Drifting at Santee Cooper producing hot catfish action

Bite is steady, and it can produce some huge fish in December

While many folks huddle up inside throughout the winter months, they’re missing some hot catfish action. Santee Cooper’s catfish love cold weather, and anglers can have a field day this time of year.

Drifting is one of the top methods used by winter anglers on Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie. It can provide a steady bite throughout the day and can lead to catching catfish of all sizes. Gene Crawford, who guides out of Blacks Camp, loves drifting for cats this time of year.

“Drifting allows you to cover a lot of water quickly, and it puts your bait in deep holes, on top of ledges and everywhere in between,” said Crawford (843-209-3086). “This time of year, you can find catfish in all those places. And you’ll hit numerous spots with those features very quickly when drifting. You’re putting your bait in front of a lot of fish in a short period of time when you do it this way.”

Drift socks are an important part of drifting. They slow your drift speed, and Crawford adjusts his speed by using one to three, depending on wind and current. He deploys them off the bow of his pontoon boat, allowing him to use his outboard if necessary.

The Santee Rig and the right bait will put cats in the boat

Crawford uses a modified Carolina rig on each rod setup. Known as the Santee Rig, it consists of long, skinny slinky weights that allow rigs to be pulled through the sticks and debris on the lake bottom. The rigs have leaders that range from 18 inches to 2 feet. Crawford finishes off the rig with circle hooks in the 1/0 to 4/0 range.

He cuts the tails off baitfish, then filets them halfway to expose the blood and guts. The catfish love it. Not filleting all the way through allows the bait to wave and flop in the water. Catfish locate the bait easier this way.

After drifting through an area that is especially productive, Crawford often pulls in his drift socks, motors back to his beginning point with the help of his electronics, and drifts that same area again.

Crawford catches good numbers of mostly blue catfish while drifting. And he said the vast majority are quality-sized fish. Fifteen to 35-pound fish are the norm, and he’s caught fish as big as 76 pounds this time of year while fishing this way.