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Lake Marion Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Santee-Cooper's upper lake: flooded cypress, landlocked striper history and catfish of legend.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Lake level
73.85 ft -2.95 vs pool
Air / High
93 / 93 F
Wind
E 6 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 02169921, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Lake Marion stays in its summer rhythm: early magic, midday siesta, evening reprieve. The gauge reads 73.85 ft, 2.95 ft below pool, easing 0.22 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 6 mph, rising pressure near 1014 hPa and a high of 93. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassGood

Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassFair

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 98 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from LAKE MARION NEAR ELLOREE, SC.

Water level, last 30 days

USGS gauge 02169921. Conservation pool is 76.8 ft.

74.3775.3276.28pool 76.873.85 ft08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp93 F
High / Low93 / 76 F
WindE 6-7 mph
Pressure1013.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 4%
Sunrise / Sunset06:57 / 19:43
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Partly cloudy, 93/76 F, wind 12 mph, rain 4%

Fair or better. A 12 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Marion: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall

The reservoir heavyweight. Follows shad and herring schools in open water year-round. Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

When to come: the Lake Marion calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Marion today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 94 F, wind to 10 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 97 F, wind to 10 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 93 F, wind to 8 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

South Carolina requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Blue cat: 1 over 36 inches/day; liberal otherwise. Bass 14-inch/5. Confirm with SCDNR.

Access

Santee SP, John C. Land, Pack's Landing; swamp guides out of Eutawville.

About this water

110,000 acres on the Santee, five SC counties. Santee Cooper project, impounded 1941.

Fishing Lake Marion: the full guide

The swamp cathedral

Marion is the upper half of Santee-Cooper: 110,000 acres of flooded cypress and swamp where landlocked stripers were first discovered, blue and flathead catfish reach mythic sizes, and largemouth live among the trees like it is the 1950s. Fishing guides here still pole wooden boats through timber their grandfathers named.

Fishing the swamp edges

Marion's upper end blurs into flooded cypress swamp: bass and crappie live among the trees and eel grass, fished with jigs, swim jigs and long poles. Navigation lanes matter: the stump fields are real: idle first, fish second.

Catfish of legend

Santee-Cooper built American catfishing: Arkansas blues stocked in the 60s became a strain of giants: 80-100 lb fish still come yearly, drifted or anchored over the channel edges with fresh shad and white perch. Winter is the trophy drift; summer nights anchor the eaters.

Common questions

Are the catfish still giant?

Yes: the genetics and forage remain: 60-plus fish weekly in season. The record chases moved to Virginia's Kerr, but Marion's numbers-of-giants remains unmatched.

How risky is the stump navigation?

Real but managed: marked lanes cover the main routes: straying at speed is how lower units die. First trips ride with someone who knows: everyone did.

Swamp-line specialists

Marion's upper end dissolves into flooded cypress swamp, and its specialists fish it like a delta: jon boats easing through the trees for slab crappie on jigs, bowfin crashing spinnerbaits meant for bass, and the mythic swamp largemouth that eat frogs in July shade. The Santee swamp is the East's most atmospheric bass water: Spanish moss, gators, and giants.

Is fishing good at Lake Marion right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Lake Moultrie22 miSantee River32 miCharleston54 miSaluda River55 miLake Wateree67 miLake Murray71 mi
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