Headed Down to Santee

[SawyerTed]

Sometimes it's two, sometimes it's three or four trips from here to Santee, SC to fish the lakes.   In a week I'll go down for my second trip this year.  

Santee-Cooper is actually 2 lakes in the Low Country of (Eastern) South Carolina, Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie.   

They are bbbiiiggg lakes built as part of the electrification of eastern South Carolina prior to WW II.  Lake Moultrie was mostly cleared of timber.   Lake Marion wasn't completely cleared before it was flooded during the war effort.  They needed the  power for shipyards in Charleston.   So Lake Marion still has standing timber in the lake almost 80 years later.  

We will be fishing for blue catfish part of the time and crappies part of the time.  The blue cats were introduced from the Mississippi River watershed.  They've really become a phenomenon for fishermen who want freshwater line stretchers.

The lakes provide a year round fishery for catfish, bass, striped bass and crappies.

Seems like the record Channel Cat came from one of the lakes several years ago. 

Most of the "resorts" and "fish camps" have been around the lakes for a long time.  Many are dated and have very little amenities for any but the most avid fisher.  Slowly some of the camps are being updated for the 21st Century fishing person.  Some have closed and some camps have converted to vacation properties.  

[SawyerTed]

This is Lake Marion.  The images are screenshots of my Lowrance chart plotter map on my phone.  

Lake Marion is longer than wide at 16 plus miles long and about 4-5 miles wide.  The channels are marked because the lakes and river upstream are supposed to be navigable to Columbia, SC.  Lake Marion is the one I-95 crossed between Manning and right at Santee, SC.  

As I mentioned, the War Effort and need for electricity in Charleston in the late 1930s forced flooding Lake Marion before all the timber was cut.  Getting out of the channel very much is at peril of a destroyed gear case on an outboard.  



Lake Moultrie is more roundish.  It is 12 miles or so across at its widest point.  Lake Moultrie empties into the Cooper River which flows down to Charleston.  There are ship locks from the river up to lake level.  

The two lakes are connected by a canal, The Diversion Canal.  You can see it in the upper left of the Lake Moultrie map.   When water is flowing, there's good current in and at both ends of the canal.   

Lake Marion isn't as deep as Moultrie.  Marion is 30-50 or so and Moultrie is over 100 nearer the dam.  

Santee and Cooper are the names of the the rivers combined to create the lakes.  Santee was dammed and Cooper diverted.  It became the name of the power and development company that electrified the low country of South Carolina.   I'm not sure of the number of power plants surrounding the lakes but there are several.   

I prefer fishing Moultrie but we have better accommodations near the town of Santee so I fish Marion a good bit.  On a nice day the boat ride from one lake to the other is nice.  On a day with some wind and or rain, the long fetch can cause a tough chop if not outright waves and white caps.   

Did I say I'm pretty excited to get to go next week?  

[TroyC]

Guess I fished Marion a few times with my grandfather in 1972-3. He lived in Greenville SC. Two particular trips I remember were a crappie trip and a striper trip. Grandpa worked long hours as a barber so he would hire a guide and boat.

On one trip my dad and I went with him, probably spring or early summer.
He hired a guide and we fished out of a 16' aluminum boat with small Johnson. The guide would get us ready, then he would ease the boat over to a stump and lightly bump it with the boat. We'd drop baits and pull up the fish. After a couple minutes, 'UP' and we'd move to the next one.

When I was in college, election day 1972, we went down and fished for striped bass with a guide. We were just north of the I95 bridge crossing and we caught a nice cooler of fish to take home.

I had an uncle on my Mom's side, and if a person could be truly jinxed, it was D O. I took D O to Santee, and for 3 days fishing did not catch a fish. I also took him to the Keys, and not only did we  not catch fish, the boat broke down. Hunting stories were the same with D O, but I cherish the memories.

Thanks Ted, your post brings back some nice old memories. Grandpa, Dad, and D O are gone but every time I cross that bridge I think, I need to back on election day and catch a striper!

[SawyerTed]

Funny and great memories. 

Two of my cousins and I make two or three outdoors trip a year.  They are two of my mom's nephews (she was one of 9 siblings).  Our parents were raised part of the time on the Catawba River that was flooded to create Lake Wylie.  So our parents were water people and I guess it is genetic.   

It's great fun.  This is our second trip to Santee this year.

One of my cousins is a bit like your uncle.  Larry runs a real estate investment company and had to leave early on our last trip.   He didn't catch a fish the first three days we fished.  The day after he left, Sam and I caught a cooler full.    Hopefully he can keep his "unlucky-ness" to himself!