Bassmaster event at Lake Murray could generate more than $1 million for Midlands
As anglers descend on Lake Murray this week for the Bassmaster series, they will leave behind an impact on more than the lake’s bass population.
Local officials expect the tournament to have a major economic impact on the lakeside communities that are hosting the major-league pro-fishing tournament from May 7 to May 10.
“This tournament this week on Lake Murray is more than just fishing,” said Vickie Davis, the executive director of the regional Capital City/Lake Murray Country tourism board. “It’s economic impact, it’s national exposure, it’s community pride, and it’s showing why Lake Murray is one of the top bass fishing destinations in the country.”
The most recent Bassmaster Elite series hosted on the Midlands’ premier lake generated more than $1 million in direct economic impact in 2024, according to data from Lake Murray Country. That’s on top of $1.1 million in visitor spending the series brought to the area in 2023, with an estimated $5.5 million in marketing value when that tournament was broadcast on cable outlet Fox Sports 1.
This weekend’s edition will also be broadcast on for five hours in total by Fox Sports, Davis said. Other Bassmaster events will also be held in the state later this summer at Lake Hartwell and Lake Marion.
“And all that time on TV, they’ll be saying, ‘Lake Murray,’ ‘Columbia, South Carolina,’” Davis said.
The events were marked by a resolution passed by the S.C. General Assembly this week, noting “Each event generates approximately 1.3M in direct economic impact, highlighting the strength of 6.5B boating and fishing economy.”
And it’s not just the competitors who will be visiting. When the boats launch from the docks at Dreher Island State Park at 6:30 a.m. and return by 3 p.m. to weigh their catches, it will attract a crowd of visitors to the shores of the lake. The weekend will add other attractions, like a free community expo on Saturday and Sunday, featuring live music, local vendors, food trucks, and activities, according to a news release from Lake Murray Country.
The tourism board estimates that the 2024 edition led to 3,800 hotel night bookings in the area. Visitors spent $258,958 in Columbia-area hotels, $298,800 on food, and $79,200 on fuel, according to numbers put together by Lake Murray County. Guests spend an estimated $225,000 at local events.
“With all fishing tournaments, they have to fill out a registration, which includes a survey on how long they’re here, where they’re staying,” Davis said.
Lake Murray County also subscribes to services like Placer.AI, which uses phone data to track people’s movements and locations during big events. Several municipalities also use that data to track economic activity within a local area.
Bassmaster will also share its own data after the tournament on attendance and TV viewership figures to give the agency a wider picture of the event’s impact.
This weekend’s expo will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Musical performances at the expo will be headlined by Jackson Truluck on Saturday and Rut Spence on Sunday. Saturday will also feature the Run to the Weigh-In 5K, beginning at 10 a.m. at Dreher Island State Park. The run will raise money for Tedy’s Team, an organization dedicated to stroke research and education.
Between 2001 and 2025, Lake Murray Country estimates the lake region has hosted 26,000 professional anglers in different tournaments, without even counting locally organized fishing competitions. Those fishing pros have had a $35.9 million impact on the Midlands, and the number grows to $61.3 million when factoring in the marketing value of those fishing tournaments airing on TV.
Even just counting the spending by the pro-fishermen, the daily average spending on room, meals and gas added up to $686 or more, then-Lake Murray Country president Miriam Atria told The State last year.
While state officials don’t keep track of the economic impact on the lake themselves, they are aware that fishing is a major attraction at Lake Murray.
The S.C. Department of Natural Resources spends an estimated $240,000 a year to make sure the lake is stocked with striped bass, releasing roughly a million of the fish popular with anglers into the lake each year, the agency previously told The State. That’s because striped bass can’t reproduce naturally inside the lake, and have to be transported from the Lake Martion/Lake Moultrie basin.
“SC DNR does a good job keeping the lake in good health, and Dominion too,” Davis said. “As we know, fishing is beneficial, and we definitely need to teach the next generation the power of fishing and the great outdoors.”
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