I haven't been able to hit Santee Lakes in quite a bit. I was going to head down to the bay to bass fish, but the traffic and people last week scared me off. Also, my shoulder is shot so I wouldn't have to cast as much freshwater fishing.
It was nice to just run down the street and I brought my trusty Ninja Rod. Conditions were nice with a little breeze by 8:00am, but schools of baitfish were everywhere! There must have been a shad spawn or something.
(https://i.imgur.com/UseFEc5.jpeg)
I saw a few bass smashing the bait balls, but also saw some JUMBO carp jumping out of the water! Holy smokes were they big!
In any case, the next few hours were fun. All of the bass were legit which was pretty exciting to say the least.
First on the board.
(https://i.imgur.com/xRQnRYu.jpeg)
They were definitely in the "That's a lot of fun" category. I used a subtle technique for a few of them, but they were smashing it on the surface also! The sound of "PLOOSH!" is a really exciting sound and maybe even better than a screaming reel!
(https://i.imgur.com/q34s8Ru.jpeg)
All the fish were within a +/- pound of each other.
(https://i.imgur.com/WYfArju.jpeg)
I lost one that sounded like it would have been a 5 pounder, but it was probably just an aggressive 3# model.
It wasn't wide open by any means, but in 2 hours I went 4 for 5 on bass and that was alright.
It was by no means Lake Barrett fishing, but damn good for the puddles.
(https://i.imgur.com/dEZYXDE.jpeg)
I worked 5 of the 7 lakes (pretty quickly) and will definitely be back again soon if I could get out of work at a decent hour.
(https://i.imgur.com/qjdRgQ3.jpeg)
Thanks for reading and until the next Puddle Excursion!