Carolina Clash • Lake Murray, Columbia, S.C.
May 12-15, 2011
Though perhaps better known for its striped bass, Lake Murray is one of the best largemouth fisheries in the country. The 50,000-acre reservoir built in 1930 is heavily developed with plenty of boat docks and other man-made cover that holds lots of bass.
This will be BASS’ ninth professional tournament on Murray and the first since an Elite event in May 2008. That tournament was won by Elite pro Fred Roumbanis with 66-13. Roumbanis targeted areas with spawning bluegill and fished them with a topwater frog. Big bass of the tournament was caught by Elite pro Grant Goldbeck and weighed 8-7. He caught the lunker on a swimbait. The introduction of blueback herring to Murray some years ago means there’s lots of schooling activity on the main lake. In 2008, those schoolers factored heavily in some of the top catches.