santee cooper bass fishing reports
Some of the fish have already started to spawn while others are shallow looking for spawning areas. Paste as plain text instead, In fact, they stayed within the state of South Carolina. 1000 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC 29201 Open 5:30 AM Fish will often be adjacent to steep banks and 8-15 feet of water, but the best concentration of catchable fish is shallower in 4-6 feet of water. Its not the way he prefers to catch them, but Captain Brett Mitchell (803-379-7029) reports that the bass on Santee Cooper have moved deeper and hes now having to target fish in 8-15 feet. This sleepy town is a great base for all your vacation needs. . Hello everyone, River herring is fishing the best right now. If those arent working then Brett suggests looking a little deeper with Ned rigs and shakey heads in the same areas. Drift cut shad and herring with Santee Cooper rigs in the deep channels. Hi Tobias. Updates. For now the lower lake is still mostly clear but muddy water is headed towards the system. Bass: FLW fisherman Dearal Rodgers of Camden reports that in January fish will still be in steep areas with access to deep water, but with the spawn approaching they should start to feed better. Swimbaits can also work. The area doesnt seem to make a whole lot of difference with smaller fish very spread out, and he is just going. Morning surface water temperatures are still about 79 degrees. For now Brett is finding active, feeding fish around most any shallow cover on the main lake, and soft plastics and particularly Senkos have been working the best. Sign up to get exclusive fishing reports and special offers delivered directly to your inbox. information from bait shops, marinas and fishing guides. Crappie and white perch: Captain Chris Nichols (704-860-7951) reports that in January fish will be set up in the front sections of creeks in deep water. document.getElementById( "ak_js_29" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Replied on October 28, 2020 However, this week the patterns have changed and some cool, windy weather has pulled the fish out just a little. Head out during the week to beat the crowds as thereis plenty of room on the boat all week. The Big Cat Brawl with $10,000 on the line is on Santee this weekend, and Captain Stevie English (843-709-8138) reports that he expects a lot of catfish to be caught. The lakes are very clear and water temperatures are in the mid to upper 50s. They may not be grouped up around deep bait as well as they were in late November and December, but the best way to catch fish them is often still with a jigging spoon. Crappie: Captain Bill Plumley reports that in January fish should continue to be caught around deep docks and bridges in both the creeks and on the main lake. Hope you have a rewarding time fishing on Santee Cooper. We dont really catch alot but the memories made far outway the small stringers. Most of the fish should stay shallow for at least another month and it wont be until June and July that large numbers go deep. Crappie: Veteran tournament angler Will Hinson of Cassatt reports that, depending upon water conditions, in January most of the Wateree crappie should be caught tight-lining minnows and jigs along the river channel. While the fish are still pretty deep, Steve expects them to start to move into the creeks this week and he will be expecting to find them in 10-20 feet of water. Fishing is pretty good everywhere, and the new pattern is that there are starting to be a lot of fish caught shallow drifting in 12-15 feet of water on the ledges near deep water. Bass: Tournament angler Joe Anders reports that on Lake Jocassee in January the fish will be deep, and they are mostly likely to be suspended in the channels or off deep points. Brush in 25-35 feet of water is holding the most fish, with most of the fish about 10-12 feet off the bottom. The bite over the weekend was a little sporadic for catfish, and Captain Stevie English (843-709-8138) reports that even though one tournament team managed three fish that went for 124 pounds (with a big fish over 50) most teams only managed one or two fish. Fishing from shore gives you exactly that opportunity. Nov 25, 2020. "Weeds, brush, trees and pads are all good places. The weather is very nice and they are having good kelp fishing, with a good sign of Bluefin. It was very difficult at times, weeding through all the skip jack and small tuna. Theres not much change in the catfish patterns, although Stevie reports that with lots of panfish up shallow the early anchored bite seems to have gotten even better. Privacy Statement. (Herring)off the Hatchery and Bonneau in 25' to 40' and in front of the The shallow bite has been better in the evenings, and that should stay true through the weekend. About half of the field had over 100 pounds of fish, and so they are biting really well right now. Jigging vertical is the best presentation. The fish are still on deeper brush and wood in 20-35 feet, and on his last trip out Steve caught a bunch of fish including five over 2 pounds. Is it based on the number of rods? Saw quite a few fish moving in shallows, mostly Bucks. In most major species categories the lakes have produced state or even-world record class fish. Reel in the big fish with one of our handpicked fishing reels. The reasons arent exactly clear, but Captain Brett Mitchell (803-379-7029) reports that the bass fishing is tougher than its supposed to be. Shad mainly but we are starting to see the big schools of menhaden. This is one of the nations favorite freshwater fish, and the lakes have plenty of these bad boys on offer. We are at about the mid-point of the crappie spawn on Santee Cooper, and Captain Steve English (843-729-4044) reports that he approximates that half of the fish have spawned while another half still have to go. The lakes boast a healthy number of Black and White Crappie, and theyre another fish that you can target year-round. Thats why its the number-one stop for freshwater anglers in the Palmetto State.. The bite can be decent if you locate a group of fish on electronics or otherwise, but thats the tricky part. south carolina santee cooper By adbassfishing April 22, 2019 in Southeast Bass Fishing Followers Reply to this topic Start new topic 36 Posted April 22, 2019 I am planning on going to Santee this Friday for the first time in my boat. The Santee Cooper Lakes are filled with a wide variety of fish for all levels of sportsman. The catfish action has been pretty good on Santee, and Captain Stevie English (843-709-8138) reports that even though he has found good fishing in 25-40 feet of water at the moment he would suggest starting in shallow water and then eliminating that before heading deeper. November December 2005 The largemouth bass have been hitting very well the past couple of trips. Despite recent rains the lakes remain relatively clear and morning surface water temperatures are in the mid-80s. Fish as close to the bottom as possible for the bigger fish as the water temp gets lower. with sandy bottomsis the areas to look for. Crappie and Bream: Captain Steve English (843-729-4044) reports that both species bit in December around mid-depth brush piles, but in January they will likely moved deeper and the bluegill will eventually get less active. Its mostly a soft plastic bite and topwaters still are not producing. You dont want to fish large, flats pockets like the ones fish would spawn on. In the next week or two there should also start to be a topwater bite, but that really doesnt usually kick off until water temperatures hit a magic range of about 75 degrees. You can get a good bite after dawn and in the late afternoon, and night fishing is also very good. We are a family-owned business committed to providing our customers with the best prices and customer service on all of our merchandise. Post-spawn fish are supposed to recover from the spawn around cypress trees in 2 to 4 feet, but right now hes not finding as many hungry fish up there as expected. The big bream and crappie are still on the deeper brush in 28-35 ft in huge numbers. 39 anglers caught 22 Bluefin to 30 lbs, 11 Dorado, Mexican Limits on Yellowtail. Santee Cooper water levels are at 74.51 in Lake Marion (full pool is 76.8) and around 74.24 in Lake Moultrie (full pool is 75.5). For fish chasing bait flukes, Spooks, Pop-Rs, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits will all work. The crown jewel of the nearly 50 publicly accessible green tree reservoir hunting area is the famed George H. Dunklin, Jr. Bayou Meto Wildlife Management Area (WMA) south of Stuttgart. The more general pattern seems to be fishing with soft plastics like Trick Worms around trees, stumps and points. When bass are eating they will push the bait up shallower. Cut perch and chicken have both been working about the same for him. With up-and-down water temperatures the bass are in a pretty typical early winter pattern, and Captain Brett Mitchell(803-379-7029) reports that means that fish will move back and forth between very shallow and slightly deeper water as the bait does the same. Known together as the Santee Cooper lakes (formally the Santee Cooper Hydroelectric and Navigation Project), Lakes Marion and Moultrie are located in the outer coastal plain to the southeast of South Carolina between the cities of Columbia and Charleston. Surface water temperatures range from about 78-81 degrees. Red wigglers are hard to beat. The crappie fishing has still been pretty slow on Santee, and Captain Steve English (843-729-4044) reports that in the upper lake they are picking up a few fish 12-14 feet down over brush in 22-25 feet of water on minnows and jigs. Learn more. Bear in mind youll need a boat to get to these parts of the lake. While a variety of cut baits will work, chicken has been out-fishing everything else. Even though he is hearing those same reports from deeper water, Captain Stevie English (843-709-8138) is still spending more time drifting in shallow water and he is having the best success in 10-15 feet. Late this month some of the shallower creeks could also turn on. The Santee Cooper Lakes offers some of the best fishing in South Carolina and we have some of the top fishi ng guides in South Carolina working out of Blacks Camp. Continue to look for the birds and bait to locate fish. Just before the last new moon they could literally see the fish moving onto beds in droves. Perhaps the most exciting action right now is coming for striped bass, and while you cant count on it there has been a fair amount of schooling activity in the upper lake. Monticello Updates. However our efforts paid off when every once in a while with a nice yellowfin. 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