September is a month of change on the Santee Cooper lakes in terms of weather, fishing conditions and patterns. While fishing has been good throughout the summer, a bit of transition into fall weather and fall fishing conditions will be a good thing, according to several guides.
Of all the fishing news, one of the bright spots for most has been the crappie fishing. Reports from most guides confirm that the fall fishing for crappie last year was sensational, beginning in September. The consensus is this year should be excellent.
Guide Pete Pritchard (803-478-7533) said that he certainly expects the fishing this fall to be as good or better that last year.
“After having several years of what I’d call ‘sub-par’ crappie fishing on the lakes, we had a great fall season in 2010,” Pritchard said. “We’ve obviously had a couple of very strong year-class spawns of crappie, and we’re catching a lot of fish. Most importantly, we’re catching a lot of keeper-sized fish in different sizes. So I take that as a very positive sign that the spawns have been good, and we have at least a couple of strong year-classes. Plus, we’ve continued to catch plenty of slabs, so now we have both quality and quantity again.”
Steve English (843-729-4044) another guide out of Blacks Camp on the Diversion Canal, fishes for crappie on both Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie, and he echoes the same positive vibes.
“The crappie fishing has actually been very good throughout the summer this year, and I’m expecting another great fall season,” English said. “In fact, fishing for a number of species has really improved in the past couple of years, and we’re all very excited about the fishing for crappie as well as bass and catfish.”
Both Pritchard and English recommend either live minnows tight-lined over and in sunken brushpiles. Depths where fish will be found will vary, and as a rule, the fish will be found shallower in Lake Marion than in Lake Moultrie. On Lake Marion, look for fish in the 12- to 20-foot depth range, but on Lake Moultrie, you may find fish down to 30 feet or deeper.
It’s a day-to-day process of locating fish, but during September and right on into October, once you locate some crappie, odds are good you’ll find plenty of fish in that specific area.
Pritchard also said September is an excellent month for catfish action.
“While a lot of fishermen focus on the blue catfish, which is the predominate species we catch, the fishing for flatheads and channel catfish is also very good during September — and it even gets better in October,” he said. “We’ll fish the main-lake area of lower Lake Marion, using cut shad or herring in areas where we mark plenty of baitfish. Flatheads will readily take fresh cutbait, but using some live bait is a great way to target these fish. Using some of both is often a good idea.”
Kevin Davis, owner of Blacks Camp (843-753-223) said September is also an excellent time to fish the Diversion Canal for catfish.
“One of the keys will be water flow, and if there’s good water flow though the Canal, you can bet there will be catfish there,” Davis said. “Blues, flatheads and channel catfish will all be found along the Canal during September and throughout the fall. Look for these fish at the mouths of the creeks entering the Canal and in the deeper holes and places where bottom depths change along the Canal.”
Davis said the action on largemouth bass is also very good during this time of the year.
“The largemouth bass fishing is good in both lakes in fairly shallow water,” Davis said. “One of the aspects I like is that by September, we’re seeing quite a few fish topwater, schooling in the shallow flats, so that adds extra excitement to the fishing. Most of the fish will be taken around cover using bottom-bumping lures, as well as crankbaits. But keep a rod rigged with a heavy swimming-minnow lure you can cast a long distance to breaking fish. Some of these fish will be in the 4- to 5-pound class and will really add some zest to your bass fishing.
‘As the month progress into October, I look for the largemouth bass fishing and topwater activity to continue and actually improve.”
September also signals deer season getting into full swing in the counties around the lakes. Both private lands and some WMAs around the lakes will offer excellent hunting during the 2011 season.
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