler
award went to Kay Hill of Covington, Ga. (shown right) with her $200 44.2 lbs. catfish.
Kay was fishing with her husband, Monty Hill, who won 1st Place at The
Spring Fling last March with Capt. Tony Hall. 
The 2nd Place Youth Award went to Mathew Brooks
(shown left) for his 32.3 lbs. catfish paid $100. Mathew, know at the Hill by
"little man" is only 11 years old and has fish all 7 BIG CAT Tournaments.
