Try these destinations for hot catfish action in hot weather
Catfish activity increases throughout the summer, with elevated water temperatures dictating a higher metabolic rate for catfish, which need to chow down often. Outstanding catfish action occurs in both North and South Carolina during August, including the opportunity to catch quality catfish. The keys to success are knowing the ‘where and how’ to target catfish in the heat of summer.
Kerr Lake (Buggs Island)
Catfishing on the lake that holds the world record blue catfish is always a good strategy, and summertime fishing on Kerr Lake has the potential to produce big catfish by day or night. The lake holds the world record blue catfish, caught on rod and reel, at 143 pounds, in 2011. Another huge blue catfish was caught in 2017 that tipped the scales to over 141 pounds. This lake has big catfish.
Kerr Lake is also a big body of water, covering 49,500 surface acres, meaning anglers need a plan when they chase catfish here.
Steve Howard, a professional catfishing guide, said the lake offers options during the summer.
“Kerr Lake covers a lot of water, but I like the diversity it offers for summer fishing,” Howard said. “During August, the entire lake can be productive, and we’ll catch quality fish in the lower end as well as up lake in the tributaries.”
Howard has been guiding professionally for more than 5 years, and has been catfishing his entire life. He said one key factor when fishing Kerr Lake during the summer is the potential for a thermocline to set up, especially in the lower end of the lake.
“The thermocline depth varies annually, but it’ll usually fall into the 24- to 28-foot depth range,” he said. “It’ll be an obvious mark on your graph. The important point is to fish at, or above the thermocline depth for best fishing results.”
Howard targets points, humps, and ledges along the channel drops at depths above the thermocline in the lower end of the lake.
“In the upper end of the lake, the thermocline isn’t an issue, and I’ll be fishing many of the same type targets, but in shallower water depths,” he said.
Howard (336-421-5313) said he’ll often fish from anchored setups, but will drift when necessary.
“I target food sources, such as forage fish concentrated in a specific area, or mussel beds,” he said. “I’ll find mussel beds on red clay banks and points, and if I graph fish in the area, it’s a good spot to anchor. Drift fishing is productive when I find forage fish in a general area, but not stacked into one specific location.”
Howard also fishes at night on Kerr, and he’ll begin prior to dark searching for concentrations of baitfish.
“When setting up for night fishing, I’ll locate areas with plenty of forage in the area and find a ditch or ledge leading back to the shallow flats,” he said. “The ditch is the travel route for catfish when moving shallow to feed. I’ll anchor in relatively shallow water, often 10 feet or shallower, and fan cast rigs all around the boat, from very skinny water to the deeper ditch or ledge.”
His favored baits are live gizzard shad, or cut shad, bream, and white perch.
Howard takes catching big catfish seriously because he targets lakes with big catfish. In addition to Kerr Lake, he also guides on the Santee Cooper lakes in South Carolina.
“My goal is to catch a lot of catfish, but usually we’ll hook big catfish too,” he said.
Lake Wateree
The catfish bite at Lake Wateree, on the Catawba River chain in South Carolina, is consistently good throughout the summer, and it’s a good time to target quality and quantity of catfish. Fishing guide Justin Whiteside said anchored setups, and drift fishing, both provide good opportunities to hook big cats during the dog days of summer.
“During August I prefer to anchor on specific targets to begin the day, and most targets are not in deep water,” Whiteside said. “By August, Lake Wateree has a thermocline at around 20 to 22 feet deep, and most of my fishing will be at that depth, and often considerably shallower.”
Whiteside said the entire lake is productive, but his favored area ranges from the Lake Wateree State Park down to the Colonel Creek sector. That sector of the lake provides a lot of main river channel and several large creeks to hunt big catfish.
“I use the Carolina Rig for bottom fishing on these anchored setups, and I’ll anchor at a mid-depth near my target, and then fan cast to cover all the depths,” he said. “Even in the heat of August, it’s not unusual to find big catfish in shallow water when they’re feeding on mussel beds, or chasing forage in the shallows, especially during early morning, low light situations.”
Whiteside (803-417-0070) said clients will often hook big blue catfish in water less than 10 feet deep, even in mid-day. Until he locks in on a solid pattern for the day, he’ll cast rigs into multiple depths form his anchored setup. When forage is scattered, he will drift-fish the humps and ledges.
Whiteside gives a spot 30 minutes, and if he catches a quality fish or two, more patience is warranted.
One tactic that he employs is to use big baits on one or two rigs. With the addition of a treble hook stinger in the bait, that significantly increases hookups.
“My goal is to catch multiple fish at dawn, and that’s not uncommon,” he said. “It may take a couple of setups before we get on fish. But we’ll often have multiple hookups when we find them.”
Whiteside employs a wide variety of baits including gizzard, white perch, bream, and threadfin shad. He said live and cut bait both work well.
Lake Monticello
Lake Monticello in the central part of South Carolina is a trophy catfish resource. But this deep, clear lake is often overlooked during the summer months. Because of the clear water, summertime patterns are productive around the clock. The strategy is simple; fish deep water by night, and even deeper by day.
Veteran catfish guide William Attaway lives near the lake and has guided on Lake Monticello in the past. He now primarily guides year-round on Lake Murray, but he developed productive patterns for Lake Monticello that produce during the summer.
Attaway said because Lake Monticello is so deep, and serves as a pump-back type lake, an opportunity exists to catch big fish in deep water.
“The lake has water pumped into and out of it, and that creates enough water turnover that deepwater fishing is productive,” Attaway said.
Attaway (803-924-0857; Slick Willie’s Guide Service) said drift fishing is a favored tactic for summertime. Fishing in 40 to 70 feet of water is a productive depth range. He uses the graph to search for big fish in an area before setting up a drift.
“Fish main lake humps, ridges and long points,” he said. “I like to fish a saddle, an area of deeper water between two high spots. That can be a great place to drift across or anchor if several big fish are graphed.”
The pattern shifts at night on Lake Monticello. Because of clear water conditions, the catfish seldom move shallow during the day, but that changes at night.
“At night, fishing the coves or on shallower main lake points can be productive,” Attaway said. “Blues are the predominant big catfish species, and they’ll move shallower at night, but on this lake, that’s still 15 to 30 feet deep.”
He recommends large baits for the big fish. White perch, bream, and gizzard shad are all prime offerings. Fish clustered in small areas usually dictate an anchored setup. Marking fish consistently through an extended area is an ideal drift fishing setup.
“I like the night fishing for big blues, specifically in the lower end of the lake, because of the available forage that’s been attracted by the pump-back process,” he said. “Current is a positive factor for catfishing on Lake Monticello.”
Lake Wylie
Lake Wylie on the North and South Carolina border produces quality blue and flathead catfish. Typical drift fishing and anchor fishing tactics work well, day and night. But for mid-summer catfishing, an experience on Lake Wylie with catfish guide Rodger Taylor illustrates another pattern that is highly effective.
Taylor, from Rock Hill, SC, used the brief, but localized heavy, rainfall from thunderstorms to make an awesome catfish catch in skinny water. And the process is effective throughout the lake.
Taylor’s original game-plan was to fish the deep-water, main Catawba River channel, where he was on a productive summer pattern. But he offered a spur-of-the-moment alternative.
“I was on a strong pattern yesterday, drift fishing in the main body of the lake,” he said. “We had two big thunderstorms last night that dropped a bunch of rain. I believe we’ll find excellent catfishing in the back of a creek.”
The excitement in his voice was unmistakable. It was too tempting to resist, and the ‘trust the guide’ philosophy is usually the right choice.
Taylor motored to a nearby option, and when he located the dingy/muddy water line, he stopped and anchored. He began baiting and casting rigs into the discolored water at the edge of the clear water, in the back of the creek.
He had four rigs baited, cast into position, and set in holders before the first rig doubled-up in a horseshoe bend. That blue catfish was 20+pounds, and before it was boated, another fat cat was hooked. He netted those two, re-baited and reset the rigs when another rig doubled over with a big blue.
It was 30 minutes later before he finally got all eight rigs out, and his party had landed six big blues during that first half-hour.
Two hours later they’d caught a dozen more fat-bellied blue catfish that mauled the baits with aggressive bites.
Taylor (803-517-7828) said the thunderstorm created a ‘lightning-in-a-bottle’ opportunity. And it can occur on any lake with a population of big catfish.
“The current saturated the upper end of the creek with food and forage for catfish, and they swooped in to feed,” he said. “This is a short-term event, but great while it lasts.”
Just to check, before leaving Lake Wylie, Taylor fished the main channel and found that bite to be excellent, a worthy summertime adventure of its own.
Fishing by day or night can produce catfish action throughout the Carolinas in August. Get your gear and go now.
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