on location: south ❖
dave bodle
Good Catch Consider fishing as a hook on your next group offering in South Carolina
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ccording to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report, the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, there are nearly 30 million anglers more than 16 years of age in the United States. The creative tour operator will find numerous ways to tap into this market and South Carolina is just the place to begin. Although South Carolina ranks 26th in population, it is No. 8 in angler spending and in the top five states in non-resident fishing destinations ranked by retail sales. Both saltwater and freshwater anglers have discovered
LeisureGroupTravel.com
an abundance of fishing opportunities in the Palmetto State. South Carolina is blessed with bountiful fishing from the mountains to the coast and beyond. The best place to begin is the websites of the South Carolina Association of Tourism Regions (scatr.com). If there’s fishing in the region (and there most likely will be), these local organizations will have all the information. Years ago my grandson and I were gathering background for a story in a series titled “On the Road with Dylan and Pop-Pop.” One of our stops was in
the Capital City & Lake Murray Country region. This area is home to some major fishing tournaments, including a stop on the televised Bass Masters Elite Series. The good folks at the tourism office arranged for us to do a morning of fishing. Already four days on the road, I did not cherish the idea of getting a 9-year-old out of bed at 5:30 a.m. to be at the dock by 6:30. We arrived on time and were at our fishing spot on Lake Murray at 7:00. By 8:30 we had our limit and were unable to get the bait out of the water quick enough! We both August 2011 27
Santee Cooper Tourism Region
South Carolina’s Santee Cooper Country, home to Lakes Marion and Moultrie, holds a number of fishing records.