Beginning of the end

Santee Cooper spawn on the wane

MANNING, S.C. – Santee Cooper – lakes Marion and Moultrie in South Carolina – is a magical place when the first wave of bass flood the lake’s multitude of shallow, backwater ponds in March and April and bed in big clusters.

Everywhere you look, big bass are on large, sandy dishes, looking to inhale any creepy, crawly thing that comes close to their lair.

But as the water warms up, the successive waves of spawning bass do not travel as far back into the ponds or canals, and they begin to bed out deeper in the main lake. Consequently, bedding bass get harder to find and rely on. Also, it seems they get their business done much faster and vacate the beds sooner than earlier in the season when they hang around bedding areas for days.

After day one of the Stren Series event on Santee Cooper, it looks like the spawn might be coming to an end. Many pros, like sight-fishing regulars Greg Pugh and Koby Kreiger, found their best areas vacated yesterday, while only a couple of pros, like local Mark Hutson (2nd) and Jay Kendrick (4th), found just enough bedding fish to put together one day’s catch.

With water temperatures now approaching the 80s, the word is that the spawn has been reduced to spotty at best. While it is still possible to find a tiny area where a new pod of fish is moving up, the window of time to catch those fish appears to be shortening. Pros like Hutson are having to find the fish as they go instead of picking off ones located in practice.

The day-two weigh-in of the Stren Series event on Santee Cooper will begin Friday at 3 p.m. at the John C. Land III Landing

Friday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:32 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 61 degrees

Expected high temperature: 85 degrees

Water temperature: 74-78 degrees

Wind: SW at 10 to 20 mph

Day’s outlook: warm, breezy