April is shallow-water fishing season on the Santee Cooper lakes. Several species are active in the skinny water and will vigorously attack baits and lures.
Joe Avin of Summerton has fished Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie for many years; he said April is transition time for largemouth in both lakes.
“The largemouth bass are going to be in shallow water throughout the month as a general rule,” Avin said. “Early in the month, up to about the 15th or so, there’s a decent chance you’ll find some fish on spawning beds. After that time, most of the fish begin to transition into postspawn patterns. They are still going to be in relatively shallow water, but they will leave the spawning sites for the most part.
“Late in the month, the largemouth will be holding on cover such as cypress trees with about three to five feet of water around them,” Avin said. “In addition, they will be moving from the spawning sites to the mouths for creeks and coves and holding on stump flats in four to eight feet of water.”
Avin said that while the lack of hydrilla is a concern to many bass anglers, any type of shallow, weedy cover — such as eel grass or an isolated patch of hydrilla if you can find one — will have potential to hold bass at this time of the year.
Avin expects fishing to peak at about the time his Santee Bass Matters citizen’s organization holds a benefit tournament on April 24 at the John C. Land Landing on Lake Marion.
Largemouth is not the only species that will be shallow during April. Pete Pritchard (803-478-7533), a longtime guide for crappie and catfish, said both species can be caught shallow this month.
“For the blue catfish, look for the windy days early in the month to be the best,” Pritchard said. “The wind will often be strong and will cause the water to roll into the shallows and create muddy water. Look for the mudline and fish that area. Usually, the forage fish will be pushed into the shallow water, and it’s not unusual to hook some huge blue catfish in a couple feet of water, often around cypress trees. It’s hard to get bait too shallow on these type days. This can be some of the most exciting catfishing of the entire year.”
Pritchard also crappie are likely to be spawning early in the month, especially in the back of the coves around the brush, weeds and trees. Anglers will use long poles baited with live minnows or small jigs and poke the offering in and around the cover can make some excellent catches.
“I guide from a pontoon, so I don’t guide in the shallow water for spawning crappie, but there’s usually plenty along the ledge,” he said. “By mid-April to late in the month, crappie begin to move out of the spawning areas and begin to stack up along the deeper drops around brush, stumps and logs. This is when we really begin to catch them in good numbers.”
Pritchard said that based on his crappie-catching success last fall, he’s looking for an excellent crappie season this spring and summer.
“We caught a lot of crappie last fall that were getting into the keeper size class,” he said. “It looks like we’re coming up on a really good year class or two of crappie now. Plus, we’ve got some slabs in the lakes, but the numbers do look better for the 2010 season.”
But fishermen who like to probe deeper water should not despair. Marlin Ormseth, a guide on Lake Moultrie, said the deepwater drift bite for big blue catfish is still good.
“Catfishermen will catch catfish shallow for sure, but I stay in the deep water with good success,” said Ormseth (843-825-4713). “I’ll drift or slow-troll using my electric motor, covering humps and ledges in 20 to 35 feet of water during April. I keep records from every trip I make, and based on those records, we do very well in the deeper water during April.”
Other red-hot, shallow-water fishing action includes shellcrackers. These red-ear sunfish usually spawn around the April full moon, providing awesome action. Also, the bream fishing is good and sometimes gets even better late in April and into May.
If you’re into fishing on the Santee Cooper lakes, April is the time. Pick your species, or several of them, and get into super, shallow-water action.
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