Story by Ken Duke
Looking to learn a little about next week’s NPFL venue—Stop 6 on Lake Murray in South Carolina? You’re in the right place!
Murray covers 48,000 surface acres and has 650 miles of shoreline, so it’s big and should fish big. The anglers will have plenty of room to spread out on this impoundment that’s 41 miles long and 14 miles wide at its widest point.
The average depth is 41.5 feet, but in places it drops to about 200 feet, so it’s a deep midland impoundment.
The dam on the Saluda River was completed in 1930 and was built for flood control, hydroelectric power, and recreation. At the time of its completion, Dreher Shoals Dam was the world’s largest earthen dam and Lake Murray was the world’s largest man-made reservoir.
The lake is owned by South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) and named for William Spencer Murray, the engineer who created the plans for the dam.
None of South Carolina’s impressive state bass records came from Murray, but it did produce the state record white catfish (12 pounds, 2.9 ounces) and the biggest carp ever taken in the Piedmont State using a bow (58 pounds).
The NPFL has never held a tournament on Lake Murray, but Matt Mollohan of nearby Batesburg, South Carolina calls it his home lake, and there are nine South Carolinians in the NPFL field this year, so they’re probably quite excited to wrap up the season close to home on a body of water they almost certainly know well. It could be the kind of home field advantage that propels several of them into the 2025 NPFL Championship.
Here are the 2024 NPFL South Carolinians and their standings in the Progressive Angler of the Year race:
Jason Burroughs, Hodges — 10th
Patrick Walters, Eutawville — 25th
Jason Williamson, Aiken — 28th
Matt Mollohan, Batesburg — 29th
Corey Casey, Moncks Corner — 30th
Dustin Williamson, Aiken — 38th
Collin Smith, Honea Path — 54th
Ron Farrow, Rock Hill — 79th
Wayne “Skeeter” Crosby, Green Pond — 102nd
To qualify for the 2025 NPFL Championship, an angler needs to finish in the top 40 of the AOY race or win an event. With so many anglers between 25th and 38th, Murray is sure to make some dreams come true and may also break some hearts. Any angler ranked 50th or worse has one job at Murray: win! No other finish will get those anglers to the Championship.
Of those South Carolinians, Patrick Walters has had the most notable success on Lake Murray. He won a Bassmaster Elite Series event on the lake in May. Going back a few years, Oklahoma’s Tommy Biffle won the 1993 B.A.S.S. Megabucks tournament on Murray.
Murray is a largemouth fishery that supports a broad and varied forage base dominated by shad, blueback herring, sunfish, crayfish, and the occasional terrestrial.
Shifting to the AOY race, a very talented angler will heft the gold shield and earn 2024 NPFL-Progressive Angler of the Year honors. That angler will be an NPFL rookie. In fact, it will almost certainly be Georgia’s Drew Cook or Alabama’s Kyle Welcher, but all five of the top anglers in the League this year are rookies. Here’s the top 10 and their points so far:
Progressive AOY standings
1. Drew Cook 1,213 rookie
2. Kyle Welcher 1,211 rookie
3. Isaac Peavyhouse 1,182 rookie
4. Joseph Webster 1,171 rookie
5. Brock Bila 1,162 rookie
6. Trent Palmer 1,161
7. Louis Fernandes 1,151
8. Will Harkins 1,141
9. Jesse Milsaps 1,135
10. Jason Burroughs 1,134 rookie
Consider yourself up to speed and ready for the action!
