KEN SCHULTZ - All Things Fishing

Posted: November 4, 2008

Santee, South Carolina – Captain Jimmie Hair surprised me when we met at Pineville and he asked how dead-set my fishing partner, Eric Burnley, and I were on catching bass, seeing as how the bigmouth bite had been off lately and the wind was whipping Lake Moultrie to an uncomfortable froth.

The plan on this early October morning, hatched long before, had been to fish for largemouths on either Lake Marion or Lake Moultrie, which comprise most of the long-heralded fish-catching area known as Santee Cooper Country. I figured we were set to soak some plastic worms, perhaps on a Carolina rig, and was expecting the wind to make strike detection tough.

"We can stay here and maybe catch a bass or two," he said, with clear emphasis on the word maybe, "but it will get rough out on the lake. Or we can go down to the Cooper River and fish in a more protected but totally different water for bass and probably have a better chance of success as well as maybe catch some redfish."

My spirits picked up instantly at the prospect of catching redfish, called spottails here, which was the furthest thing from my mind, and I’d have signed on instantly for nothing but redfish if Eric hadn’t been interested in catching some bass.

"The Cooper River," explained Hair, "is the outflow of Lake Moultrie, and downriver it’s tidal water that flows to the ocean through Charleston. In the upper section there are bass and the occasional redfish, in the middle section there’s some bass and more redfish as well as other saltwater species, and in the lower and more salty section there are no bass, just redfish, trout, and flounder."

Eric and I compromised on a bass-redfish double, and an hour later we were launching Hair’s bass boat at Bushy Creek Landing, idling through distinctly tidal wetlands and making a left turn up the Cooper. After running on plane for awhile, Hair pulled the boat into the marshy mouth of a small tributary creek.

Redfish angling, bass style
"I call this fishing for reds, bass style," said Hair as he pulled out a 1/4-ounce spinnerbait with a gold arm and single gold Indiana blade, dressed with a chartreuse-tailed plastic shad body. This is my best lure for fishing here."

"For redfish, too?" I asked.

"Yes sir. This is made of thick wire so it’s tougher than the usual spinnerbait, which redfish will tear up, and it’s made of titanium, which stands up well. And the gold blade really attracts ‘em. Reel it on a steady retrieve, or lift and drop it deeper."

I fished the spinnerbait as he suggested, just as if I was fishing for bass, tossing it to every marshy point, fallen tree, and log. Twenty minutes later I caught and released a 14-inch redfish, my first ever on a spinnerbait, and didn’t need to switch lures the rest of the day.

Hours later we’d tallied a dozen reds, which included several in the 4-pound class and one 7-pounder; two largemouths, one about 3 pounds; two seatrout; and two flounder, one of which weighed almost 3 pounds. What a treat to have that diversity and amount of action on light tackle, and while fishing just as you might if you were fishing for bass.

The tidal stage had been an hour before high slack when we arrived, and the water was falling and running pretty well when we left, which was about the ideal range according to Hair, who says that as long as you can see mud on the banks, you can fish like we were doing. And, to help prove a point, he caught a few of the reds, as well as the larger flounder, on his second-best lure, a 1/3-ounce gold spoon with a red treble hook, casting into the deeper creek-channel areas. He also lost a redfish that took a Texas-rigged green pumpkinseed worm.

Big catfish in the lakes
Speaking of diversity, it is eminently possible to visit the Santee Cooper region and to not only enjoy this kind of fishing, but, of course, to have success on one of Santee’s greatest attractions, giant catfish.

Monster blue and flathead catfish, as well as large channel cats, are produced so routinely here that it doesn’t cause a stir to say after a day of fishing that you’ve caught a 20- or 30-pounder. "Oh, nice," is about the reaction you’re likely to get. So prodigious and prolific is the amount of baitfish – gizzard and threadfin shad and, at times, blueback herring and menhaden – plus white perch, bream, and other panfish, that a catfish can hit 30 pounds in 6 to 7 years.

I caught a 30-pound blue, in fact, on the following day, fishing with Capt. LeRoy Nettles, a veteran guide who operates in what has become the traditional Santee Cooper method – a 30-foot pontoon boat equipped with fifteen or more (twenty in Nettles’ case) rail-mounted rod holders.

Fishing out of a pontoon boat in the middle of these big lakes is quite different from being in a bass boat. With plenty of room, and round-the-boat rails equipped with numerous rod holders, it’s possible to fish an array of rods and baits while anchored or drifting in choice spots. Nettles baited circle hooks with chunks of freshly cut blueback herring, and lowered these offerings to the bottom in 25 to 30 feet of water while we drifted across an old swampy area with various contour changes.

This occurred on Lake Moultrie, the lower and smaller of the two Santee Cooper lakes, which fortunately was not roiled by winds on this day. The first catfish that we hooked, which came just 20 minutes after starting, was the 30-pounder, which felt like it had a lot of weight from the moment I pulled the pulsing rod from its holder.

About five hours of fishing yielded a half-dozen blues and one channel cat, which Nettles deemed slow. "It’s not uncommon," he said, "to catch between thirty and fifty cats when the fishing’s hot."

Gator hotspot, too
Speaking of hot, the alligator population in South Carolina, and locally in the Santee Cooper region, has become substantial – estimated at over 100,000 individuals according to published reports. This year the state conducted its first hunting season to help thin the herd, issuing permits on a lottery basis. The end of the season coincided with my visit, and from what I observed I’d say that the possibility exists to visit this area in the future and combine a fishing expedition with some alligator hunting.

Obviously you can also combine fishing with deer, boar, and quail hunting, but an alligator hunt is a bit different and unique.

One afternoon I watched two men and a young woman struggle with a 12 1/2-foot alligator that they had shot with a bow. Two and a half hours after all three of the hunters – in a 15-foot bass boat – had each tethered a line on their ‘gator and brought it under control to issue a final shot to the head, the battle was over. When I last saw them near dark, they were towing 750 pounds of alligator to the nearest launching ramp.

I’m thinking that sometime someone’s going to come in at the end of the day reporting that they had caught a 30-pound catfish in the morning, and a 12-foot alligator in the afternoon.

DETAILS
Location/getting there: Santee Cooper is southeast of Columbia and northwest of Charleston, with the upper part of Lake Marion bisected by I-95.
Info sources: Contact Santee Cooper Country; in SC call 803-854-2131; outside SC call 800-227-8510; www.santeecoopercountry.org.
Prime times: Year-round on the Cooper River; February through May for largemouth bass; and from spring through late fall for catfish, with November prime for especially big specimens.
Gear needs: All tackle, bait, and lures are provided on guide boats, but you can bring your own if you desire. For the fishing mentioned here, use a medium-action 6- to 7-foot rod on the Cooper River, and a spinning or baitcasting reel spooled with 10- to 14-pound line. Much heavier gear is used for catfish.
Guides: Captains Eddie Campbell and Leroy Nettles are longtime fishing guides who specialize in catfish. Contact Campbell at 843-514-3201 or visit www.SCBigCats.com. Contact Nettles at 843-351-2251 or visit www.captleroysguideservice.com. http://www.finfinder.com,Capt. Jimmie Hair does not fish for catfish, but specializes in bass in the lakes and river, as well as redfish and other species on the Cooper; contact him at 803-492-9245 or visit www.jimmiehair.com.. You can obtain tackle, fishing licenses, and other items at various locations.
Accommodations/dining: There are numerous accommodation types in the area. I stayed at, and can recommend, Clark’s Inn in the town of Santee, which also has a good restaurant as part of its facility. For information, visit www.clarksinnandrestaurant.com or call 803-854-2101. Many dining options exist as well. I can recommend Captain Kirk’s and Captains Quarters in addition to Clark’s.
Etcetera: You can fish on your own in this area if you have the boat, the tackle, and the knowledge, and there are many access locations on both lakes and on the Cooper River. Various attractions exist in the area, which are listed on the Santee Cooper Country website, including 175 miles of paddling trails (www.berkeleyblueways.com); the 245,000-acre Francis Marion National Forest (http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/fms/forest/about/fm.shtml); the Santee National Wildlife Refuge (http://www.fws.gov/santee/); and assorted swamp tours. – Ken Schultz
Note: This information was accurate when it was published on kenschultz.com. Be sure to check rates, sites, and details directly with the companies or individuals in question before planning your trip.