Victory at Black’s Camp Shootout Goes to Team Stump Jumpers
by Ron Presley
After two days of competition only 4 pounds separated the 1st and 2nd place teams in a December battle on Santee Cooper.
The December 2024 Blacks Camp Big Cat Shootout, returned to the Santee Cooper Lakes on December 13th and 14th, 2024. Anglers were competing to see who could weigh the best stringer of 2 fish per boat, per day, in the 2-day event.
The event attracted 52 teams. The $500 entry fee produced a first-place prize of more than $13,000.00 and a Big Fish prize of $2,600. It was a beautiful first day of fishing and a windy second day that challenged anglers.
At the end of day one Team Lock Jaw, captained by Capt. Barry Moore held the lead with about 86 pounds. They were followed closely by the Fountain brothers with a little more than 81 pounds. The Big Fish of honors for day 1 went to Team Krazy Katz with a 47.18 pounder.
Many anglers had higher weights and more fish caught on day two despite the windy weather. In fact, many preferred the rougher water saying it was normal to have a better bite on such days. The weather did cause the number of boats weighing on day two to decrease. At the end of the day, a team came from 3rd place to the top of the leaderboard and took the win.
First Place 
The top spot at the showdown went to Team Stump Jumpers. Bradley Tucker and David Kingsmore are regulars on Santee Cooper. On day one the team weighed 76.23 pounds in the 2 fish competition. Their big fish was 43.24 pounds and their total weight placed them in 3rd place after the first day of competition.
The weather changed for day two and all the angers were challenged by a windy day on the lake. Tucker and Kingsmore brought 2 fish to the scales that weighed 82.98 pounds. Their total weight of 159.21 pounds moved them to the top of the leaderboard and earned them a check for just over $13,000 and all the braggin’ rights that go with the win over an elite field of catfish anglers.
While fishing the week before the tournament Team Stump Jumpers found fish in the 25 to 35 feet deep range in two different areas.
“We caught some 50-pound fish before the tournament,” Kingsmore said. “Those deeper fish moved up shallower through the week and we caught our tournament fish in the 15- to 25-foot range.”
Based on their prefishing the team chose to drift fish and set up in 15 to 25 feet of water in their first spot on Friday morning.
“We were pulling 6 planer boards at .3 mph,” continued Kingsmore. “Our starting spot on Friday produced 2 weigh-in fish within a 25-minute drift. We left the area and finished out the day on the deeper spots we had found prefishing. We thought we could pick up a kicker fish but didn’t get the upgrade.”
The weather changed significantly for the Saturday competition. Anyone who knows Santee Cooper understands what the wind can do.
“Saturday was very windy,” reported Kingsmore. “We were experiencing four-foot swells. We deployed two 10-foot Easterling socks behind us and made several drifts. We caught about 18 fish on the day with the best bites coming between 7:30 am and 10:30 am.”
“The best part of the tournament for me was David only letting me fish the spot I found in practice for 30 minutes,” joked Tucker. “We caught 2 fish that weighed 76 pounds in that short amount of time before we left it to rest for day 2. We caught 18 fish on day two for 83 pounds as everything finally worked the way we planned it.”
“We want to thank God, first and foremost,” concluded Kingsmore. “Thanks also to Santee Lakes Catfish Club, Legends Camp, Mad Katz, and Drift King.”
Second Place 
The runner-up spot went to Team Catastrophy. Less Pence and Riley Pence teamed up to bring home the 2nd place win. They were sitting in 5th place after day one with a total weight of 74.72 pounds. Their biggest fish on day one was 43.52 pounds.
Another nice bag on day two helped them climb the leaderboard to 2nd place. They added 80.34 pounds on day two for a total weight of 155.06 pounds in 4 fish. They were just 4 pounds out of the top spot.
Third Place 
The third spot went to Team Hard At It captained by Anthony Williams. Williams and Jeff Ludlam weighed nearly the same weight each day. Their consistent fishing resulted in a total weight of 74.72 pounds on day one and they added 73.77 pounds on day two. Their total weight of 148.44 earned them the 3rd place check.
Big Fish 
Big Fish honors went to The team Krazy Katz. Anthony Williams and Kyle Leggette brought the tournament’s Big Fish of 47.18 pounds to the scales on day one and it held up to take the Big Fish pot of $2,600 after two days of competition.
More Winners
You can view a complete rundown of all the anglers with weights for each day on the Black’s Camp Big Cat Shootout Facebook page where Ralph Willey has posted a pdf of the final results.
Final Thoughts 
The theme in this year’s Black’s Big Cat Shootout was consistency as the top teams weighed similar weights each day of the competition.
“The top 3 teams were incredibly consistent in weighing 2 days of fish within 6 pounds for both day’s weights,” reported Mark Coburn the event’s popular weighmaster. “Both days were totally different. Day one was characterized by relatively clear skies and mild winds and day two saw strong winds that blew hard all day long.”
“Tournament Director Ralph Willey has made the Shootout the most desired tournament at Santee to claim victory in,” concluded Coburn. “It is basically an all-star event with no field fillers. Fifty-two teams entered this year and anyone of them could have been Champions. It’s an incredibly strong field. Willey has become synonymous with big-time events at Santee.”
Coburn went on to thank all the sponsors, spectators, and especially the anglers that make the Shootout possible. To stay in touch with Black’s Camp Big Cat Shootout be sure to follow them on Facebook.
