Santee Cooper Slugfest at Elite Series Event?

The Bassmaster Elite Series begins at Santee Cooper tomorrow, and it’s another one of those national tournaments that I’m excited about as a fan and as a part of the fishing media. No doubt, I will have the live tuned in while I work tomorrow and will be glancing at BASStrak throughout all weekend, no matter what I’m doing.

This one intrigues me at a few levels, beginning with the likelihood of a bunch of big fish being caught. Santee is a world-class largemouth fishery, with outstanding habitat and diverse and abundant forage, and all reports say the fishery is the healthiest it has been in decades.

Santee Cooper is also very familiar to me, which invariably magnifies interest in a major event. I’ve spent dozens of days fishing all over the 170,000-plus acres that makes up lakes Marion and Moultrie so I know what areas look like and how they differ from a fishing standpoint as I watch the action unfold.

I’ve actually spent a lot of fishing for other species, including catfish, crappie, bluegill and stripers, on the Santee Cooper lakes, but time on the water doing any kind of fishing builds familiarity, and I’ve also enjoyed some outstanding bass fishing on these storied waters.

Adding a third layer of interest, the company I work for, PRADCO-Fishing, sponsors half a dozen Elite Series pros. One of them, Luke Palmer, won the most recent Santee Cooper Elite and finished fourth the year before. Jason Christie won a National Pro Tour event on Santee a couple ago.

About Santee Cooper 

Although often dubbed Santee Cooper Lake, two distinct reservoir and system of canals make up Santee Cooper, which was created in the 1940s. 

Lake Marion, known locally as the Upper Lake, covers 110,00 acres and has extensive flooded timber, a swampy upper end and vast shallow backwaters along its edges. 

Lake Moultrie (the Lower Lake) covers 60,000 acres. It’s basically round and looks wide open, but it bottom is completely with hills, valleys, ditches and other structure. It’s bound by vast, swampy backwaters.

Shallow areas of both lakes are loaded with cypress and tupelo trees and vast stands of vegetation, including hydrilla and eelgrass. Local anglers say the grass coverege is as extensive as they remember, undoubtedly contributing to the health of the bass population.

Santee Cooper is also fertile and is home to several shad and herring species, along with crawfish and various sunfish species to keep the bass well fed. 

Variety Likely

Unlike many major tournaments, where a couple of key approaches make the most sense, causing virtually everyone to fish the same way, a host of approaches are apt to produce at Santee Cooper right now, so anglers will be fishing a lot of different ways. It is also one of the Elite Series events where live sonar is not permitted, which tends to bring out more diverse angling approaches.

Topwater, pitching plastics to trees, cranking humps, swimming vibrating jigs and swim jigs, flipping grass, frog fishing, targeting a shad spawn… The possibilities go on and on. Big bags are apt to be caught with a variety of techniques and from all over the lakes. 

I look forward to seeing how it all unfolds - and hopefully with a story to write to start next week about a YUM or BOOYAH bait producing a win at Santee Cooper!

Asher’s Bream

The fish I caught Friday afternoon were among my favorites from this year, but it had nothing to do with size, species or anything noteworthy about the strikes or fights. It was all about location.

The 10 or so fish I caught — all bluegill or green sunfish— came from my son’s new front yard pond. Asher closed on his first house Friday, and the property includes a stretch of pond bank.

Two of Asher’s siblings and I visited Friday afternoon. We mostly went just to see the house and property, but of course I had my car rod and reel and a few lures handy and had to make at least a few casts! 

I started with a Crickhopper. A few fish pecked at it, but nothing committed. I could see some little fish around the bait so I switched to an Itty Bit Mayfly on a 1/48-ounce jighead and put it beneath a small float. That was the ticket. Several catches followed in short order.

The other slightly noteworthy thing was the fact that some of the fish were green sunfish, and I hadn’t caught one of those previously in 2026.

We saw one bass, which probably weighed a couple of pounds, but didn’t get it to go after anything. Asher did a bit more fishing over the weekend and has caught some other fish, including a shiner. No bass yet, but I’m guessing it won’t be long.

The Magnificent Chattooga River

I spent a recent day fishing the Chattooga River with a friend. We chose a fairly remote section that required modest hikes in and out and a couple of miles of trekking through the riverbed.

Occasionally, I need to pause to ponder what a blessing it is to have the Chattooga National Wild & Scenic River so close to home. The Chattooga rises high on Whiteside Mountain in Western North Carolina and runs nearly its entire course through forested public land on the Nantahala, Chattahoochee, and Sumter national forests. Wild and Scenic River designation protects the river corridor from development or road encroachment.

I’ve spent dozens of day — maybe more than 100 — fishing, hiking and rafting along the Chattooga. I’ve camped by the river, explored wild and unforgiving areas like Rock Gorge and the Canyon of the Five Falls, but most days have been spent fishing for trout and/or Bartrams bass.

Part of the appeal of the Chattooga from an angling perspective is the diversity of opportunities. 

The far upper section is pure wild trout waters, with wild native brook trout if you go far enough up.

The sections around Burrells Ford is heavily stocked. Below the bridge is a long section that contains a mix of helicopter stocked rainbows, wild rainbows and brown and “semi-wild” brown that are helicopter stocked as subadults during late fall and grow up in the river like wild fish. 

The three miles above the Highway 28 bridge are managed with delayed harvest regulations. Below 28, some trout get stocked in a couple of areas, but Bartrams bass are more prevalent.

The Chattooga also offers tremendous variety in its character, although changes are throughout the river as opposed to differing by major section. From high in the mountains to the lower reaches, where the Chattooga is large for an Appalachian mountain river, it continuously shifts from broad, shallow runs to long, deep pools to crashing rapids, a few of which are better described as waterfalls.

The common denominator is that the river is stunning, with a backcountry feel and water that stays clear even after most rains. It also has a backcountry feel nearly throughout, and several areas are only accessible via significant walking or skilled paddling.

The Chattooga also has an extraordinary network of tributaries that include some of my favorite places in Georgia, but that’s probably another story for another time!

Happy Jacks

Afew jack crevalle were among the fish that cooperated a couple of weeks ago when I spent a day in Jacksonville fishing with Chris Holleman of Blue Cyclone Inland Fishing Adventures. I was glad. Jacks are hard hitting, fast and a lot of fun to catch.

Interestingly, jacks are among the most maligned fish in inland waters. I’ve often heard anglers grumbling when they hook up with jacks and even wanting to move away for them to search for the day’s targeted species.

I’ve watched anglers completely change their perspective upon getting a good look at a fish and realizing it is a huge jack. One minute enjoying the fast runs and brutal strength and the next minute irritated by the same qualities and time taken away from the pursuit of other species.

Fishing is meant to be fun, and preferences are personal, so folks have the right to like or dislike catching any species. I’ve just never understood how the fun factor can change so dramatically based on the shape of the fish.

I get a bit of disappointment if your hope for the day was to catch a trophy redfish, and you thought that was what you were fighting. It seems to go way past disappointed, though, and turn into a despise for the fish at the end of the line.

I’ve also always wondered when or why jack crevalle became perceived as “trash fish” in the eyes of so many anglers. Their shape, iridescent colors and fighting qualities are somewhat similar to permit, which are highly prized sport fish. 

I guess I don’t need to worry about other anglers’ preference. I know I like catching jacks and always welcome them to the party!

Bonus Backcountry Bartrams Bass

Rainbow and brown trout were the target species during a recent wade-fishing trip, and we caught plenty of them. Bartrams bass were a bonus — an excellent bonus from my standpoint.

I wasn’t shocked to catch Bartrams bass. I’d caught them from the same section of the Chattooga River before — while fishing with the same friend, in fact. And I’ve caught many Bartrams farther downstream on the same river. I did not expect to catch enough bass to lose count, but that’s exactly what happened.

Interestingly, I think I could have caught far more. The Bartrams mostly came late in the day. We were fishing through a section of remote river and needed to keep moving to ever get to where we could reasonably get out and connect with a trail. I was casting while walking and in places getting at least one hit on almost every cast.

I’m a huge fan of Bartrams bass. While they don’t grow very large, they are feisty and fun to catch and ways have fabulous markings.

Bartrams bass, by the way, are upland black bass — one of the redeye species — and they are only found in the upper Savannah River watershed. Hybridization with non-native Alabama bass and spotted bass has substantially reduced their range over the years. Select water still have strong populations, though.

The trout also served up big fun, but that’s another story! To see the river and catches of trout and bass, check out “Brown Trout, Rainbows & Bartrams Bass — Walk-in Fishing Adventure” on Fishing on Foot YouTube.

Bull Redfish to Start a Day

Bull redfish weren’t the main objective, but when Capt. Chris Holleman of Blue Cyclone Fishing Charters said there might be an early window for hooking into a few, I surely didn’t argue within the idea of targeting big reds to start our day.

One of my favorite things about fishing with Holleman is that we virtually always hit a big range of spots and fish a variety of ways and usually catch multiple species. He always studies the tide charts and considers things like wind, season and recent days on the water and comes up with a working plan in his head. 

Holleman understands the complex tidal waterways in the Jacksonville area and the fish that inhabit them like few anglers do and knows when to fish will respond best to different presentations. He has spots that are best for incoming tides, outgoing tides, high water, low water, strong tides slack periods… His working plan, which of course gets adapted through the day according to conditions and how the fish respond, puts him in key areas for different kinds of fishing when the tide is right for each.

We started on the bull red spot because that was when the tides were right, and three of them bit right when they were supposed to. From there Holleman had a flow in mind that included casting diving baits, working topwater lures and fishing jig/soft plastic combos, and fishing waters ranging from deep structures well out in the St John’s River to casting for largemouth bass in the backs of channels.

I think we ended up catching five species that day, and it’s not uncommon, fishing with Holleman to end up with twice that many.

I caught two species that day that were new to me for 2026 — redfish and jack crevalle. Earlier on the same trip, I also added bluefish to this year’s list. The bluefish was my first saltwater fish of 2026. The blue, red and jack were species 14, 15 and 16 of the year for me.

Coastal Fishing Plans

Having learned of some coastal fishing photo needs for work and realizing my best travel window is more sooner than later, I went into planning mode today.

Soon I’ll be pointing my car south and heading first to the Georgia coast and then to northeastern Florida. I’ll start out Fishing on Foot and shooting photos from various surf, pier and jetty type settings. 

Lure photos are the primary objective, but of course I hope to catch some fish. Depending on when and where any catches happen, I might keep a few to cook. I’m not camping and don’t want to keep up with fish a couple of days, so I’d probably have to catch them while I’m near a picnic area with a charcoal grill. Far from impossible but the situational need is pretty specific.

The final day I’ll be on the boat with Capt. Chris Holleman of Blue Cyclone Fishing Charters. I always have fun fishing with Chris, and I always feel great about fish-catching prospects. Our hope is to call up some topwater action.

Watch upcoming posts for fishing reports!