Brushes With Fishes

Knowing that variety would serve my photo needs best, Kevin Davis of Blacks Camp decided to take us brush-hopping. He had some offshore brush that he thought would be holding fish, and as usual, his expectations were right on target. Fishing directly over brushpiles, which he had saved as waypoints in his GPS unit, we used minnows, jigs and crickets to wrangle in bluegills, crappie, largemouths and a shellcracker.

We used measured "pulls" of line off our reels to count our offerings down to the fish. Depth is important for fishing brush because you have to go deep enough for the fish to find your offerings, but if you let your baits fall too deep you end up catching the cover instead of the fish. And if you disturb the fish's home too many times, they'll often stop feeding.

Kevin places his brushpiles strategically, often on flats next to channel drops or on the tops of hills. The brush provides cover to concentrate the fish along natural travel routes. He catches crappie and bream year 'round from his brushpiles, and at times they also produce good fishing for Santee Cooper's famous catfish, 'crackers and stripers.

Comparing Catches

Calvin contends that his Santee Cooper catch was bigger than mine, but we didn't actually weigh my white perch, so who is to say for sure?

Old Friends & A Favorite Place

Later this morning, the truck will be pointed east - headed toward Blacks Camp on the Santee Cooper Lakes. Friendly folks, fine fishing and great country cooking are just a few of the things that make Blacks Camp one of my very favorite places to visit.

We'll fish some for shellcrackers and stripers because I have some specific story needs for those species. The world record shellcracker came from Santee's dark waters, and it was there that fisheries biologists first discovered that stripers could survive in an inland impoundment after the lakes were built in the 1940s. Beyond those species, we may also go after crappie, bluegill, bass or big cats. Who knows? The options are pretty much endless at Santee Cooper.

Before we get to the lakes, though, we'll make a couple stops - first do a bit of fishing in a smaller lake I'm wanting to explore, and then to swing by a gathering of the South Carolina Outdoor Press Association in Clinton, SC. It's a three-day gathering and we'll only make tonight's dinner, but it will be a joy to see some friends from the writing industry who I have not gotten to visit with in person for numerous years.

Probably no internet on this trip, by the way, so the fishing reports will have to wait till I return. Guess I'd better get to packing now!

Win, Win, Win Deal

A cool new lure kit from lurenet.com is a winner in at least three different ways.

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-For the future's sake, $1 from every purchase goes to the Future Fisherman Foundation, which administers great programs, like Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs.

Learn More.

No Snow, At Least

Well, the snow didn't materialize today. Just a cold rain and a strong north wind. The walleyes didn't materialize, either, but that's OK. I was glad to get out on the water one more time while in Western Pennsylvania and to learn a little bit about lead-line trolling - a tactic I've had only scattered exposure to in the past. We did have a couple fish on, but they got away. (Must have been big ones, I guess!)

On the way to Lake Pymatuning, which straddles the Pennsylvania/Ohio border, fellow outdoor writer John Neporadny commented that he'd never fished in Ohio before. That got me thinking, and I hadn't either. We spent some of our time trolling in Ohio waters, so now I've fished in that state. Back to Georgia tomorrow.

Seeing Spots

"Peacock bass!" we jested when we saw the unusual spots on the sides of the jumbo bass I pulled from Conneaut Lake today. It was a pure largemouth, though, that tipped the scales to 6 pounds, 6 ounces. The big bass hit a Sebile Flatt Shad, as did a northern pike, a smallmouth and even a small muskie. Oh, and that snow the weatherman had been talking about... Some of it really did fall today. More in the forecast for tomorrow, which is scheduled to be a walleye day.

Soft Swimmer Meets Pike

Having just gotten word from another boat that they had caught largemouths, smallmouths and pike close to the bank on Sebile Soft Swimmers, we headed for the shallow water, re-rigging as we went. Three casts later we were in on the Conneaut Lake action, with a big northern pike on the line.

The Soft Swimmers turned out to be the hot bait for almost everyone in our group today. The big exception was Gary Dollahon, who picked a Gene Larew Biffle Bug as the best largemouth bait before we ever got in the boats this morning. Sticking with his plan, Dollahon and his Texas-rigged "bug" outfished everyone prior to lunch and produced the best largemouth of the day.


Tomorrow we're going deeper for big white bass and hope to get in on some jigging action before the hard rain (and snow?) arrives.

Snow?

I hop on a plane to travel to Pennsylvania tomorrow, and guess what the weather report shows for later this week? Yep. Snow. Only a 30 percent chance, but snow, nonetheless an highs all week in the low 40s. I guess I'd better make sure I have plenty of warm clothes packed. It's actually sort of exciting to me, because I get to get on a plane an return to Georgia and comfortable fall weather at the end of the week. And snow or no snow, the big smallmouths and the white bass are reported to be biting!