Story by Hunter Sales | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
If you kept up with my column last year, you know that I am a big believer in the benefits of pre-practice. Recently, I spent a couple of days down at Santee Cooper trying to get a feel for the way the lakes set up. I had never been there before, and given the complexity of this system, it was certainly a priority for me to get out there prior to our off-limits period.
Right from the start, the size of Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie left an impression. These two massive bodies of water cover over 170,000 acres, making it easily the largest body of water in South Carolina. What makes this system even more challenging to break down is the amount of standing timber that remains standing. Marion is certainly trickier to run, but Moultrie also has plenty of stumps that are not very kind to a lower unit. This makes it extremely time-consuming to explore some of the shallow backwaters, as I was not well-versed in where to run and where to idle. I spent a lot of time on this trip idling areas and finding the safest running lanes. This will help me to be more efficient when we return in early March to start practice.
Something else that I didn’t expect was the diversity of cover that was available to the bass. In March, cypress trees, stumps, brush, grass, and rock could all play a role in the top 10 finishes. I think it will be an event where you’re able to fish your strengths and this certainly excites me. I seem to do best in those events where I can spend my entire practice searching for one unique pattern and duplicating that in multiple areas. The key will be quickly recognizing what stage the biggest females are in and committing to that approach.
Both of these lakes reminded me a lot of Florida fisheries and I imagine this means there will be a lot of dead water with a few areas playing host to many boats. It can be uncomfortable to fish in a crowd like this, but I’ve learned that on this type of fishery being alone in a creek is not always a good thing. Slowing down and picking apart the wide range of casting targets is often crucial to differentiating yourself from the competitors around you.
Overall, the water color had a healthy stain to it and the vegetation seemed to be in good shape. Water temperatures were still in the low 50s, so I expect there to be plenty of pre-spawn fish remaining for our tournament. This should set up to be a slugfest and perhaps see our heaviest weights of the entire season.
While overwhelming, the Santee Cooper Lakes of Marion and Moultrie were two of most unique lakes I’ve been on in my career so far. They certainly have the bass fishing history (including the 16-pound, 2-ounce South Carolina state record largemouth) which helps to draw viewership.
Hopefully, the 2025 NPFL field can make a little history of our own. I couldn’t be more excited to see how this one plays out!
Hunter Sales – Angler Profile
