Try these Carolina waterways for big cats
The falling water temperatures of October trigger a stretch when trophy catfish hookups occur more frequently. October is usually the bell ringer and initiates the start of something special for catching giant catfish, and the trend continues to surge through December.
If you’re hunting trophy catfish, now’s the time to get locked into fall catfishing. Here are some prime places to test the waters for trophy catfish in the Carolinas.
Lake Marion
Catching trophy catfish from Lake Marion, the upper of the two Santee Cooper lakes, is a year-round affair, and falling water temperatures in October jumpstart the fantastic fall fishing for trophies.
Fishing guide Kyle Austin (also a premier bass guide and tournament angler) said this is the time of year when the forage base has grown to the size that the shad become a significant player in the fish-finding process. Giant catfish tend to move a lot following forage, and this activity enables anglers to target and catch big fish more frequently.
“The fishing for giant catfish seems to get better as we go through October into November and December,” Austin said. “It’s an exciting time to target giant catfish anywhere on Santee Cooper. But Lake Marion holds a lot of big blues and flatheads, and this time of year, it’s not unusual to catch both.”
Austin (843-209-3726; Kyle Austin Guide Service on Facebook) said the catfish often present a moving target in October because forage is frequently on the move. So one favored pattern is to drift fish.
“Drift fishing enables me to cover large areas of water, and that’s a common theme for this time of year,” he said. ‘I’ll look for forage and catfish using my electronics. I often find the catfish in localized areas, but they’re usually scattered too far for a successful anchored setup. The depths fish are caught in October and November vary. They’re not necessarily deep. But depth can be a moving target too, so I don’t get locked into a specific depth. It’s where I find catfish and forage via my electronics.
“As the water temperature falls, catfish tend to get deeper, and deep water can be a solid pattern by December,” he said. “And that produces phenomenal fishing with fish stacked into predictable depths.”
Austin drifts multiple rigs and prefers to target the edge of channels, around humps, and always works a specific drift pattern.
“I never randomly drift for catfish,” he said. “I’ve learned from bass fishing to key on specific targets, and the same is true for catfish. I have a definite plan for each drift, and my biggest fish often come when fishing right along the ledges and drops that are common in Lake Marion.”
Austin employs a variety of baits to determine what’s best on a given day, with white perch, gizzard shad, and blueback herring all on his ‘first-team’ lineup.
When he gets on a productive drift pattern, he stays on it.
“When we catch some quality fish, and then the action slows, I’ll pull the rigs and motor back over the same general area,” he said. “I want to see forage and fish on my electronics. Ultimately, I want to see my big rods arched down two eyes deep into the water with a big catfish loaded on.”
That tends to happen frequently this month for Austin.
Lake Murray
The catfishing action at Lake Murray transitions to much-improved fishing for trophy fish beginning in October, and trends for the better over the next few months. Fishing typically becomes consistent as water temperatures fall and shad begin their migration toward the upper part of the lake.
This annual forage-fest movement pattern has fish-catching implications for the catfish anglers, because where the forage goes, catfish follow.
Lake Murray Catfish Guide William Attaway has targeted Lake Murray catfish for years and has learned to adapt to this annual pattern.
“Not all forage migrates up the lake in the fall, but a significant percentage of shad and herring do make the journey, and the catfish follow the food,” he said. “Also, I begin to see more striper fishermen in the upper half of the lake by October and even more by November. As it is with catfish, stripers are forage followers.”
Attaway said the catfish patterns are predictable, but the specific target often varies day-to-day, even in the same general area of the lake, because the catfish are on the prowl searching for food.
“Once I begin finding catfish in big numbers above the Dreher Island area of the lake, they’ll linger in a general area but move around daily seeking food,” he said. “Weather and water conditions impact the locations where I find them. A graph is like a good bird dog when looking for catfish, and it’ll point me to the right area. I’ll check the pattern I was successful in on the trip prior, but they’ve often moved elsewhere.”
Attaway said trophy catfish are found in respectable numbers at Lake Murray, with blues, flatheads, and channel catfish being all part of the potential catch.
“The blues grow the largest, and I’ve caught them over 60 pounds here at Lake Murray. And I know of verified 70-pounders caught from the lake,” he said. “Lake Murray is loaded with blues in the 15- to 25-pound class, and 30-pound fish are a reasonable expectation on any given trip, especially in the cooler months.
“That doesn’t always happen, but it’s a reasonable goal,” he said.
“Channel catfish are smaller than blues, but the big channel catfish are on a great bite,” he said. “I believe channel catfishing at Lake Murray is as good for trophy channel catfish as any place in South Carolina. Double digit-sized channels are common, up to the mid-teens, and a 15-pound channel catfish provides an awesome battle and fights much harder than its size, compared to other catfish.”
“Flathead catfish action is good, although they’re not as plentiful as a few years ago, but they’re still caught,” he said.
Attaway’s assessment of Lake Murray’s productivity for catfish is simple.
“Lake Murray has a tremendous forage base, and the threadfin and gizzard shad populations are excellent,” he said. “The lake also has a huge blueback herring population, a prime forage for multiple fish species. Lake Murray is a mecca for white perch, and while not a native species, catfish love to eat them, and they are an important part of the food chain.”
Attaway said all these forage species serve as prime bait for trophy catfish, with gizzard shad and white perch being his favorites in October and through the fall.
High Rock Flatheads
High Rock Lake is a terrific producer of big blue and flathead catfish throughout the year, but it excels for fat flatheads during October and November. The big flatties are on the move, searching for forage, and tournament angler Brandon Miller from Gold Point, NC, loves to target them on deep channels this time of year.
“The key that jumpstarts this fall process is the lake turning over, which can occur in October or even into early November,” Miller said. “When it does, the flathead fishing goes wild.
“The key to catching big flatheads is to hunt for them using your electronics and set up on spots where several big fish are marked, along with ample forage in the area,” he said. “It’s no different than most times of the year in that big catfish are going to be found around areas where forage concentrates.”
Timing is key with fall flathead fishing. Flathead catfish tend to congregate along the ledges and drops throughout the lake, Miller said. The locations can vary as falling water temperatures and forage movement impacts the localized hotspots each year.
Miller scouts the lake, focusing on humps and ledges that drop into the river, or deep creek channels, until he locates what he believes are plenty of catfish along the drop. Catfish cluster into small areas, typically best fished by an anchored setup.
“I may have to search a while to find them, but when I locate them, I’ll fish from an anchored setup,” he said. “It’s usually more effective when targeting big flatheads this time of year. I’ll rig multiple rigs and fan cast around the boat and present some of the baits near where I marked the fish. Ideally, I’ll set some right in front of them. But the fish generally move and feed in that area, so they’ll find the baits.”
As most flathead anglers do, he prefers to use live bait, with live white perch being his favorite. But he said fresh cut bait will often produce, so he’ll use both.
“Sometimes I have to hit a couple of spots to find active fish, but when I get on them, the bite can be good, and it’s not uncommon to catch two or three big flatheads quickly.”
Patience is a key, he said, because anglers may have to wait 45 minutes for a bite.
“Then, when one flathead loads on, another one or two fish often bite while that one is hooked. The activity of one seems to make other flatheads active. The action can get frantic even after a lengthy wait.”
Miller said he’s patient, but even if the setup looks good, after 60 to 90 minutes with no action, he’ll make a move.
High Rock is loaded with flatheads, but also has plenty of big blues, so it’s not uncommon to hook a big blue or two. This gives High Rock a solid one-two punch for big catfish.
“High Rock is my favorite lake in this part of the state for big flatheads,” he said. “Targeting these fish requires an angler to do their due diligence, but it’s worth all the effort when we hook into trophy fish.”
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