Santee Questions

I've never been to Lake Marion before but planning to make a trip down this weekend. I see boat ramps on my Navionics in several areas but when i google public boat ramps on Marion, I only see a few. I was thinking about fishing Jacks, Potatoe and maybe Tawcaw but I see no public landings in Jacks or Potatoe listed on Google. Since I am unfamiliar with the lake, I thought it would be best to launch close to where I want to fish and slowly extend my range over the next few weeks. Any input into where the public landing are and how to navigate the areas would be extremely helpful and welcomed.

Oh and BTW, if you have any good fishing spots you want to share, I promise I won't tell. :ThumbsUp

There are two on Jack's Creek but there is a nominal launch fee. Carolina King resort is one, other I think is Jack's Creek landing and campground .
Closest free public ramp is across the lake at Stumphole Public Landing .Good fishing in the trees across from it, but you have to cross open water to reach them .Only attempt when wind is calm .No place for a kayak when wind is up.
Jacks Creek would be better choice for safety sake.
I dont fish the others you mentioned, someone else will have to help with them .

Thanks SeaRay. Not worried about launch fees as long as I don't have to run across a lake that I know nothing about. I've heard good things about Jacks as far as a good place to fish but also heard about all of the structure there. My old tournament partner refused to go there to long line but it looks like the kind of place to be this time of year. My new partner and I don't mind losing a few jigs to catch good fish.

No ramps in Potato, Wyboo does have a free public ramp, and numerous pay ramps. Taw Caw has three free public ramps, and several pay ramps. All areas offer good fishing this time of year. Your best bet would be Taw Caw and Jacks as they offer good fishing close to boat ramps.

Thanks Ink. I was hoping you would weigh in with your input. :ThumbsUp

Back when I fished Santee I found it best to just use the pay ramps. Especially if staying out until after dark (or close to it) because sometimes the young folks would start their parties on the public ramps and some of them over-indulged if you know what I mean. I didn't need that kind of trouble. Even around home I like to stick to the pay ramps too....same reasons. Just watch the weather as when the wind is up at Santee it can become VERY DANGEROUS to be out on the water.....high waves. I liked TawCaw and Jacks back in the day. There's also another area just outside of TawCaw. Go out of TawCaw and go left into the next creek (forget the name). I recommend you pick up a good map when you get to Santee to show you the lake and the roads around it. Good luck to ya.

To the left of TawCaw is Black Bottom.

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Originally Posted by gabowman

Back when I fished Santee I found it best to just use the pay ramps. Especially if staying out until after dark (or close to it) because sometimes the young folks would start their parties on the public ramps and some of them over-indulged if you know what I mean. I didn't need that kind of trouble. Even around home I like to stick to the pay ramps too....same reasons. Just watch the weather as when the wind is up at Santee it can become VERY DANGEROUS to be out on the water.....high waves. I liked TawCaw and Jacks back in the day. There's also another area just outside of TawCaw. Go out of TawCaw and go left into the next creek (forget the name). I recommend you pick up a good map when you get to Santee to show you the lake and the roads around it. Good luck to ya.

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Ah yea.....looks GREAT for longlining (never tried it though) and also USED to be FULL of gators and rough fish. The wind caught me in there one night shooting fish so I spent most of that night sloushing against the bank. It was just TOO ROUGH for me to even think about going back around that point into TawCaw. WAY too chancey for me....I woulda sunk in those waves. Had to have been 6'ers I thought. Needless to say that wasn't one of my most memorable trips to Santee...although I'll NEVER forget it either.

I have long lined it a few times, never found numbers of fish, but my PB 3.28 came from there.

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Originally Posted by gabowman

Ah yea.....looks GREAT for longlining (never tried it though) and also USED to be FULL of gators and rough fish. The wind caught me in there one night shooting fish so I spent most of that night sloushing against the bank. It was just TOO ROUGH for me to even think about going back around that point into TawCaw. WAY too chancey for me....I woulda sunk in those waves. Had to have been 6'ers I thought. Needless to say that wasn't one of my most memorable trips to Santee...although I'll NEVER forget it either.

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Originally Posted by Inkdabber

To the left of TawCaw is Black Bottom.

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Wish I had checked back on this thread before I left yesterday morning. I fished most of TawCaw but would have tried Black bottom. Oh well, I'll check it out next time I'm there in 2 weeks.

We did manage a few fish in Tawcaw but not the size we were looking for. Ended up in Potatoe and fished from the back to the front and manage a couple of nice fish but a tough bite it was. Gotta get on Jacks before our tournament there on the 31rst but the lakes off limits to me now until Thursday before the tourney.

Marked a lot of fish in both areas yesterday but there must be a severe case of lockjaw going on right now on Santee. Didn't see many longliners out there and I would suppose, based on Ink's other posts, the nice uns are prolly on the way to the bank.

Grandpa2,
I went Friday, went to Angels first and got blew off lake at 11:00 and then went to Bell's. Caught one 1 3/4 fish before leaving. Had several friends that had a hard time catching anything down there this weekend so they must have lockjaw compare to a couple weeks ago.
Alan

That wind is definitely tough on the lower lake Allen. I would prefer to fish Moultrie for the tournament but I don't think they'll be on our deep brush in 2 weeks.

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Originally Posted by granpa2

Wish I had checked back on this thread before I left yesterday morning. I fished most of TawCaw but would have tried Black bottom. Oh well, I'll check it out next time I'm there in 2 weeks.

We did manage a few fish in Tawcaw but not the size we were looking for. Ended up in Potatoe and fished from the back to the front and manage a couple of nice fish but a tough bite it was. Gotta get on Jacks before our tournament there on the 31rst but the lakes off limits to me now until Thursday before the tourney.

Marked a lot of fish in both areas yesterday but there must be a severe case of lockjaw going on right now on Santee. Didn't see many longliners out there and I would suppose, based on Ink's other posts, the nice uns are prolly on the way to the bank.

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I fished Jack's on Sunday. All 5 crappie I caught were tight on structure. Started tightlining the back and to fish with both anchors deployed during afternoon wind in timber and got the three biggies in 13 fow. I hope water warms some and get back out again. Didn't catch many but seems I always catch a hog when I go with this trip yielding a 16" 2.3 lber. I also cant buzz around the lake with a pro-v and extra long shaft outboard.

I was at Jack's on Friday and did pretty good, but didn't limit out tho. I wasn't in any hurry getting there and didn't start fishing until almost 11. Most were in the 13" to 15", male and female. All were in in 6 foot of water fishing over brush piles about 2 to 3 foot deep. I did the same about 2 weeks earlier. You just have to find were there are at.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. We'll see what the next couple of weeks bring weather wise but looks like another cold snap coming and maybe lots of rain between now and our classic on the 31st. Thanks to a certain CDC member for the PM.:ThumbsUp