Story by Hunter Baughman | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Current situation: Making our weekly hour-long trip to church. I’m riding shotgun to my wife—kind of scary—while I type this column for you. Some weeks are busier than others. This is one of those weeks.
By the time you read this, I should be on Santee Cooper for pre-practice. I’ve said this in previous articles, and I mean it: my 2024 results were not acceptable, and I’m going to do what it takes to improve the results for 2025. Pre-practice will be one of those steps towards improvement.
While I wasn’t quite ready to come out of hunting mode yet, I’m looking forward to this week. My plans include a quick stop at Douglas Lake while I’m that far east and maybe another quick stop at Pickwick Lake—depending on weather—to look around for another series. I really wanted to swing by Lake Norman, too, while I was that close. A sponsor obligation this coming weekend will keep that from happening.
The bulk of my week will be spent at Santee. The lake goes off limits on February 3rd. This will be my last chance to look around before the March 6-8 tournament. While the fish won’t quite be in the same locations as they will be for the tournament, they should be fairly close. They will be in a late winter pattern this week and should be in a pre-spawn/spawn pattern when we get back. I’m hoping to locate some groups of fish that I will be able to follow into those spawning areas when we return.
Just looking around and learning to navigate a lake is a big part of practicing ahead of time, especially a place like Santee. That place is full of tress and getting around without tearing up your equipment is half the battle. When we were there in 2023, I never left Lake Marion. It’s a huge lake, and I used a large portion of my practice learning how to get around. This week I’m going to look at Lake Moultrie—connected to Marion by a 7.5-mile-long canal—for a large portion of the trip. Then I will brush up on navigating Marion and hopefully look at some new areas too. There’s a lot more vegetation in the lake now, so I’m sure it will be like fishing a totally different lake.
I have to be home by Friday night so I can leave Saturday morning and go to Missouri to fulfill the sponsor commitments. It’s going to be a busy week. Hopefully I have a productive practice in the allotted time. Warmer weather and big bass have me ready to hit the road! Check back next week for an update.
Hunter Baughman – Angler Profile
