Elite

A look at Santee Cooper Lakes

Posted on
Captions by
Mike Suchan
Close counts in a number of things, and it certainly helps in back-to-back fishing tournaments. After Drew Benton rallied in the final minutes to win the Marathon Bassmaster Elite at Lake Murray, the Elites move on down the road for stop No. 4.
The Elites only had about a two-hour drive from Murray to the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes, where the 16th pro level Bassmaster tournament gets underway on the record-setting fishery.
Santee Cooper Lakes, which annually ranks high in Bassmaster Magazine’s 100 Best Bass Lakes, gets its name from the two rivers feeding the New Deal era reservoirs. Lake Marion is the largest in the state, and Lake Moultrie is the third largest.
The fishery and its myriad cypress trees have been the scene for a number of B.A.S.S. heavyweight records. In 1994, O.T. Fears set the three-day weight record at 77-4 and the five-fish daily limit mark of 34-4. In 2006, Preston Clark caught the all-time weight record of 115-15. Last year, two anglers earned Century Belts.
Formed by the Santee Dam in 1941, Marion’s 110,000 surface acres earned the nickname of South Carolina’s inland sea. Moultrie, created by the Pinopolis Dam on the Cooper River, is 60,000 acres. There is a six-mile canal connecting the lakes. Together, the 170,000 acres create a huge task for Elites trying to map out a plan of attack.
The John C. Land III Sport Fishing Facility, 4404 Greenall Road in Clarendon County is tournament central, with daily takeoffs at 7 a.m. ET. Weigh-ins are set there for 3 p.m. Fans are welcome to all B.A.S.S. venues free of charge.
Wisconsin’s Caleb Kuphall weighed in 103-1 to take second in last year’s event on Santee Cooper Lakes, and he did it on 19 fish. Kuphall told Shaye Baker that getting over the century mark would be quite the feat this year. “Last time, it was pretty much all prespawn and they just started to come up when the tournament started,” he said. “That’s how Drew Cook won it. But this one is on the tail end” of the spawn.
Luke Palmer, fishing near Kuphall, landed the VMC Monster Bag with 33-5. Palmer took the Phoenix Boats Big Bass honor for Day 3 with his 9-4, but Pat Schlapper won the overall big bass with his 9-10 on Day 2. Besides a $1,000 bonus for daily awards and $2,000 for the overall, Phoenix Boats is awarding $10,000 to the Elite angler who catches the biggest bass in 2023, and this week’s event might present the best chance to surpass Brandon Cobb’s 8-12 from Okeechobee.
Drew Cook had 31-13 on Day 1 and caught more than 24 pounds each of the next three days to win last year and join the Century Club with 105-5. The fishery has now produced eight Century Belts to take over second place on the all-time list from Clear Lake.
Patrick Walters of Summerville, S.C., is doubtful the Elites can add to that total this week, but there’s always a chance. “I don’t think we’ll see 100 pounds this time, just because more of the fish will be postspawn than prespawn, so the average weight will be lower,” Walters said. “We might see one, possibly two, but it’s less likely this time.”
Walters thinks the fishing will be incredible, with the winner weighing around 90 pounds. “It’s setting up great; we couldn’t ask for a better scenario,” he said. “You can catch them any way you want, and everyone will have fish. With a mix of all three stages, you can catch them doing anything. Guys are going to be able to fish their strengths.”
This tournament is a month later than last year’s when bass were on beds. “There’s already been a couple good waves of fish spawn, but there’s still a lot to come — and that’s the good thing,” said Walters, adding that bass spawn into May here.
Santee Cooper Lakes features lily pads, gator grass, water willow and other bank grasses. “The first fish to the bank are bass, but now the bream are coming to spawn, the shad are going to be spawning and the (bass) stay up there once they spawn, because of all the forage,” Walters said. “The bite only gets better.”
As always, weather is of key importance, and the Elites will have to deal with some changing conditions throughout the competition and some rain that could muddy some areas.
“April is my favorite month because you can catch them just fishing,” Walters said. “The early morning shad spawn is the bite that will be going on the best. You’re (probably) not going to be able to catch a five-fish limit bed fishing, but if you catch 17 to 18 pounds in the shad spawn, you’ll be able to go catch one big one bed fishing. That’s how you’ll get over the 23- to 24-pound mark.”

Related