Fishing tournament in full swing in Georgetown

The growl of powerful engines broke the morning stillness as 49 bass boats blasted towards the sunrise in Georgetown early Wednesday.

It was the kick off of the Old Milwaukee B.A.S.S. Nation Southern Divisional tournament, a three-day event with 112 anglers from seven state teams competing, including 98 adults and 14 high school anglers.

The winning state team receives a Triton 189TRX Bass Boat. Individual winners will go to the National Championship and have a chance at the vaunted Bass Master Classic.

This is the first B.A.S.S. Nation event held in Georgetown where the tidal creeks and the size of the Pee Dee Basin, including the Intracoastal Waterway, Black, Pee Dee and Waccamaw rivers, make for unique challenges for the anglers.

Georgetown officials expect the event to have a large economic impact because the area has been host to the anglers and their families for practice fishing in the weeks prior to the event.

“The City of Georgetown has been so good to us. I ain’t ever been treated like this at any other tournament,” said Jay Gazaway, a competitor from Georgia.

The boats launch at 6:30 a.m. at the Carroll A. Campbell Marine Complex with anglers weighing their five largest fish each day at 2:30 p.m. B.A.S.S. Nation Southern Division Director Tom Stewart estimates that it will take 36 pounds of largemouth bass over the course of those three days to win the tournament.

The Georgetown Boat Expo also will take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, the tournament’s final two days.

At the end of the first day, the SC team is in the lead with 106 lbs 7oz and Conway angler John Proctor won the first day with a total 5 fish limit of 14lbs 9oz.

This story was originally published April 22, 2015 at 4:32 PM with the headline "Fishing tournament in full swing in Georgetown."