Santee/Wateree

With shellcrackers on the bed I decided I would take Wednesday off to try and catch a box full. As it turned out the power company dropped the lake close to a foot over the last 5 days and took the water right off the beds I had found the week prior.

I failed to catch a single Cracker so I decided I would switch gears and try and catch a few crappie to save the day. The fishing was slow, but I did manage to beat out a limit catch of keepers. On Thursday I was hesitant to go with the expected rain and winds, but the desires were stronger than the weather system. I bought some minnows to see if they would help the bite. As it turned out the live bait saved the day.

The winds blew, and the rains started around 9:00am, the fish were scattered and not holding tight to structure. Pitching minnows under a float and letting them drift around and past the targeted structure proved to be the ticket that led to another limit catch. On Friday I was hesitant to fight the winds again. On a whim I threw my trolling rods and racks in the boat and high tailed it to lake Wateree. The bite started slow other than the over 100 small stripers I caught. I trolled in waters ranging from 12 to 18 feet and as the winds got up I vetured closer to a protcted shore and ran into the mother load of crappie, white bass, perch, and striper. At one time I had 8 white bass on a one time. As I reeled one at a time in, I would lay the poles off the side of the boat only to catch five more with jigs dangling on the surface. When I got the baits past the white bass and striper, some fine crappie were waiting below. All fish were caught long lining, with white and chartuece being the best color.

No pictures were taken Thursday and Friday. Heres the limit catch caught Friday on lake Wateree.