How Come The Santee-Cooper System Is Never Mentioned?

[Lil'Gunner]

It just strikes me odd that I hear so little about bass fishing in the S-C system anymore. I think there might be one old post on here about it. You google fishing reports, and they're either crazy-old or all about catfish. Nobody talks about it. When I pass over the lake on I-95 (which I often do), it's dead as a doornail, boat-wise.

 

I know the DNR grass-carped the hydrilla out of it a few years ago, and that threw a lot of people off it. But, that strikes me as the heart of quitter-hood to pass on a system like that just cuz they knocked out a non-native weed that never belonged there anyway.

 

Mostly curious... I'm sure there are plenty of good bass out there. I plan to take a crack at them next weekend. I fish out of a float tube, so I'm confined to smaller creek arms and such, and now seems to be the time one would find them up there chasing shad.

[sbfishySC]

The hydrilla is far from gone, on Moultrie at least. People come down there to fish more for stripers or cats. There are definitely some solid bass in there. It's a good bass fishery, just local economy gains more from the striper/cat fishing so you hear more about that than anything else.

[Lil'Gunner]

The hydrilla is far from gone, on Moultrie at least. People come down there to fish more for stripers or cats. There are definitely some solid bass in there. It's a good bass fishery, just local economy gains more from the striper/cat fishing so you hear more about that than anything else.

Thanks for that - it's good just to hear one other person mention bass and the S-C system in one breath. I've noticed that cats and stripers get all the press... In fact, the last time I was on Marion I didn't catch one bass, but caught a 12-lb striper that about wore my arms off! Ironic more than anything..

[curtis9]

I went down there twice last year.  We were skunked the first trip and caught a few the 2nd time.  We fished the lower lake the first trip and the upper the 2nd.  It was a tough place to figure out.  The locals told us to fish the cypress trees, but that's basically the entire lake.   

 

There was a tournament weighing in when we got back after the first trip.  Two guys weighed in over 30 lbs.  So there are big bass down there if you can find them. 

[sbfishySC]

I've never fished Marion (upper lake) but have fished Moultrie one weekend. While we didn't catch many, it was my first time fishing the lake and it was really cool to be able to see the lake. A completely different lake than I'm used to fishing in the upstate of SC (Hartwell/Keowee). 

 

30lb weigh in will win you a lot of tournaments. That's impressive. I would've liked to have seen those 5 they brought in, bet they were pigs!

[whitwolf]

I have nothing to add but did want to comment on your avatar pic. Curtis..... Go 'Pack!