Well, 2013 was another great year for largemouth bass fishing on lake Moultrie. Look forward to a banner year in 2014!
Overall and throughout the year, I find my best success finding some deeper water ditches, channels, etc. (approx. 4-6 feet of water) and fishing the heavy, but scattered cover near it in 1-4 feet. Santee can be overwhelming with its size and plenty of cover, but I find best fishing areas can be found using your marine electronics and setting back and looking for the most prominent cover that has plenty of edges for bass to ambush prey (i.e. ? three cypress trees by itself off a point versus a big row of cypress trees in a forest). Also, just like when fishing docks, you shouldn?t necessarily focus on the docks, but what is under the water (secondary point coming out, deeper water near bank, brush pile/log/stump). Once you catch a fish, then repeat this pattern in the area you are fishing, but don?t waste your time on unproductive areas in between.
Another key factor I have found is to seek the cleanest water in the area you can find. The sudden flow of muddy water really shuts the fishing down in an area, which occurs often with rains, raising/lower lake, etc. If water is normally stained where you fish, then you?re okay.
Common bass patterns can be broken down depending on the area of the lake you fish:
Shallow bank grass, cypress trees, and pads are all good to fish with a swimming worm, frog, spinnerbaits, shallow crankbaits and texas rigged plastic worms. However, the off the bank grass like eel and hydrilla can hold more and bigger bass on the lake. Fish these grass beds with heavier spinnerbaits, big worms, fluke style plastics and rattletraps. Also, there are several more areas with docks that can be fished with plastic worms and jigs. Water color in Moultrie is usually very clear, so tone down to more natural colors for hard baits (silver/white) and watermelon/purple plastics.
Good fishing! Capt Chris