When I moved away in 2006 to finish my master’s degree, the catfishing was phenomenal. We caught tons of fillet-size cats and of course the occasional “side of beef”.
Now that we have moved back, I find the lakes barely produce anything. I’ve tried a couple of my favorite spots and tactics and have gotten completely, utterly skunked, even at night.
I’ve also noticed a TON of hydrilla in Moultrie. Not sure about Marion or the Cooper River.
Did the big drought that hit a few years ago (when water levels dropped so low) have such a hard impact on the fish? Any other ideas?
Perhaps, but most of them that I know of put a self-imposed limit on them anyhow. That, and I have never seen a guide in the place I catch the most (since it’s mostly fillet sized cats and not trophies).
My suspicion is that it’s something environmental. Are they still running the fish lift up in St. Stephen? Hopefully the baitfish can still get through it and the locks on the Cooper.
Santee has long been overfished for catfish. I used to take customers out with guides and was always amazed at the number of trot lines strung out everywhere and the majority were not tagged. There are also a lot of illegal brush hooks around as well. The changes in the trot line rules were long overdue imho.
I could see the trotlines causing problems. The only place I’ve ever seen the DNR checking was below the dam on Marion, for people slipping past the rope/fence.
Hopefully the population will rebound soon. I know there have to be still some monsters in the system that can rebuild the population. I like the 36" max size regulation.
try fishing the deep water edges of the hydrilla.
the hydrilla is what made santee so great and i’m glad to see it making a comeback- you just need to fish differently.
live or cut bait along drops and on and around humps will always produce- sometimes you just need to move to find them.
as the water cools the cats will follow the schools of shad out toward the deeper water.
use your fish finder and find the bait.
I am still thinking that massive drought did something to them. They must not have had any good spawns in those years, because it’s the fish in the 2-4 year size range (2-10 pounds) that I’m accustomed to catching, and there don’t appear to be any around in any numbers.
try fishing the deep water edges of the hydrilla.
the hydrilla is what made santee so great and i’m glad to see it making a comeback- you just need to fish differently.
live or cut bait along drops and on and around humps will always produce- sometimes you just need to move to find them.
as the water cools the cats will follow the schools of shad out toward the deeper water.
use your fish finder and find the bait.
Catfishing is still good. Rockfish are the ones that really declined.
That’s right, rockfish are no more! Don’t waste your time!!
“Miss Amanda”
-KeyWest
-Bluewater 2020CC
-Yammy F-150 www.joinrfa.orgGod is GOOD!! ALL the time!!
The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.
The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.
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Catfishing is still good. Rockfish are the ones that really declined.
That’s right, rockfish are no more! Don’t waste your time!!
Be careful of what you say as the Feds are watching you Miss Amanda [:0]! You better get you a fake mustache and be prepared to plan on fishing out of a big, Key West Bayboat in a couple of weeks to avoid being thrown in jail!
As far as the cats go, IMO, yes there are still plenty to be caught. Still, the commercial and recreational trotlines take their toll, especially when it’s non-stop. The guides do take a lot of fish, but they manage their resource pretty well. In the end, I think the fishery just gets hammered too much. A 20# fish now turns heads and makes it to the magazines when before it wasn’t even spoken about.
“Miss Amanda”
-KeyWest
-Bluewater 2020CC
-Yammy F-150 www.joinrfa.orgGod is GOOD!! ALL the time!!
The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.
The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.
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“The problem that infuriates you the most is the one you are meant to solve.”
If you don’t think it is the guides, you should take a closer look. There are a lot of them in the upper lake. Drifting cutbait with 16 rods on a pontoon for 5 hours day after day guide after guide puts a hurt on them. Maybe when you see them wheel barreling catfish out of the boats you’ll change your mind.
I am friends with a couple guides on FB. Day after day they post pictures of coolers full of catfish. This summer was the worst summer i have ever had with catching catfish on the lake. Esp at night. I used to hammer the cats at night. Throwing a good bit of them back. This summer i was lucky if i got 2 or 3 bites in a entire night. Guides have def put a hurting on it
Catfishing is still good. Rockfish are the ones that really declined.
That’s right, rockfish are no more! Don’t waste your time!!
“Miss Amanda”
-KeyWest
-Bluewater 2020CC
-Yammy F-150 www.joinrfa.orgGod is GOOD!! ALL the time!!
The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.
The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.
</font id=“blue”>
It is nothing like it used to be though. I remember going out and casting into big schools busting on the surface. You would be lucky to see a school of big stripers busting anywhere anymore.
Catfishing is still good. Rockfish are the ones that really declined.
That’s right, rockfish are no more! Don’t waste your time!!
“Miss Amanda”
-KeyWest
-Bluewater 2020CC
-Yammy F-150 www.joinrfa.orgGod is GOOD!! ALL the time!!
The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.
The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.
</font id=“blue”>
It is nothing like it used to be though. I remember going out and casting into big schools busting on the surface. You would be lucky to see a school of big stripers busting anywhere anymore.
Your right, I haven’t seen the giant schools on top in some time. What I have seen and looking forward to experiencing again shortly, is my depthfinder being blacked out…nevermind…don’t waste your time!
“The problem that infuriates you the most is the one you are meant to solve.”
