The 2005 sample results were not fully compiled when this issue went to press; however, fisheries biologist Wade Bales could see that the stripers were in very good condition. He also noted that the 21-inch size limit still appears to be working very well on Lake Murray.

"We do not have a creel survey on Murray right now, but consultation with striper clubs indicates the catch of 20-pound-plus fish appears to be on the rise, and many 30-plus-pounders have been caught during the last 12 months," Bales said.

As is the case in the Savannah River lakes, Lake Murray stripers feed on shad and non-native blueback herring. Past surveys conducted by fisheries biologist Gene Hayes reveal that the herring have been in the lake since the mid-1980s. As on the Savannah River lakes, they probably were moved to Murray from other waters by fishermen or bait dealers.

"To date, we have not tried to evaluate what percentage of the total fish population is made up of bluebacks," Bales said. "However, it is apparent that there is a population present and the stripers have utilized bluebacks efficiently as a prey base. Bluebacks have probably helped sustain and grow the striper population in Murray over the years."

Bluebacks seemingly are less of a factor on Murray than on the Savannah River lakes in terms of how they affect striper behavior. While Lake Murray stripers don't school as readily as they did years ago, schools can come up at any time, and anglers always should have a topwater lure or a bucktail handy. Likewise, they commonly push shad to the banks of creeks and the backs of coves during late winter and early spring.

A lot of Lake Murray baitfish and stripers commonly congregate near "The Towers," beside Saluda Dam, during the winter, making the lake's open main body a good starting point for any angler who doesn't have other information about areas fish have been using. Once again, however, baitfish movements vary enormously from year to year, so fishermen who don't get out on the lake regularly really need to get fishing reports from bait shops or the Internet or plan to spend a lot of time searching.

The striper limit on Lake Murray is five fish, with a 21-inch minimum size. Access to Lake Murray is decent, with several ramps and marinas scattered around the lake. The best access to the lower lake is from a big public ramp beside the dam on the Irmo side. Dreher Island State Park offers access to the upper lake.

SANTEE COOPER LAKES
No discussion of big-water stripers in South Carolina would be complete without a look at the Santee Cooper lakes -- the home of our nation's first permanently inland striped bass population. Lakes Marion and Moultrie, which together with the canals that link and drain them and make up the Santee Cooper system, clearly are big waters, spreading over more than 170,000 acres.

While the two lakes are clearly distinct, their waters are linked and they share a single striped bass population, according to SCDNR fisheries biologist Scott Lamprecht. Various studies have shown that a fish that's in the lower end of Lake Moultrie any given day easily could show up in the Santee River, near the head of Lake Marion, a couple of weeks later.

In a couple of significant ways, the Santee Cooper lakes are different from any other lake in South Carolina, and both distinctions have some impact on late-winter striper fishing patterns. First, many of the stripers are homegrown -- the product of annual spawning runs up the Congaree and Wateree rivers. Second, the Santee Cooper lakes support significant populations of six different shad and herring species.