November is striper bass time on Santee Cooper lakes

Surface schooling activity is a common November happening on the Santee Cooper lakes.

Cecil Wolfe gets an early start when Santee Cooper bass are shallow in the fall.

Big blue catfish are on the prowl in November, normally ganged up on structure but close to a concentration of baitfish.

Surface action is tops on Santee lakes

November is action time on the Santee Cooper lakes. With falling water temperatures, shad schooling ever tighter and big fish ready to chow down, it’s time to get in on the annual fall feeding frenzy.

One of the top attractions is the striped bass action, and November marks the time when the fish really begin schooling at the surface.

Both Lake Moultrie and the lower end of Lake Marion are prime striper areas, according to Kevin Davis at Black’s Camp on the Diversion Canal.

“November is one of my favorite times of the year for striper fishing because there are multiple ways to catch them,” said Davis, who guides and is co-owner of Black’s (843-753-2231). “The most-exciting method is the surface schooling action. By November we’re seeing some good schooling action in both lakes, and as the month progresses it usually gets even better. By Thanksgiving, the action is usually red hot.

“However, the fishing is not limited to surface feeding fish, which can be caught with lures such as Striper Swipers, Rat-L-Traps and big bucktails,” Davis said. “The fish also group up around the big clusters of shad in both lakes, and drifting live bait at the same depth or just above where the stripers are marked on the graph usually generates a lot of action. In addition, if we’ve got some water flow though the Diversion Canal, there are places where you can fish the eddies where creeks dump into the canal and at both ends of the canal where there are some humps and ridges where the stripers regularly feed.”

The catfish action is also outstanding this month, with fish again beginning to relate more to the big pods of shad as the water continues to cool. Pete Pritchard of Pritchard’s Guide Service on Lake Marion (803-478-7533) said that November is usually a prime month to fill a big cooler with hefty catfish.

“This is the time of the year when you can have the chance at any given time to hook a monster-sized catfish, but you can also load the boat with 5- to 15-pound fish,” Pritchard said. “I usually look for forage fish on the graph, and especially if I find them near a hump, ledge or slight depression, I can bet there are catfish around. I’ll secure the boat to a nearby tree and then fan-cast at least 10 rods around the boat. It usually doesn’t take long for the action to get hot during this coolish time of the year.”

The largemouth bass action is certainly not lost on anglers, either. Cecil Wolfe, veteran tournament angler and guide out of Black’s, fishes both lakes and said the fish make a move back to the shallows by November.

“The action is good in shallow water on a variety of lures” Wolfe said. “The key to success is to keep moving until you locate an area with some fish. During the fall, there will be excellent-looking places, but they will be void of fish. When you’ll find an area with fish, usually because there is forage in the vicinity, stick with that area and work it hard with a variety of lures.

“While November may not be the very best time to hook a hawg largemouth in these lakes, it does have to rank pretty high. The bass have been feeding heavy all summer and early fall and a lot of the fish will be fat and sassy.”

Crappie fishing is sometimes overlooked during the fall, because the striper, catfish and largemouth are so willing to cooperate. But according to Pritchard, November can be an excellent month for these fish.

“Most of the crappies will still be caught off woody objects, such as brushpiles along the drops and ledges as well as downed trees ad logs,” Pritchard said. “The key is to work brush at a variety of depths with live minnows or small jigs until you hit the pattern for the day. The fall of 2010 was one of the best in years, and I’m thinking he fishing will be even better this fall.”

Deer hunting around the lake is also reaching a peak, with late-October and early- to mid-November time period usually being the peak of the rut. So many outdoorsmen are torn between the great fishing and the fantastic opportunity to see and take a big buck.

But that’s the nature of our lakes and the surrounding areas. Sometimes there are almost too many good opportunities.