My First Murray Trip & Stripers

Move-in week is going on now at the University of South Carolina, which tells me that my first-ever look at Lake Murray occurred around this time of year, 29 years ago.

I'd been on campus less than a week, maybe only a couple of days, when I met a friend who would become a future roommate. We met at an evening function for freshmen, and soon got talking about fishing. Turns out he was from South Carolina, had a boat on campus and knew a fair amount about Lake Murray fishing, including the fact that the striped bass were schooling most mornings.

So well before dark the following morning we met somewhere on campus, I hopped in his truck, and we headed for Lake Murray. We put in well down the lake and rode to the middle of a big cove on the Lexington side, where he told me we would hang tight and watch for fish busting the surface or birds diving. Just to get it out of my system, I made a couple of casts with one of his rods, each of which was rigged tandem with a chugger and light hair jig. Then I put it down and waited, as he had suggested, in case we needed to make a quick run.

That morning marked the first and last time a striper school has ever come up all around a boat I was in. We didn't have to run anywhere, because fish were busting bait on top in every direction around us. I learned that day (and I've since confirmed several times) that schooling stripers make me forget how to cast a baitcaster.

I missed a couple of hard strikes before hooking up, and we each wrestled a fish from the school before it went down. Details elude me now, but I believe it was true double. Both fish weighed 5 or 6 pounds, although I thought mine weighed twice that when I was fighting it. I believe a couple other schools come up that morning. I can't remember whether we caught any more fish.

I only know that Lake Murray left me with a very good first impression.

Greenville Cabela's Demands a Detour

I've not yet had opportunity to explore the Greenville Cabela's, which opened earlier this year, but as of now, it looks like I'll be able to change that in a couple of days.

Tuesday plans have me traveling to Columbia for the Forrest Wood Cup, but my part doesn't begin until late Tuesday afternoon. Unless something changes at that end, or I end up with too much prep stuff to finish at home to leave sufficiently early, my plan is leave plenty of time to roam around and enjoy the closest Cabela's to home (and probably to pick up a few new jig-tying supplies).

The straightest route to Columbia would turn south just shy of Greenville, and Cabela's is actually on the other side of town. It's well worth the detour in my mind, though, and I'm excited about the chance to visit the new store. I might even plan my visit around lunchtime and grab an Elkburger while I'm there!

Forrest Wood Cup Fast Approaching

The start of the Forrest Wood Cup is less than two weeks from now, and practice is only a week and half away. Seems fast approaching to me, but I suppose that's probably so for most of competitors, as they anticipate competing for the world championship and bass fishing's biggest prize of 1/2 million dollars.

This year's Cup is extra intriguing to me because of the venue of Lake Murray and Columbia. Having gone to school at the University of South Carolina and only living a few hours away, I've enjoyed some fun days fishing on Lake Murray and know the lake somewhat well at least.

Of course, the more you cover bass fishing, the more friends you make in the sport, so there are several anglers I'll be watching closely as the competition unfolds. I'll also be contributing to the FLW coverage, along with blogging, posting photos and such, so I'll be in the middle of everything going on from start to finish.

Like any fishing fan, I'm curious about the patterns that unfold and which anglers figure out the fish. The nearly universal word from pre-practice was that fishing was very tough, but someone always figures out something.

Last time the Cup was in Columbia it was a junk-fest, with top anglers beating banks and throwing a lot of stuff. Docks and frogs played a big part in the winning pattern and in the strategies of most top finishers. That said, the deep fish that relate to herring offer a wild card. The general word is that you can't count on those deep fish day after day, but if someone finds something shallow that's dependable AND hits the deep fish just right even one day, that could be big.

We'll find out soon.

The best place to keep up with the action is on FLW's Forrest Wood Cup website, and coverage of story lines is already well underway. I hope you'll also keep an eye on what I post on this blog, on the Jeff Samsel Fishing facebook page, on Twitter (@jeffsamsel) and on Instagram (jeffsamsel).

Better yet, plant to be in Columba Aug. 14-17 and see for yourself how the championship unfolds!

Looking Toward Lake Murray

SC pro Anthony Gagliardi on Lake Murray

I know the next Forrest Wood Cup is a year away, but I'm already excited about the fact that it will be held at Lake Murray and based out of Columbia, South Carolina. I suppose pros like Anthony Gagliardi, who lives near Murray, also liked hearing that announcement and will be doing everything in their power to make sure they are part of next year's FWC field

Being a South Carolina graduate and living only three hours from Columbia, I've spent a fair amount of time fishing Murray. My time on the lake has been divided chasing bass, stripers, crappie, bluegills, catfish and even gar, but it still adds up to quite a few hours and a lot of fond memories.

I caught my first striper on Lake Murray on about the fourth night after I arrived I Columbia for college. I met a fellow freshman who would turn out to be a future roommate one evening, and we got talking about fishing. He was from South Carolina and had brought his boat to school, so we made plans and met the next morning an hour before sunrise to head for a lake I'd never seen and fish for a species I'd never caught. A big school came up around us at first light, and within minutes I was hooked up with  a 6- 7-pound topwater striper. I've been a Lake Murray fan ever since!

I also lost a job because of Lake Murray (OK, it was really the fault of an irresponsible college boy, not the lake). Fishing with the same friend several hours before I was supposed to start a new job we had motor problems a couple of coves over from the launch. The trolling motor would have gotten us back in plenty of time, but I made the mistake of casting to a point as we passed, and I caught a big bream. Well, that led to another cast and another fish and, well, you can probably figure out the rest of the story.

Lake Murray can be tough for tournament bass fishing during mid-summer, despite supporting a great bass population. The last Cup held there (2008) was a "junk fishing" event scratched out by Michael Bennett, whose primary pattern was throwing frogs over grass around docks. Offshore anglers commonly find good bags on Murray during late summer, but it's typically tough to repeat those catches. The morning topwater bite also can be good, but a striper can break an angler's heart if he thinks he has a largemouth on the line.

Of course, summer can also be a fine time to wade the Saluda River, downstream of Lake Murray, to intentionally cast for stripers. So while the pros are out grinding it out on the hot lake, I might chose to stand waist deep in a cool current and have fun catching stripers! With our without the river stripers, I'll enjoy spending a few days in Columbia, eating country vegetables at Lizard's Thicket and watching the nation's top pros tackle Lake Murray.

Hope to see you there.