Fat cats in skinny water

Santee Cooper’s shallow waters give up big catfish this month

Catfish anglers often overlook fishing skinny water while hunting fat catfish in the early spring. 

But water as shallow as 2 to 5 feet deep can be highly productive right now. 

At Santee Cooper, the fat cats are in super skinny water on a regular basis during late-February and through March. And for many tournament anglers and guides, this skinny-water/fat-cat connection is more than a reliable pattern.

It’s a proven tactic that puts big quantities of quality catfish in the boat quickly. 

This pattern is ideal for fishing the Santee Cooper lakes, and it’s dependable on both lakes Marion and Moultrie.

Spencer Hodges has fished these lakes for much of his life, and is a former catfish guide at Santee Cooper. The Winterville, NC angler has also won major tournaments in cold water conditions on these lakes.

“Catfishing in the skinny water is my preferred tactic for big catfish and numbers of fish during February and March,” Hodges said. “The pattern is dependable and one that I rely on during big tournaments this time of year. A good plan and understanding of what makes this pattern work so well are keys to success.”

Hodges said the catfish generally move to the shallows for one purpose; to eat. And the shallows offer multiple options for chow. 

Baitfish pouring in

During March, the lake has a huge influx of both blueback herring and American Shad migrating into the lakes. These are bonus finfish species for big catfish that many lakes don’t have. And other species, like crappie and bass, also begin to migrate to the shallows to spawn in March.

“This influx of forage – and for big catfish all of these species are on the forage list – it’s a dependable pattern to draw catfish to shallow water,” he said. “Big blue catfish represent most of the catfish caught in this specific pattern, but certainly flatheads are caught.

“The other factor that attracts and holds catfish in really shallow water includes the mussel beds scattered throughout both lakes,” Hodges said. “This forage represents a dependable, shallow water food source year-round. When I was guiding, clients were often surprised to learn that catfish feed heavily on mussels this time of year.”

Hodges said unless it’s excessive and creates unsafe conditions, the wind is his friend when fishing this pattern.

“Wind is not required to make a good catch in shallow water. But it certainly can make it much better,” he said. “A consistent wind from any direction that lasts for a day or more tends to pile up smaller forage, such as shad, in downwind areas. These areas of concentrated shad then attract more, smaller fish including white perch, already a favored big catfish forage. Combining all these finfish with the existing attraction of shallow mussel beds, this downwind pattern has the ingredients for incredible catfishing in shallow water.”

Anglers can get into the downwind patterns on exposed shallow flats and catch catfish, whether mussel beds are part of the equation or not. 

Finding the right areas often involves research. Hodges checks an area with his electronics, employing the side-scan feature specifically.

Avoid weeds

“I want to fish a clean, hard bottom and side-scan shows me if too many weeds are around,” he said. “I also like to set up near deeper water so catfish have easy, identifiable access to the area. If I can follow a ditch or channel into the flat, that’s where I’ll set up. I’ll also look for signals I believe to be big catfish. But I don’t have to see a lot of fish to set up. I understand the fish on these shallow flats are feeding fish. They’re moving, so if I’m in a forage-rich environment with some catfish marked, I’m going to anchor and fan cast baits all around the boat.”

Hodges doesn’t just cast to the edges of the ditch or deeper water. He’ll anchor in 4 or 5 feet of water, and cast baits into shallower water too.

“Some of the biggest fish we’ll catch often come from the shallowest water being fished,” he said. “We’ll consistently hook huge catfish in 2 feet of water. These catfish are not lethargic. They’re feeding and moving, so I let them come to me.” 

Anchoring is certainly Hodges’ preference when conditions are right for the shallow feeding to occur. And he puts appropriate effort into ensuring he’s anchored properly.

“I anchor both ends of the boat, using a long anchor line on the bow and stern, to pull the boat tight on anchor,” he said. “On windy days there may still be some boat movement. But it’s important to minimize it as much as possible. I don’t want boat movement to move my bait, so I’ll cast them and leave some slack in the line. So minor boat movement won’t pull baits into stumps and hang up.”

Varying the bait is important, he said. He named the trio of gizzard shad, herring, and white perch as his go-to baits for this time of year. 

Hodges makes a commitment to a spot when he anchors, and will give it as much as 90 mintues to produce before moving to another area. 

Patience pays off

“It sounds like a long time to wait, but really sometimes when drift fishing and trying to work out a pattern, fishermen will go for that long without a big fish bite,” he said. “The key is, if I’m in the right place, we may catch several big fish from that single setup. It’s also common to have multiple fish hooked, too. Let that happen once or twice, and it’ll make an anchor-fisherman out of a drifter this time of year.”

Time of day can be important, and bright sunlight is often the enemy of shallow water fishing success.

“I certainly prefer the low-light times for shallow-water fishing anytime of the year. And early morning, late afternoon and even after dark, are prime times,” Hodges said. “The low light is particularly important on days when the wind is light or not consistent enough to move fin-fish to a specific area. Shallow water fishing for big catfish can still be good, but likely not as exciting or productive as windy or cloudy days.

“If I had to describe an ideal setup for me, it’d be anchored up before dawn on a cloudy morning, fishing a windblown flat where a big mussel bed exists,” he said. “The water temperature would be in the mid-50s, and the target area would have been downwind, with a steady breeze, for a couple of days. I’d want higher-than-normal air temperatures, as in just prior to a front, and the water slightly discolored. With these conditions, odds are great that shallow water fishing for quality and quantity of catfish is going to be awesome in multiple areas on these lakes, and could occur any time of day.” 

Hodges said years of experience has shown that the early season is best for trophy catfish.

It’s BIG fish time

“Late-February and the first part of March seem to produce the biggest fish,” he said. “Fish in the 30- to 60-pound class is a reasonable range of weights to hook. After mid-March, big fish are still available. But 30-pound fish and under will be more prevalent. Catfish in the 15- to 20-pound class are common. As far as fun goes, hooking several high teens and low 20-pound fish makes a great fishing trip.”

Hodges prefers to have a defined travel route for catfish to follow from the deeper water to the shallows when looking for a potential hotspot. He looks for an area with a ditch that goes from deep water to a shallow flat, as opposed to just anchoring in the middle of a big flat and hoping fish find him.

“Anchor fishing is a highly specific method of fishing,” he said. “I want to see on the map, or on my graph, how these big fish will travel into the area. That factors into my setup strategy to take advantage of that travel route, as well as targeting the shallow flat.” 

Hodges said that in the upper lake, the many larger creeks have channel ledges as well as feeder creeks that course across flats back into the shallows. A ditch located near a long point that goes from deep to shallow is excellent. And humps that rise to shallow water that are surrounded by deeper water are prime targets.

This spring, do some deep-thinking about shallow-water catfishing earlier than normal by anchoring in skinny water for fat cats. 

The backup plan

Shallow-water anchoring is generally the way to go this time of year for big catfish. But weather and water conditions sometimes force fat cats out of skinny water, so Spencer Hodges has a backup plan.

“We have a lot of cold fronts push through this time of year. And that can change the fishing in the shallows from great to tough overnight,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean we still don’t catch catfish reasonably shallow. It may push fish back to the 7- to 15-foot depth, adjacent to the shallow flats they’d been feeding on. But they don’t simply go back to deep water.”

Anchor fishing may still work in these areas, but sometimes the fish are scattered, and not concentrated in specific areas, so drift fishing may produce best.

“In March of 2023, I had a run of excellent fishing in the shallows with ideal conditions. Then a cold front blew through, wind direction changed 180 degrees, and the shallow water anchor bite slowed dramatically,” he said. “After some searching the next morning, under a clear, cold bluebird sky, we got on quality fish again by drift fishing over humps and ditches in 7 to 12 feet of water. We caught plenty of fish in depths most fishermen still consider shallow in March. 

“And once the next warming trend began, the anchor bite in the very skinny water was on again,” he said.