2026 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Preview: Santee Cooper

Stop 2 of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech takes the pros north to Santee Cooper, the collective name for Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie, two sprawling reservoirs in a complex on the Santee and Cooper rivers in South Carolina. 
 

The event will take place from February 26-28.
 

Based on big fish potential, it’s probably the most exciting event of the year, and while bags over 25 pounds may not come easy, they’ll certainly be present, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see a bag or two over the 30-pound mark.
 

If you can’t get excited about this event, you might just not be that into bass fishing.

Santee Cooper isn’t an everyday destination for MLF, not like the Tennessee River lakes, but, there’s quite a bit of history there still.
 

Recently, in early February of 2024, Jacob Wheeler won a Bass Pro Tour event there with 15 bass for 47-4 on the final day. Notably, Justin Lucas caught five that went 37-3 in the Knockout Round – a pretty tremendous day. Last year in February, Brent Riley won a Phoenix Bass Fishing League event there with 35-3 (he was one of two pros to break the 30-pound mark) and in that event, Gary Pope tied the record for the biggest bass caught in BFL competition with a 13-6.
 

In some March events, Santee has also showed out, and it’s a more common time for big events to go there. The most recent in our case took place in the FLW days, and in 2014 Lindwood Thornhill won a Rayovac FLW Series event with 74-4 for three days and in 2016, Bryan Thrift won a Costa FLW Series event with 79-15, including a 30 sack on the final day.
 

Of course, March is generally going to offer better fishing than February, and warmer weather, but that’s no reason to be down on this event. While Santee can be moody, there’s no doubt it has giant fish in it, and this year could be a perfect time to hit it.

A guide on Santee and one of the standout rookies on the Pro Circuit this year, Kyle Austin has high expectations for this event. 
 

“Right now, every species in the lake is thriving, and the eelgrass and the hydrilla has a lot to do with it,” he said. “We didn’t have a hurricane this year. The lake is in really good shape, the water is clear; there’s potential we’re going to absolutely wreck them.”
 

As is the case for any early-season event, especially somewhere without a robust deep bite, the weather will matter a lot.
 

“It all depends on the weather,” Austin said. “If it stays cold, it’s going to be very prespawn, there’s not going to be a lot of fish up. But if we get some rain, it gets muddy, and we get some warm weather, it’s going to be a spinnerbait, ChatterBait, up shallow prespawn beatdown.”
 

One key factor this year will be the grass in the lake, which is much more present than in years past. Now, Santee has a good amount of hydrilla and eelgrass offshore, which has added a dimension to the usual game plan of running cypress trees.
 

“It used to be more of a milk run lake,” Austin said. “But now with the grass, you can get in one area and stay all day. I don’t have the local advantage I used to, because of the grass. You can find one area in the grass that is the best spot in the lake that week.”
 

Still, regardless of the weather, the grass, or anything else, expect to see some big bass caught on big string.
 

“They’re going to weigh a lot,” Austin said. “I could see it taking 26 to 28 a day to win.”

When making predictions for the season, nearly every pundit had this one circled in red. So, buckle up for a good one.
 

• Watch the locals – There are several excellent locals in this event, and Santee Cooper is a fishery where locals thrive. Between the miles and miles of water and the miles and miles of stumps, it’s a place that rewards time on the water. Winning without a South Carolina address is a heck of an achievement.
   
• Watch the scales – Records are hard to set on the Pro Circuit given the amount of history wrapped up in the stats, but gosh, this one could be special. Santee is a great fishery, and it shines in five-fish tournaments, as fish are not easy to catch, but mostly big when they bite.
   
• ‘Scope strategy should be fascinating – While there will be plenty of ‘Scope fish caught at the Harris Chain, it shouldn’t be too logistically difficult for anglers to plan things out. At Santee, someone might be fine just using their three hours in one area, or, it could be a race through the stumps to get to multiple key areas.
   

You can follow the action at Stop 2 at Santee Cooper during all three days of competition, Feb. 26-28, on MLFNOW! and stay locked to MajorLeagueFishing.com for on-the-water galleries, daily stories and more.