{"id":15591,"date":"2026-03-18T05:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanbassanglers.com\/news\/?p=15591"},"modified":"2026-03-18T06:01:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T12:01:23","slug":"tom-and-missy-bancroft-take-the-win-on-santee-cooper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanbassanglers.com\/news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/tom-and-missy-bancroft-take-the-win-on-santee-cooper\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom and Missy Bancroft Take the Win on Santee Cooper"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

March 7, 2026, Cross, SC \u2013 Tom and Missy Bancroft emerged as the winning team at the sixth tournament of the American Bass Anglers Couples Series, South Carolina Division 11<\/a>, held on the beautiful Santee Cooper Lakes. With a strong field of returning couples and new faces alike, the event was filled with high energy as anglers aimed to secure top catches and claim the day\u2019s bragging rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom and Missy, the South Carolina Couples Directors, delivered an impressive performance, securing first place with a total weight of 22.26-pounds.  The team credited their success to targeting shallow water bass in the Hatchery.  Their techniques included sight fishing for pre-spawning and spawning bass as well as fan casting to key areas including stumps and lily pad stems.  The lily pad stems indicated hard bottom that the fish were related to.  Their standout catch included Men\u2019s Big Bass with Tom\u2019s 6.63-pound catch and earned them $550 and 196 points for first place and $80 for Men\u2019s Big Bass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In second place, Zach Garner and Ashlyn Gordon brought in a total of 19.33 pounds earning them $350 and 195 points.  Their catch included Ashlyn\u2019s 4.36-pound bass which tied with Lexi Moncus\u2019 catch for Lady\u2019s Big Bass.  Ashlyn and Lexi split the Lady\u2019s Big Bass $80 prize.  Zach and Ashlyn found big females staging up to spawn in about 12\u2019 of water during practice but the bite died off early, so when tournament day was delayed by fog, they decided to put the trolling motor on high and fish grass lines and bedding fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ben and Ashley Sutton took third place with 5 fish weighing 17.78-pounds, earning the team $200 and 194 points.  Without practice for the event, Ben and Ashley just fished the bank and found a spot where the bass came up and caught two on minnows.  They finished out their limit catching bedding fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tucker and Bella Veronee took fourth place with 5 fish weighing 14.65-pounds, earning them $100 and 193 points.  Tucker and Bella targeted fish in front of spawning areas in the lower lake in 6\u2019 to 8\u2019 of water on a jerkbait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n\n\n PL<\/th> Team<\/th> MBB<\/th> LBB<\/th> F<\/th> Weight<\/th> Points<\/th> Payout<\/th> <\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n\n \n \n\n\n
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\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n
1<\/td>\n Thomas Bancroft-Melissa Bancroft<\/td>\n 6.63<\/td>\n 3.72<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 22.26<\/td>\n 196<\/td>\n $550 & MBB $80<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n Zach Garner-Ashlyn Gordon<\/td>\n 4.49<\/td>\n 4.36<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 19.33<\/td>\n 195<\/td>\n $350 & LBB $40<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n David Sutton-Ashley Sutton<\/td>\n 6.48<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 17.78<\/td>\n 194<\/td>\n $200<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\n Tucker Veronee-Bella Veronee<\/td>\n 4.06<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 14.65<\/td>\n 193<\/td>\n $100<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\n Chandler Powers-Morgan Wright<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 3.57<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 13.85<\/td>\n 192<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\n Craig Sahms-Mary Sahms<\/td>\n 5.92<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 4<\/td>\n 12.95<\/td>\n 191<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\n David Lanier-Lexi Moncus<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 4.36<\/td>\n 4<\/td>\n 12.05<\/td>\n 190<\/td>\n LBB $40<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\n John Mills-Susan Mills<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 10.90<\/td>\n 189<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\n Harry Johnson-Kimberly Johnson<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 2.40<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 10.61<\/td>\n 188<\/td>\n Berkeley $50 Limit<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\n Daniel Brown-Melissa Brown<\/td>\n 4.15<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n 8.55<\/td>\n 187<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\n Chris Seigler-Wanda Seigler<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 2.91<\/td>\n 2<\/td>\n 6.44<\/td>\n 186<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\n Vincent Kolb-Lisa Kolb<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 2.68<\/td>\n 2<\/td>\n 3.92<\/td>\n 185<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\n Cole Taylor-Addyson Hale<\/td>\n 3.36<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n 3.36<\/td>\n 184<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\n John Branstetter-Donna Branstetter<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n 1.76<\/td>\n 183<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\n Camron Chesney-Jill Chesney<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 50<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\n Logan Geisler-Kirsten Bickley<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n -<\/td>\n 50<\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n <\/tbody> \n\n \n \n \n <\/table>\n\n<\/div>