The fishing action on the Santee Cooper lakes is as hot as the weather in July — if you know where to go and what to do. There’s literally round-the-clock action when considering both daytime and nocturnal fishing action for a variety of species.
“The catfishing action is red-hot for really big blue catfish, especially at night,” according to guide Marlin Ormseth. “Once July rolls around, I fish strictly at night, and the action on the big blue catfish keeps right on rolling. I fish Lake Moultrie, but others do exceptionally well on Lake Marion at this time of the year.
“I’ve found that by drift-fishing at night. I tend to not only catch more fish, but much larger fish on average,” said Ormseth (843-825-4713). “A variety of different cut baits will work well, including bream, perch and herring. I’ve found it best to drift fish along the ledges and humps in 20 to 35 feet of water. Sometimes, we’ll find some big fish in shallow water, but fish very near the deeper water for the best chances of hooking into the big catfish.”
According to guide Pete Pritchard, crappie-fishing action actually becomes more consistent and productive on both lakes as well during the summer heat.
“Crappie are solidly locked into the deep-water, summertime pattern by July, and it actually makes catching them more predictable,” said Pritchard (803-478-7533). “The key is to locate woody cover on deep brush along the drops throughout the lakes.
“There is some natural cover where the fish will hold, but a lot of the best places will be the brushpiles placed by crappie fishermen for that specific purpose,” Pritchard said. “Big crappie can be caught, but it often requires fishermen to stay on the move and cover several different areas.”
Pritchard said the catfish action is stable on Lake Marion during July, and fishing can be good both day and night.
“Most of the fish will be hold in the 18- to 22-foot depth range, usually near deeper water or heavy cover in the lower end of Lake Marion,” Pritchard said. “For blue catfish, cut herring is the best bait. If you’re looking for flathead action, then live bait is usually best. Both anchoring and drifting will produce good results, but because of the underwater cover, the areas for drifting are limited on the upper lake.”
Bonnie Agnew, the manager at Jack’s Creek Landing on Lake Marion, said a number of different species will be biting this month.
“The catfish will be very active in the main lake above the I-95 Bridge,” said Agnew (803-478-2793). “Most of the catfish will be caught near the river channel in our portion of the lake during the summer months. Usually, the fish will be found along the river ledges and humps in 15 feet of water and deeper during the day. Usually, the fish will move onto the shallower flats at night.”
Agnew said there will be good bream and shellcracker fishing in the upper end of Lake Marion.
“The big bedding action will have slowed, but if fishermen will get back into heavy cover in out-of-the-way places, some good limits of quality bream and shellcracker can still be made,” she said. “Fishermen will find them scattered around trees and brush in three to six feet of water.
“The largemouth bass fishing will also be good in the upper end of the lake,” she said. “Most of the bass are caught in four to 10 feet of water around heavy cover. Bottom-bumping baits, as well as deep-diving crankbaits will work best. Look for topwater schooling action as well, especially early and late in the day.”
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