Fish Stories

2022 KBF Trail: Lake Murray Part 1

This short series will cover the first 2022 Kayak Bass Fishing Trail event I will be competing in at Lake Murray. I skipped this event last year which I instantly regretted but I won’t let the opportunity pass me by this year. Hopefully this turns into a series on how to win an event but for now I will consider it educational for my thought process, and something I can refer back to at the next event. With any luck there will be some tidbits of information you can get out of the series as well.

Researching for a new lake is always a daunting task and Lake Murray in South Carolina is no different. 500 miles of bank with multiple possible patterns to pick from which may or may not work in late Winter with a warm front moving through.

The temps for practice will be in the 80’s, and the typical cold front moving in for the weekend with possible rain on Sunday. The weather lately has been mild, and water temps moving up likely in the low to mid 50’s which I won’t know for sure until I get in the water Wednesday. Normally I would look up some local data, but this time of year it fluctuates rapidly back and forth so to keep a fresh thought process I’ll let that play out through the week.

The lake has an easily definable upper, middle and lower end which all are enticing. The forage consists of mainly herring in the middle and lower ends and shad and bream in the upper end from what I’ve read. Herring lakes are not something I am used to and have only fished one event at Hartwell that I would rather not revisit. They cause a different behavior with bass in regards to how they react to presentations compared to how they react in shad lakes which is far more common where I fish regularly. The knowledge learned from my experience at Hartwell will likely have some benefit this week.

My gut tells me the mid-lake areas fit my fishing style better, but I also think the upper end portion could play big. Watching numerous videos current and in the recent past all seem to have some similar patterns. This time of year however could be tricky on whether or not the bigger bass are starting the migration to spawning areas or if they will still be out in the winter patterns.

At this point I have eliminated the lower end of the lake (dam side) where it looks to be more of a bass boat friendly area to fish with offshore humps and areas that you would likely want to make runs too. Torqeedo or not, it’s not very appealing to me in a kayak this time of year. Weather and boat traffic could make that a nightmare. So for now I will set that aside unless things change when I get eyes on the lake.

As big as the lake is there looks to be a lot of water you can immediately cross off. The majority of the lake is deep and not exactly what I would consider easy to figure out patterns. Tons of long, deep underwater points and humps all over the place. The shoreline and points seem to be the tempting areas and there are plenty of both all over the lake. Primarily I plan on hunting for some rocky areas, docks, and lay downs while keeping offshore areas honest on points in between looking for cane piles and schools of bass.

The practice results I will try and post up by Friday with a recap on Monday next week. I’m excited to get down there and see what Murray has to offer! Let’s go!

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Eric Nelson
Professional Kayak Bass Angler

Biography

I was born in Southeastern Massachusetts, where I began fishing for bass when I was in my early teenage years, graduating to competitive bass tournaments in my late 20’s. I moved to North Carolina in 2015 and found the passion for bass fishing from a kayak, and quickly became involved in both the local and national kayak bass tournament scenes. My fishing skills have allowed me to qualify for almost every major event since joining the clubs, be it at a club, state and even national level.

Being a professional in the online web development and design field for publications, I have always used my skills to help promote the clubs and the sport as a whole in my spare time.  I have been a part of the club directors for Cape Cod Bass, and now for Carolina Kayak Anglers, one of the larger kayak clubs in the country. I am also a part of the national KBF tournament advisory board.

The Kayak Bass Fishing (KBF) format has allowed me to travel across the United States, fishing against the best fisherman in the country. Now with the KBF Pro format, and the merging with the FLW organization, I am looking forward to where this adventure takes me in the future.

Highlights

Total Career Earnings - $3,250

Competition Highlights
Inaugural FLW / KBF Cup Championship Qualified 2019 - Hot Springs, AK
KBF National Championship Qualified 2020 - Lake Guntersville, AL
KBF Challenge Championship 2018 - Toledo Bend, LA
2019 KBF National Championship - 57th overall out of 462 anglers - Shreveport, LA
KBF Regional Trail Championship Qualified 2019 - Lake Wheeler, AL
KBF National Trail Championship Qualified 2019 - La Crosse, WI
2nd Place 2018 KBF National Trail - High Rock Lake, NC
2nd Place 2019 - Plastic Pirates - Randleman Lake, NC
11th Place - 2019 KBF Southeastern Region Trail - Santee Cooper Lakes, SC
13th Place - 2019 KBF Southeastern Region Trail - Chickamauga Lake, TN
46th Place 2019 FLW / KBF Cup Qualifier - Nickajack Lake, TN
2nd Place - Plastic Pirates - Randleman Lake 2019
1st Place - Cape Cod Bass,  2002 - Lake Winnipesaukee, NH
1st Place - Cape Cod Bass, 2008 - Glenn Charlie Pond, MA