Lake Marion means Huge Bass
Lake Marion is located in central South Carolina and is loaded with huge largemouth bass. The largemouth bass habitat consists mainly of stumps, standing timber, vegetation, and flooded swamps. Lake Marion has produced the current South Carolina state record largemouth bass at 16.2 pounds.
Sparkleberry Swamp
The upper end of Lake Marion is where I spent fishing for 2 years of my life. I probed the canals and old lakes of the Sparkleberry Swamp every weekend in the late '80s and caught many 8 pound plus bass at night. Sparkleberry Swamp is a maze of flooded timber that can turn you around if not familiar with the various canals and markers located throughout the swamp. I suggest many trips during the day before tackling the swamp after dark.
My lure of choice at night is a musky jitterbug in black. I had friends who would throw the 5/8 ounce version and would catch fish...more than me. The difference was that they NEVER caught a bigger fish than me, ever. I would get maybe 5 strikes a night, sometimes no strikes at all, but the strikes I got were usually a really big bass or a 10 pound plus yellow catfish (I caught several of those).
I would start night fishing during May and not stop until mid October. My boat was a rented 14 foot johnboat with a 15 hp Johnson from Shaw Air Force Base which was fine for the swamps. I sculled with a paddle to keep the noise down and used no lights. I really had no interest in shining flashlights and seeing all the gators around.
On a sidenote, I fished Lake Marion year round. A friend of mine caught a 12 pound largemouth on a white spinnerbait one December. This will make you sick. It was the first time he had ever been bass fishing. Luckily, I wasn't with him or I might have lost it. Me and another friend (Michael Taylor) from Tennessee once caught a 7.0 and a 7.2 pound largemouth bass within 15 minutes of each other, both on white spinnerbaits. Also, I have caught some monster grinnell in Sparkleberry swamp, up to nine pounds.
Where to Fish
I either launched at Elliots boat ramp (1) or the dirt ramp (2) in Sparkleberry Swamp. I was kind of limited with the 15 hp so I stuck to the swamps instead of the bigger water. The spots located on the map are wher I caught multiple largemouth bass over six pounds. Scout these areas before you try to fish them during the night as they are relatively shallow and can be tricky to get into. By the way, my most productive time of the year was the last two months of May after the bass had come off of their beds.
Conclusion
I love Lake Marion and the Sparkleberry Swamp. I have some of my finest bass fishing memories there and would not change them a bit. I highly suggest a trip to Lake Marion for largemouth bass fishing and maybe a night trip. Remember, if you want that trophy bass, throw a musky jitterbug (black) at night or a large spinnerbait in the day. You just might catch that big'un.
Good fishin'
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