The only thing as hot as the August weather may be the catfishing on Lake Wateree. At least that’s the message from Rodger Taylor of Rock Hill, who operates Catfish On! Guide Service.
His last trip to the big Catawba River reservoir produced a 24-pound blue catfish and a half-dozen more fish in the 6- to 8-pound class – plus enough 1-1/2- to 3-pound fish to fill what little space was left in his party’s cooler.
“What I’ve been trying to do with my guide parties is find ‘em a big fish right away, so in the morning, when it’s still a little bit cool, I’ll anchor up on the edge of the river channel around the mouth of a creek – or I’ll go into the upper river,” said Taylor (803-328-9587). “I’ll give that two hours, and that will usually produce up to five fish, and I’ll usually get one in the 20- to 30-pound class.”
As the sun gets up and it starts to get hot, anchoring isn’t the most comfortable way to fish, so Taylor works main-lake flats, drifting in nine to 12 feet of water.
“There are some good flats that are almost a mile long, and if you get the wind right and get a good drift, you can catch eight to 12 fish on a drift,” said Taylor, whose main summertime catfish bait is cut bluegill – although he’ll also use cut white perch.
The rig is a simple Carolina rig in both cases. When anchored, the bait stays right on the bottom. When drifting, it’s within an inch or two of the bottom, trailing the sinker.
“I’m not really worried about drifting the river channel; you can pick up some fish doing that, but the higher percentage of fish are on the flat,” he said.
Taylor said that blue cats appear to be making big inroads at Wateree.
“Lake Wateree used to be a channel catfish lake, but it’s not anymore,” he said. “Last year, I was catching blues and channels about 50-50, but this year, it’s been a lot more blues.”
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