Doors at 5 AM · Live bait on the board · Manning to the Lake Marion ramps
Posted at the counter at 4:50 AM
Wednesday, October 14, 2026. Demo report for this template. Not a state survey and not a promise the fish will cooperate.
Wind is a light northeast. Fish the lee side of the stump rows. Full-pool numbers are the real Santee Cooper pools. The temperatures and levels above are demo figures.
Bring: A stump jig and one pitching rig.
First light is a walking bait in the stump rows. After the sun gets on the water, pitch a 3/8 jig to the knees in 3 to 8 feet. Black and blue while it's stained. Don't swim it. Let it sit until you think you've waited too long, then wait a little more.
Bring: Shiners, or the jig pair if you'd rather not keep minnows alive.
Brush in 12 to 18 feet on both lakes. The lower lake has been cleaner, so drop down in line size. If the shiners come back tired, move. The brush that held them yesterday may be the next row over.
Bring: Cut herring, and blueback if we still have them.
Blues are the bite. Anchor. Drifting a stump field is how you buy a lower unit. The Diversion Canal has been better early and again at dusk. Fresh bait outfishes a pretty rig every time.
Bring: Crickets. Nightcrawlers if you get here before they're gone.
Shallow cypress knees, a cork, and a cricket. A few shellcracker are still mixed in. If the cork goes under and stays under, that's not a bream tapping it. Set the hook.
The Taw Caw side when a west wind is up. Fish the lee of the stump rows. This is the water the shop is aimed at.
Handy if you're already on that side of Marion. Same jig, same knees. Don't cross the lake just because a stranger on the ramp said so.
Dawn and dusk for blue cats on cut bait. Give the boats room. It's a canal, not a parking lot.
Crappie in 12 to 18 feet when Marion is too stained for your eyes. Shiners if you bought them here. A small jig if you didn't.