Guide Buster Rush said there’s some movement of fish during October because of the change in water temperature; it slowly drops as the month progresses. The depths and preferred locations will likely change from the beginning to the end of the month.
“The entire month is actually a month of transition in one sense, but overall, the fishing is stable,” Rush said.
“I know that sounds a bit of a contradiction, but it’s not,” he said. “The key is depth presentation and cover location, and that’s what can change during October as we progress though the month. When the weather is hot in August and even into September, we can often rely on crappies being found in pretty much the same depth consistently. During October, the fishing remains consistent, but a slow transition occurs.”
Rush said that this transition is typical for Lake Marion and not so much on Lake Moultrie because of all the larger creeks and coves on Marion.
“At the beginning of the month, I usually catch a lot of big crappie in the shallower range of my preferred depths, about 12 to 14 feet deep in the creeks and coves,” he said. “As the month progresses, I find the fish slowly move to deeper water, but usually still relatively shallow in the 16- to 18-foot depth range. A difference is that in Lake Marion, the fish typically are found in coves or creeks in early October, and by month’s end they are orienting to the main-lake areas.
“My most-important advice for fisherman during the fall months on Santee Cooper is to be conscious of depth changes of the fish,” Rush said. “Certainly, I begin by fishing an area or specific brush pile that’s been producing fish, but if the fish don’t bite quickly, I move to a different depth pattern. It could be only a couple feet different, but it can be the difference in limits of slabs or just a few small fish during October.”
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