If the term “wide-open fishing” is ever correctly used, it would be appropriate at Santee Cooper during the month of May. According to experts from around both Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie, there is hardly anything worth fishing for that isn’t on a productive pattern this month.
To begin with, while most largemouth bass will be in a postspawn phase, the fishing action simply shifts from spawning sites to other shallow-water cover. One of the area’s top guides and tournament fishermen is Cecil Wolfe of Cross, who guides out of Black’s Camp and fishes Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion regularly. Wolfe, 46, is a plumber by trade but a bass fisherman by choice. He said May is a favorite time for bass fishing.
“May begins the postspawn phase of our bass fishing, but the fishing is still excellent in shallow water,” Wolfe said. “In fact, we’ll have a long period of excellent shallow-water fishing after the spawn. The key is transitioning from the shallow spawning sites to slightly deeper water and different types of cover and structure. The bass will move back to similar — and sometimes the same — areas they were found staging in prespawn periods.”
Wolfe said that examples of places to find quality and quantity fish will be the shallow edges along creek channels or ditches, even if the channels are only slightly deeper than the surrounding water. Also, depressions with cover in the 3- to 5-foot depth range are excellent.
“Some fishermen think that the big-fish season is over, but that’s certainly not the case,” Wolfe said. “Postspawn fishing will produce a lot of heavy largemouth. For example, a fishing partner and I weighed in a 5-fish limit weighing 39 pounds during a May tournament. There’s no shortage of big fish to be taken during the May and June time period; fishermen just have to keep moving and searching until they locate a spot with big fish, then work that area hard.”
Wolfe will use a variety of lures, including Senkos and Zara Spooks, as well as shallow-running crankbaits and a variety of bottom-bumping lures.
“During the past couple of years, we’ve caught a lot of quality largemouth out of the eelgrass that is now found in both lakes,” Wolfe said. “But the key is to stay on the move until you figure the pattern for the day.”
Catfishing really heats up in May, with all three of the big three species — blue, flathead and channel catfish — producing excellent fishing. Blues will be caught drifting cut herring in open water. Flatheads are typically caught using live bait and are usually marked on the graph before anglers set up. Channel catfish are caught on nightcrawlers and stinkbaits on shallow flats near deep water. The Diversion Canal will often produce good catches of all three species in May.
Much of the crappie-fishing action is beginning to move out of the shallows and back into the deeper areas. This is the time of year when crappies begin to move back to the brushpiles in the open areas of the lakes, as well as around the standing timber in Lake Marion.
May is prime time for both bream and shellcracker fishing on the beds. The May spawn for shellcrackers will usually be very good, but the bluegill/bream action will be some of the best of the year. Look for bream to bed on sandy bottoms around any form of wood or grass cover in shallow water.
May is the final month you can legally fish for stripers before the summertime prohibition begins. According to guide Kevin Davis, the owner of Black’s Camp, May fishing for stripers is excellent and provides a good opportunity to catch some quality fish.
“In late April and May, the stripers begin to migrate back from the rivers, and they prefer to get in deep water in both lakes,” said Davis, who relies heavily on his electronic equipment to determine where to fish.
“We’ll usually find the fish in 30 to 55 feet of water,” he said. “At this time of the year, the fish will sometimes suspend, but occasionally they’ll stack up near the bottom. I prefer to use the big ocean herring found in the lakes at this time of the year for live bait, and it’s an excellent time to catch a big striper. The striper fishery is definitely on the rebound in Santee Cooper. We’re enjoying the best striper fishing we’ve seen in many years.”
The S.C. Department of Natural Resources does not allow fishermen to keep Santee Cooper stripers from June 1 through Sept. 30.
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