Hey y’all,
Im planning a trip to lake Marion in SC in mid-march. I’ll be staying at the Santee state park campground. Should I expect to find bass on beds already that time of year, or will it be prespawn? I will be fishing from a kayak so I am limited on how far I can travel from the ramp, but is there any specific kinds of cover or structure in that area I should focus on? 

I just did this same research.  I was going to try to get south for a trip in march before we hit ice out up here.  My plans have changed due to my wife's work schedule, but Santee Cooper chain was my target.  Nearby lake murray has temp data for the past bunch of years which would put the water temp there around the high 50's on average.  That's maybe my favorite temp to fish and very solidly pre-spawn for the majority of fish but plenty of fish shallow and more moving that way.  If your dates are a little flexible and you really want bed fish, then keep an eye on the local temps and go from there.

 

 

2 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

I just did this same research.  I was going to try to get south for a trip in march before we hit ice out up here.  My plans have changed due to my wife's work schedule, but Santee Cooper chain was my target.  Nearby lake murray has temp data for the past bunch of years which would put the water temp there around the high 50's on average.  That's maybe my favorite temp to fish and very solidly pre-spawn for the majority of fish but plenty of fish shallow and more moving that way.  If your dates are a little flexible and you really want bed fish, then keep an eye on the local temps and go from there.

 

 

Man, as a fellow data enthusiast this is an awesome post. Thank you for the resources. I use Navionics regularly, but was not aware of those functions. Much appreciated.

1 hour ago, Jerryj33 said:

Man, as a fellow data enthusiast this is an awesome post. Thank you for the resources. I use Navionics regularly, but was not aware of those functions. Much appreciated.

 

no problem!