FLW preview: Cranking it up at Lake Murray

Wal-Mart FLW Tour Chevy Open: Lake Murray, Feb. 8 -11

Wal-Mart FLW Tour anglers will be looking to crank it up in a couple of ways as they head into the second tour stop of the season at South Carolina’s Lake Murray.

First, this event is the Chevy Open – at tournament No. 2, the earliest it’s been held in recent years – which means the top payout for the pros has been ratcheted up to $200,000.

Second, crankbaits, jerkbaits and other reaction baits should play a key role in the fishing.

This tournament should unfold in a drastically different manner from what anglers experienced last month at Lake Okeechobee. Where Okeechobee favors the hot fishing spot – in this year’s case, Moonshine Bay – finding the hottest fishing area shouldn’t be the main issue at Lake Murray.

“Okeechobee’s more of an area lake where you can catch them a thousand different ways as long as you’re in the right spot,” said pro Clark Wendlandt, who won FLW Lake Murray in 2000. “This is much more of a pattern lake. Things like crankbaits on main-lake points or Carolina rigs on secondary points will be prevalent. Because it’s an impoundment, true patterns come to light here.”

When Wendlandt won here in 2000, the event was held in March and the bass were in full spawn. While anglers expect few, if any, spawners at this year’s February event, the lake will give up its share of nice-sized bass, especially in the opening round. In FLW tournaments past at Lake Murray, the big-bass award tended to go to fish reaching the 8- or 9-pound mark, and numerous 6- and 7-pounders should cross the scale this week.

The pros have been excited about the prospect of another big-fish event, but a recent cold snap has tempered the bite somewhat. Central South Carolina has experienced a relatively mild winter, so water temperatures in the lake were hovering around 53 or 54 degrees when FLW anglers started practicing late last week, and they reported catching numerous stringers weighing more than 20 pounds. However, a cold front came through over the weekend and dropped water temperatures below the 50-degree mark, which has cooled off the bass fishing.

Additionally, the impoundment is about 10 to 12 feet below normal pool. With cool, low water levels, expect most of the field to rely on shallow-running reaction baits.

“Anytime you have low and cold water on a reservoir like that, the crankbait bait bite is something that always comes out,” Wendlandt said.

Still, most competitors are expecting big things out of Murray come tournament time. The weather forecast is calling for warmer temperatures as the week wears on, which means the stingy bite seen the last few days of practice could be a thing of the past come Wednesday.

“Despite the amount of fishing pressure we’ve had and the fact that we’ve had a major cold front, it’s still going to be a high-weight tournament,” pro Scott Suggs said. “It’s not like that will shut the bite down. People are still going to catch them. I think it’s going to take 39 pounds over the first two days to make the cut.”

One strange phenomenon that anglers have reported is the large number of pickerel they’ve been catching in practice. Some pros have reported catching as many as 20 to 25 pickerel in one practice session, which can be expected at weedier venues like Okeechobee but not at a relatively clear impoundment like Murray.

Still, when he’s not yanking the toothy pike off his line, Wendlandt is looking forward to the bass opportunities provided at Murray for the second FLW event of the year.

“One thing about Murray is that people can fish all over, even though water’s low and there aren’t a lot of shoreline fish,” said Wendlandt, who estimated a pro cut weight around 37 pounds. “This is not a big lake at all, but because it has many coves and pockets, it fishes big for its size. Boats can really spread out, so people will be fishing anywhere from the dam to all the way up the lake, way back in the rivers. This thing’s wide open.”

Lake history and facts

Located just to the west of Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, Lake Murray is a 55,000-acre impoundment with over 500 miles of shoreline. It is 41 miles long and 14 miles wide at its thickest. It was created with the construction of the Saluda Dam on the Saluda River in 1930, which provides central South Carolina with electricity. At 208 feet tall and a mile and a half long, Saluda Dam was the largest earthen dam in the world when it was completed.

While home to a number of fish species, the favorites of Lake Murray anglers include largemouth bass, striped bass, bream and crappie. The lake boasts the white crappie, white perch and white catfish state records.

Past FLW Lake Murray winners

2003 – Chris Elliott, Beaufort, N.C.

2000 – Clark Wendlandt, Leander, Texas

1999 – Mike Wurm, Hot Springs, Ark.