The drawdown of the Santee Cooper reservoirs, caused by this summer’s drought, has made it tough for fishermen to find places where they can launch their boats.
But once on the water, the fishing is as good as ever.
Capt. Dave Broome of Dave Broome’s Guide Service (803-496-8555) really worked on the blue catfish this past week, and he expects even better fishing as the water – or what’s left of it – continues to cool off.
“We’ve been catching between 13 and 18 per trip, mostly blues, out of the upper lake (Lake Marion),” said Broome, who usually guides out of Rock’s Pond Marina, but has had to take his pontoon boat elsewhere because of unusually low water levels.
Despite the lakes being more than four feet below normal fall pool, Broome said that catfish haven’t headed to the deeper channels just yet. He’s been catching most of his fish from 14 to 15 feet deep, on deep flats or around ledges that drop into deep water.
“I’m drifting; I’m not fishing in the deeper channels, although I am going across them,” he said. “The baitfish are still scattered because the water is still warm. When it cools down some more, the baitfish will start to congregate more in the deeper water and we’ll really start to do well on the catfish.”
Broome has been drifting cut threadfin shad or blueback herring on a standard “Santee rig,” which consists of an egg sinker threaded onto the line and tied to a barrel swivel. Below the barrel swivel is a leader about three feet long, with a float threaded on about halfway from the swivel to the hook.
“I’m catching them on the ledges and flats where they’re pulling up to feed,” he said. “You make several drifts across a flat, and you keep moving toward deep water, but we’re not catching any out in the channels.”
Be the first to comment