You can beat August heat

Two-pronged approach works for Santee cats

Despite the heat and humidity, there are a number of options for finding excellent fishing on the Santee Cooper lakes this month. Deep water or heavy cover are prime areas for some species, but fishing at night can also be good, and anglers can find the fish in shallower water.

Buster Rush, a longtime guide on Lake Marion, said the catfishing is a tale of two totally different scenarios.

“I primarily fish Lake Marion, and during the day, we’ll do a lot of drift fishing in 18 to 25 feet of water,” said Rush (803-432-5010). “I know they fish deeper on Lake Moultrie, but on the upper lake, that about right.

“I’ll usually avoid the part of the lake that is full of trees and underwater debris, but there are a lot of deepwater areas where the underwater cover is not so bad. Using drift rigs with the pencil weights, I’ve found that we can avoid most of the snags and still effectively fish.

“Another tactic that works well in August is to fish the mouths of the coves in 10 to 12 feet of water and catch the fish as they move shallow to forage at night,” Rush said. “The shad will move into the coves in the shallower water, and the catfish will follow. For this type of fishing, I’ll usually anchor and cast baits around the boat to cover a lot of different areas. At times, we’ll even find the fish up in 3 to 4 feet of water at night. For either day or night fishing, I’ll use cut blueback herring, white perch or bream as bait.”

The catfishing on Lake Moultrie is also productive this month, according to guide Marlin Ormseth, who said the key is deep-water trolling along the drops and ledges in 28 to 40 feet of water.

“With the water temperature often reaching 80 to 90 degrees at this time of year, it’s crucial to fish deep,” said Ormseth (843-825-4713). “I find during August, it’s important to really work along those drops and ledges, and I use my trolling motor to keep the boat right in position where I want it. That’s why I refer to it as trolling more than simply wind-drifting. Staying right on the target will make a big difference in the catch.”

Ormseth uses bream as his primary bait this time of the year. He will use fresh-caught bream, and the fresh bait increases his odds of also hooking big flatheads.

“I’ll catch 10-to-1 blues over flatheads, but big flatheads are occasionally caught on fresh cut bait,” he said.

Rush also guides for crappie, and as excepted, a lot of the action in August will be in deep water over submerged brush.

“Many times, we’ll find the crappie holding around brush down to 22 feet of water,” Rush said. “However, August seems to be the month when the fish really begin to turn on, and it is actually a very productive month. Sometimes the fish will move into water and brush as shallow as 10 to 13 feet deep, which is surprising to some fishermen.

“During August, the crappie fishing gets very good and continues to improve into September, when I think the fishing is typically some of the best of the year. Minnows tight-lined over and into the brush is the best tactic for me at this time of year, regardless of what depth I find the fish. But some fishermen may actually be fishing too deep if they’re not occasionally checking that 10-foot depth range.”

Bass fishermen are typically on the lake early to take advantage of any shallow water fish action according to guide Chris Heinning.

“To cope with the August heat, I get out early and will work topwater lures such as a Devils Horse or buzzbait around shallow flats and points with cover,” said Heinning (803-905-1991). “Sometimes early, there will be some schooling action I will be watching for as well. Once the as the sun gets up, I’ll stick to bottom bumpers such as worms and start fishing trees, grass and other heavy cover in 4 to 6 feet of water. One pattern that is usually productive is to find a small ditch or depth change around the 6-foot depth and work that transition zone into deeper water, as long as there’s some cover around.

“Overall, the largemouth fishing is pretty good on both lakes during August; the biggest issue is the heat, and that’s why on most day we’re usually done by mid-day. Late afternoon and evening will again produce some feeding fish action.”

Bream fishing is good early and late in the day on both lakes in fairly shallow water using Beetle Spins as well as crickets or worms. During the mid-day, the bream are usually found in deeper water, often holding on the same brush piles as the crappie.