Does anyone know when this was filmed? I noticed they were barefoot but not in shorts.
Also, do you think they were on the upper lake or lower lake. I typically go down in late march or early April and if you can hit it on that first warm weekend you can have you own awesome fishing show.
The title said springtime skipping. Still saw some trees just sprouting leaves, so I'd say March.
Is it as dangerous as I've heard? I have a brand new Skeeter and am afraid to take it down there.
There are some places that are good to run and some that you really want to idle around. I got lucky as a group of us from work went and one of the guys knew someone who lived on the lower lake.... I know one time I got alone by myself and he came and let me follow him back and there were a couple areas he didn't think I wanted to run close to... I had a new to me Ranger Z520 at the time.... that was the first lake I put that boat in after I bought it.Originally Posted by dweber
I would go. There are lots of areas that you can easily see to run and fish. Go to the Hatchery in the spring with everyone else and you won't need to run much at all. Pay attention to the weather and wind forecast as you don't want to have to cross either lake if the wind gets up and you're on the opposite side of the lake than your ramp.
Bottom line is I would go..... just be smart.
Thanks, I will give it a try this spring!
They launched at Angel's Landing on the Lower Lake. Angel's Cove is one of the first areas to warm up in the spring. They fished the Slave Ditch, Swim Beach, and most of the community holes there. By the look of the leaves on the trees, they were there in mid-late March.
Last edited by Jeff Hahn; 01-01-2020 at 08:46 PM.
"The man of system is apt to be very wise in his own conceit; and is often so enamored with the supposed beauty of his own ideal plan of government that he cannot suffer the smallest deviation from any part of it…He seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chessboard.” Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Talked to my buddy who I fish Santee with. Zona was there the 2nd week of April last year.
"The man of system is apt to be very wise in his own conceit; and is often so enamored with the supposed beauty of his own ideal plan of government that he cannot suffer the smallest deviation from any part of it…He seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chessboard.” Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
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This happened a couple of months ago on the upper lake. Be careful, the lakes are low and will probably stay low until spring.
Carroll knows all!
'09 Ranger Z520 Silverado Edition / '09 Evinrude ETEC 250 HO
'15 Xpress HD16DBX / Merc 59ci
2020 Skeeter ZX200 / 200 SHO
We held a tournament the next week after that guy tore his motor off...176 boats and it was a 2 day tournament with 2 days practice...4 days total. Had 1 guy tell me he bent his prop...that's it. Rule to follow if you don't know ...idle. There are markers to run and if you ask the locals they can help you out.
Well, i think its the most dangerous lake in the state of SC. When the wind blows like it did on saturday, you CAN NOT be on the main part of the lower lake. Even in 50' of water, you will drive right by trees 3-4' in diameter. As for large tournaments, the BFL had several boats lost and had to be rescued by the coast guard several years ago. All because the tx director decided to have a tx with 20+ mph winds on that lake. Anyone who says its not dangerous is crazy. I would put in somewhere and stay in that area all day. Dont risk crossing the big water on your own. Also, dont trust your GPS. Cut thrus can be grown up with cypress in some of the areas that look clear. The lake is NOT marked well at all. Rodman Reservoir in Florida is the only place i know worse than Santee for danger.
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I believe they had winds of 30mph with gust to 40mph that day. The tournament director should have called it.
Wind direction is the key. SW winds are terrible, but strong Northeast winds are manageable. With Northeast you can still navigate from the Lower lake to the swamp easily..
Me and a buddy were fishing Russellville flats one afternoon a few years ago. The wind kicked up and a big thunderstorm rolled in with lightning all around. We decided to beach the boat and get up on the bank. We watched the water recede for the next hour. Eventually the boat was high an dry like the tide going out. Thought we would have to spend the night, but it finally got up high enough for us to push off the bank after the storm passed. Crazy stuff. But we did catch some nice bass that day!
2022 Blazer 675 Ultimate
2022 Merc 300 Pro XS
2017 YZ250F
Kenny Hollingsworth<<<<<<<<<MY NAME!
828 674 6752
Hendersonville NC<<<<MY LOCATION!!
Scariest lake of all time. The “navigation” channels are a mine field. If you get north of the interstate the creek channel is impossible to navigate until you get out of the twists, and then you can’t drive on the markers you kind of have to be slightly off them but not so far that you end back up in the trees.
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you do not run on the markers.They were put on the river banks (shallowest part with stumps).you stay just off the markers & run between them to the next one.
Good advice from Inky! We have a group or NC anglers that go down every year around end March - most times we trailer as a group to where we want to fish. Have run out of diversion canal where we stay to Angels/Hatchery and Wyboo/Potato in Marion. Once we hired Inky to navigate/fish the swamp but I still would not run it! Four weeks and we'll be there - can't wait!
You can put in a Packs Landing, never crank the big motor, and catch plenty of fish. That goes for many areas around the lake. It would make it tough for fishing a tournament, but for a vacation trip you can still experience all that Santee Cooper has to offer. Sparkleberry, Spiers, Catfish landing, Wyboo, Stumphole, Hatchery, Blacks, Angels, Thornley Forest, Russelville, etc. all are the popular areas and all have boat landings that don't require any running to get to the fish.
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