Rake Ready For Sc Bassmaster Weekend Series To Start On Lake Murray Next Saturday
A lot has happened since Kevin Rake finished second and weighed in the big fish in a tournament on Lake Murray right before Christmas – like two snowstorms and more than a week of persistent below freezing temperatures.
But, the lake could be just about back to normal for the Bassmaster Weekend Series’ first South Carolina Division tournament of the season Saturday, Jan. 29.
“There was a club senior tournament up there yesterday (Thursday) and they weighed in several bags of fish at 14 to 15 pounds. But I talked to a buddy who was on the lake today and he caught nothing. That front that came through last night might have messed it up a little bit,” the Early Times pro staffer said.
“The water is pretty clear and the water temperature is about the same as before, 42 to 46 degrees. We had that super cold and then the sun popped out for a few days. If the sun stays on the lake a little bit it will warm up some.”
With the lake returning to normal, the same pattern Rake fished in late December could be the ticket for the BWS tournament next Saturday.
“I caught those fish on a ShadRap, fishing the steeper banks going into the mouths of secondary coves. I was targeting the steepest banks and cranking down real slow off them,” he said.
Although the fish were not schooled up, he said they were generally holding in the area.
“I never hit anything with the ShadRap. I’d just pause it every once in a while. I’d catch one here and one there. I didn’t run all over the lake, but as far as catching one and throwing back to the same spot and catching another or seeing one come up with one I was reeling in, I never did do that.”
There was one unique facet of the fishing pattern that day, he said.
“It was a charity tournament for a wounded Marine and I was fishing with his dad. He was throwing the same thing I was. We caught a lot of jackfish. It seemed like we’d catch a jackfish and then we would catch a bass.”
With the water temperature in the low to mid-40s it is a perfect time to bring out a spoon, Rake said.
“I think if somebody goes out and gets on the bigger fish with a spoon they could catch them pretty good. But that is kind of iffy. You can catch them like that one day and the next day you can’t find one.”
One thing is certain, he said. Somebody will catch fish.
“I think they will probably average 10 to 12 pounds – unless somebody gets onto some big ones by dropping a big spoon down.”
Rake finished fourth in the S.C. Division in 2010 and made it to the divisional, then on to the championship where he missed the cut for the final day. He said he looking forward to returning to Santee Cooper for the second S.c. Division tournament in March.
“The tournament this year is only a week different from when I was down there last year and placed third and my co-angler won his side and had big fish. The fish were just moving up on this flat and we were throwing spinnerbaits and going round and round in a 200-yard circle and fan casting.”
Santee Cooper will also be the site of the BWS National Championship Nov. 6-12, but Rake said he is not nearly as excited about fishing down there at that time of year.
“November can be pretty tough at Santee and it has always been a feast or famine lake for me. I can go down there and have a good sack or I won’t have anything,” he said.\
“But I am just hoping those fish will move back up on that flat I was fishing on when we go there in March. My only problem,” he said with a chuckle, “is that about 15 guys know exactly where I was fishing last March. I’ll just have to try to beat them there.”
Bassmaster Weekend Series South Carolina Division
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Lake Murray
Dreher Island State Park
