Coming off a top-10 finish on Lake Murray, I was anxious to keep things rolling in South Carolina. Our next stop was to Santee Cooper Lakes, widely known for their cypress-laden waters and big bass.

The conditions looked right for a heavyweight event.

Our tournament waters consisted of Lake Marion to the north and Lake Moultrie to the south. Connected by the manmade Diversion Canal, the two lakes offer more than 180,000 surface acres of prime bass fishing habitat.

Having had good success on both lakes in the past, I planned to test each of them during practice.

Practice Begins

On day 1, I launched on the lower end of Lake Marion, at a small residential ramp on Wyboo Creek. My first stop was to the very backend of the creek, but after seeing no evidence of bass or baitfish, I decided to move further out toward the mouth.

There, I found several stretches of thick water willow — an emergent grass that tends to hold bass and, often, spawning shad. But after two hours of swimming a jig and trying various topwaters, I could see that was futile.

Next, I moved to a flat of cypress trees on the main lake. Throwing a wacky-rig Senko to their bases, I fished dozens of trees without a single bite.

By this time the sun was high in the sky, so I decided to abandon that and search for bedding bass in nearby Potato Creek. My target areas included thin stretches of willow weed on sandy banks and lily pad fields over dark bottom. In both, I found scattered bedding males but no females. I wondered if the spawn had already happened or if the females hadn’t made it in yet.

On day 2, I started on a main-lake stretch of emergent grass, hoping to locate bass feeding on spawning shad. But, again, I was unsuccessful.

Disappointed with that, I decided to run to the lower lake and check some bedding areas. That’s when I started finding and marking fish with my Garmin GPS. By day’s end, I had recorded more than two dozen bedding bass larger than two pounds.

On day 3, I spent the morning running rocky banks, still hoping to find an active shad spawn. And though I found the shad, none were being chased by bass. When the sun got high enough, I moved back to Potato Creek, to expand on what I had found earlier.

Keeping the trolling motor on high, I marked as many two-plus-pound bedding fish as I could find. When I reached one particular side pocket, thick with vegetation, I discovered a group of quality male and female bass cruising over a sandy area. Figuring they were moving into spawn, I decided that is where I would start in the actual competition.

From there, I ran to the nearest gas dock and topped off the Caymas, then headed back to the cabin to prep my tackle.

Tourney Time

Drawing out in the last flight, I wondered how many others would beat me to my starting spot.

When my name was called, I exited our official take-off site at John C. Land Park and raced south toward Potato Creek. Rounding the final bend, I could see my starting spot was void of other boats. I could hardly believe it. I told my marshal good things were about to happen.

Man, was I ever wrong about that! Although the fish were still there, they were completely disinterested in defending their turf.

Around 9 o’clock, I finally put a 3½-pounder in the boat. Minutes later, I followed it with a 2½. Both fish fell for a 4-inch Senko and I thought things were about to break loose, but those were the last strikes I got.

Thinking another area might improve my odds, I pulled the trolling motor and moved out toward the mouth of Potato Creek. That’s when I ran into a slew of other competitors … all fishing the same banks.

Confronted with the crowd, I decided to try a small island where I had marked a couple of bedding males. When I got there, it was clear someone had beat me to them as well. From there I moved to another island. Same thing. At that point, I was beginning to question the move. Having little time to spare, I decided to try the field of lily pads … hoping the darker bottom might have discouraged others from looking there.

As it turned out, the few male bass I marked were still on their beds. Seeing that, I immediately dropped my Power-Poles and went to work. Thirty minutes later, however, I had nothing to show for the effort. Like my first spot, the fish were frantic and wouldn’t hold their beds.

With time running out, I decided to return to the first spot for one last try. Not long after arriving, I lost a solid 3 to 4-pounder, then time ran out.

The day was a complete bust. My two fish totaled six pounds and I was buried at the bottom of the roster.

One Last Shot

On day 2, I wanted to start the morning by trying something different. I heard reports of a minor shad spawn to the north, and I wanted to see if I could make that work.

Tying on a Shimano Macbeth 75F crankbait — the same lure that was so good to me at Lake Murray — I started my day by cranking seawalls and riprap up the lake. On one stretch, I nailed a 5½-pounder. Twenty minutes later, I scored another weighing 4¾. I told my marshal, with fish like those, a comeback was possible. Minutes later, I hooked and lost another 5-pounder. A while later, the same thing happened. Both fish grabbed the lure, but managed to pull free in just a couple of turns of the reel handle.

Beside myself, I kept moving along the rocks, praying for another strike. It never happened.

When the sun got high, the shad spawn died. Frustrated and dejected, I finally gave that up and moved south to the sight fish, where the remainder of the day was spent trying to catch fish that were nearly impossible to fool.

Eventually, I managed two more bites, which brought my total of four fish to 14½ pounds. Staring at the scales, I pondered what could have been. Santee Cooper had burned a hole right through me, and I was ready to head home.

As I exited the stage, however, B.A.S.S.’s Angler Liaison, Steve Bowman asked me to appear with Roland Martin on Bassmaster LIVE the following morning. It was a request I couldn’t refuse. Roland and I have done a lot of fishing together — both bass and salt — and I knew there would be some great stories to share.

Next up is Lay Lake in Alabama. Stay tuned…