Santee Cooper Slugfest at Elite Series Event?

Luke Palmer - Photo courtesy of BASSMASTER

The Bassmaster Elite Series begins at Santee Cooper tomorrow, and it’s another one of those national tournaments that I’m excited about as a fan and as a part of the fishing media. No doubt, I will have the live tuned in while I work tomorrow and will be glancing at BASStrak throughout all weekend, no matter what I’m doing.

This one intrigues me at a few levels, beginning with the likelihood of a bunch of big fish being caught. Santee is a world-class largemouth fishery, with outstanding habitat and diverse and abundant forage, and all reports say the fishery is the healthiest it has been in decades.

Santee Cooper is also very familiar to me, which invariably magnifies interest in a major event. I’ve spent dozens of days fishing all over the 170,000-plus acres that makes up lakes Marion and Moultrie, so I know what areas look like and how they differ from a fishing standpoint as I watch the action unfold.

I’ve actually spent a lot of fishing for other species, including catfish, crappie, bluegill and stripers, on the Santee Cooper lakes, but time on the water doing any kind of fishing builds familiarity, and I’ve also enjoyed some outstanding bass fishing on these storied waters.

Adding a third layer of interest, the company I work for, PRADCO-Fishing, sponsors half a dozen Elite Series pros. One of them, Luke Palmer, won the most recent Santee Cooper Elite and finished fourth the year before. Jason Christie won a National Pro Tour event on Santee a couple ago.

About Santee Cooper 

Although often dubbed Santee Cooper Lake, two distinct reservoir and system of canals make up Santee Cooper, which was created in the 1940s. 

Lake Marion, known locally as the Upper Lake, covers 110,00 acres and has extensive flooded timber, a swampy upper end and vast shallow backwaters along its edges. 

Lake Moultrie (the Lower Lake) covers 60,000 acres. It’s basically round and looks wide open, but its bottom is completely covered with hills, valleys, ditches and other structure. It’s bound by vast, swampy backwaters.

Shallow areas of both lakes are loaded with cypress and tupelo trees and vast stands of vegetation, including hydrilla and eelgrass. Local anglers say the grass coverage is as extensive as they remember, undoubtedly contributing to the health of the bass population.

Santee Cooper is also fertile and is home to several shad and herring species, along with crawfish and various sunfish species to keep the bass well fed. 

Variety Likely

Unlike many major tournaments, where a couple of key approaches make the most sense, causing virtually everyone to fish the same way, a host of approaches are apt to produce at Santee Cooper right now, so anglers will be fishing a lot of different ways. It is also one of the Elite Series events where live sonar is not permitted, which tends to bring out more diverse angling approaches.

Topwater, pitching plastics to trees, cranking humps, swimming vibrating jigs and swim jigs, flipping grass, frog fishing, targeting a shad spawn… The possibilities go on and on. Big bags are apt to be caught with a variety of techniques and from all over the lakes. 

I look forward to seeing how it all unfolds - and hopefully with a story to write to start next week about a YUM or BOOYAH bait producing a win at Santee Cooper!

First Fish of the Morning - Santee Cooper Catfish

"That's what we want!" Capt. Brett Mitchell said as one of his catfish rods bowed hard. I scrambled to the rod and pried it out of the rod holder, and the fight was underway. Five minutes later, Mitchell slipped the net under what turned out to be a 27 1/2 pound Santee Cooper blue catfish.

We were drifting for blues on the Lower Lake, as Lake Moultrie is most often called in Santee Cooper Country. Photos for un upcoming article on Lurenet.com and fishing fun were the primary objectives. The latter was a given, spending a day on the lake Fishing With Brett. And with the first fish of the day -- a quality catfish -- having been caught, photographed and released before 7:30 a.m., a successful photo day was secured early.

Drifting is a highly efficient way to find actively feeding catfish and is very effective on the open waters of Lake Moultrie. Most catfish anglers drift with cut herring or other baitfish. Mitchell mostly drifts with cut chicken breast, favoring its durability and having found it extremely productive.

We ended up catching about 20 catfish (plus a few big longnose gar). The first fish of the morning was the largest, but the catch included a few in the 10- to 15-pound range. We caught the most fish and the best fish on the chicken, but actually switched to herring after lunch because we ran out of chicken and caught several more catfish on the cut baitfish.

Most cats were blues, with one channel in the mix. Blues are predominant in the open waters of Lake Moultrie and the main fish caught by drifting. It's always fun drifting and watching rods at Santee Cooper because any time one goes down the fish at the other end could way 5 pounds or 50 pounds.

Want to fish Santee Cooper? Blacks Camp can take care of all your needs.

 

First Fish of 2019

I'm not sure which is worse: that I didn't catch my first fish of 2019 until the about the third week of January or that it took a two more weeks to finally mention it in a blog post. Both are true, so I suppose it doesn't matter.

Fish No. 1 for me this year was the redfish pictured above, caught on a Bozka Salt Runner from Florida's Nassau River while I was fishing with Chris Holleman. It was in a high marsh area along the edge of the main river that you have to get into (and back out of) while the tide is pretty high or you'll be there till the next high tide! We managed to catch a couple of reds from that area and got out while we could. The same trip, which included time in the boat with Chris and with Nathan Johnson and Tim Mann, produced some more redfish, quite a few speckled trout and a few largemouth bass, although I didn't catch any of the bass, thus leaving my 2019 species list tally at two.

Next on the agenda is Santee Cooper, followed by Lake Guntersville, so it would seem I should start to get some freshwater species on this year's list. I would say, "reports to follow," but based on my recent blogging history and how it has compared to my intentions, I probably shouldn't state that as a fact quite yet.

Favorite Fishing Destinations Countdown: No. 5 - Santee Cooper Lakes, South Carolina

Time I've spent on the Santee Cooper Lakes spreads across three decades, going back to college days, and I've enjoyed dozens of memorable days fishing these two big South Carolina lakes. Favorite days, were I to attempt to pick a dozen or so, undoubtedly would include days catching flatheads, largemouths, stripers, blue catfish, crappie and bluegills (at least). Opportunities are diverse at Santee Cooper, and it seems that every kind of fish that lives in these lakes is plentiful and grows big.

For folks from other places, the Santee Cooper Lakes are Lake Marion and Moultrie (locally called the Upper Lake and Lower Lake), which are connected by a canal and impound the Santee and Cooper rivers through some complex engineering. The two lakes are distinctive, and each has its own character, but because they are connected and operated together, they tend to be viewed as a single massive (170,000 acres) fishery.  The lakes are fertile and offer highly diverse forage and extensive habitat, resulting in world-class fisheries for multiple species.

Santee Cooper first gained fame as the original home of landlocked striped bass when anadromous fish got trapped during the lakes' construction in the 1940s and ended up surviving and making spawning runs up the rivers. Big catfish are probably the lakes' current largest claim to fame. Folks travel from all over the country to sample Santee Coopers's legendary catfish, and many guides stay busy year-round with catfish trips. Blues and flatheads draw the headlines, but Santee Cooper holds claim to the world record channel cat, and channels still provide a fun opportunity for fast action at certain times. Santee Cooper is also famous for its giant shellcrackers and bluegills, highlighted by a former world-record shellcracker that came from the canal that connects lakes. And then there are the bass and the crappie, which are the main reasons why many anglers travel to these waters year after year.

Fishing is the main attraction for me, and I could go on and on about Santee Cooper angling opportunities. My fondness for the lakes extends far beyond its fisheries, though. I appreciate the variety of settings, from vast swamps at the upper end of Marion and around both lakes to the flooded forest in Marion's main body to the wide open water of Lake Marion. With that comes diverse wildlife, including gators, ospreys, wading birds and much more.

I also enjoy the atmosphere throughout Santee Cooper Country. These are fishing lakes first, and both are serviced by several true fish camps, where an angler can get a cabin or motel room, buy fresh bait and the tackle needed, hire a guide that goes out of the camp's docks, launch a boat and hang out in the restaurant to enjoy big servings of down-home cooking and hear plenty of fish stories.

I've spent many hours in the Black's Camp restaurant, enjoying catfish stew and a burger or a dinner buffet while gleaning wisdom from veteran guides.

Really, the biggest challenge about planning travel to Santee Cooper is figuring out when you would most like to go, which area you want to visit, and what species you want to target. Santee Cooper Country is a great resource to help with the planning. The website provides loads of great information, and if your plans allow you to travel through the town of Santee between 8:30 and 4:30, stop by their visitor center to look around and talk with someone in person.

#VistSanteeCooper

Kayak's First Rides

I can't imagine a finer place for any boat's inaugural ride than on the storied waters of the Santee Cooper lakes, and that's exactly where my new Old Town Vapor Angler 10 first found water. Trip logistics really only allowed my 13-year-old son Asher and I to do test rides during last week's trip to Black's Camp. However, we both spent enough time paddling and casting to get a solid feel for the ride, and we loaded and unloaded it a few different times and hauled it 250 miles each way, mostly at interstate speeds.

I gave the Vapor the first trial, going directly out of Blacks in backwaters along the edge of Lake Moultrie on the day we got to town while Asher fished from a boat we borrowed on site. That was a brief arrival day window, though, and our plan was to spend much more time doing similarly the final morning we were in town. Unfortunately, that morning a harsh wind swept directly into those backwaters, and we decided to steer toward home. We did opt to stop at Santee State Park, where Big Poplar Creek feeds Lake Marion, on the way home. The creek was protected from the wind, so we slipped the boat in the creek for Asher to give the kayak a brief try while I watched and took photos.

So far I'm delighted with this boat, and I suspect it will accompany me on a lot of my trips. I can load, unload and launch it alone easily enough, when needed, so it will open fishing access to many new areas, along with providing many new photo vantages.

Once Asher and I figured out the best set-up, the two of us could load the boat and strap it down for a secure ride in about five minutes. On the water. it glides nicely and is simple to control and quite stable and dry, despite its small size. The paddle rest works nicely putting the paddle right where it's needed, and the rod-holders get rods out of the way but in very easy reach.

Having given the new kayak a couple of very brief tests, I'm more eager than ever to get it out on a more significant fishing outing. Soon!

Sharing Santee Cooper Country

My first Santee Cooper Country adventure was nearly three decades ago with a college buddy, and I remember well my first Santee fish, a bass I caught from near the boat ramp at Santee State Park. That's another story for another time, but it was the start of a major fishing chapter, and one that thankfully continues to be written!

I wouldn't try to guess the number of days I've spent on Lake Marion and Moultrie, which together make up the 170,000-acre Santee Cooper system, but it has been a bunch. I've fished from swampy upper end of Lake Marion to the deep water near the spillway at Lake Moultrie and have spent days catching slab crappie from brushpiles, wrestling flatheads out of submerged timber, drifting for heavyweight blues, pulling bass from cypress knees, slip bobber fishing for giant bluegills and shellcrackers, chasing striper schools and more.

I've also gotten to share Santee Cooper's wonders with my son, Nathaniel (now 19) and a few other friends, and this week I get to do likewise with my 13-year-old son, Asher. We leave dark and early tomorrow for Black's Camp, which is the basecamp where I have spent the most time at Santee Cooper over the years and is one of my favorite destinations anywhere because of the fishing, the food, the fish camp atmosphere and especially the people.

The event officially starts tomorrow at dinnertime, but Asher and I will leave way early so we can have part of the day free to explore fabulous backwater areas in kayaks before kickoff. On Wednesday and Thursday we'll fish with guides, and both weather and the recent bite will dictate species targeted and approaches. I attended the same event a couple of years ago, and schooling stripers and blue catfish served up fabulous action. On Friday morning, we'll venture out in the kayaks one more time before starting toward home.

Of course, between time on the water, we'll enjoy great meals with many fishing industry friends and simply enjoy getting to spend time in Santee Cooper Country.

New Travel Companion

If you happen to see me during upcoming fishing travels, chances are good that I'll be toting extra equipment. My new Old Town Vapor 10 Angler fishing kayak is apt to top my Outback during a lot of future adventures because it will open so many opportunities for fishing and photos.

Weighing in at less than 50 pounds, this boat is easy to tote, and I can comfortably load it solo atop my little wagon. It's also only 10 feet long, which makes it a nice fit on the car and will make it easy to maneuver in tight places.

The new boat will accompany me on the road officially for the first time next week, when I'm Santee Cooper bound to spend a couple of days at Black's Camp. Beyond exploring the margins of Lake Moultrie or Marion, I might spend a little time in the Congaree Swamp. Seeing it atop the car, though (I tied it up there just to see how it would ride) I might not be able to stand waiting till next week! I might have to slide it into some local waters this week. Either way, I'll report back on the inaugural run.

Fishing with a Longtime Friend

Terry Madewell just held tight when I scurried to get the first catfish bite of the morning. Same as he did when he first introduced me to Santee Cooper catfishing 25 years ago. Same as he always does. Terry will tell you it's a business move. He wants photos. And in truth it never takes long for his camera to start clicking. I contend, though, that bigger factors are Terry's natural graciousness and his desire to see other people catch fish.

Terry and I spent yesterday with Linwood Thornhill, a legendary Santee Cooper guide who has guided on these lakes 15 years longer than I have been alive, and we had an outstanding day. We caught about a dozen cats up to 25 pounds in the morning, and then spent the afternoon catching about 50 stripers from schools. As good as the fishing was, though, I'd have to say that my favorite part of the day was just spending it with Terry, who is a friend and a mentor in this industry.

When I was just out of college and working for the South Carolina Waterfowl Association, Terry took me bass fishing on Lake Marion and answered questions about outdoor writing all day long. I still remember many conversations from that day. Terry also introduced me to several Santee Cooper catfish guides, and set up trips with some of them so we could fish together. It had been too many years since we fished together, though.

Terry's notepad and pen are never far from him, and he's always asking questions of guides, pros and other anglers, and taking notes for stories. He's also an avid fisherman himself, and he lived in Manning for many years, and I'd guess that with the exception of a few veteran local anglers like Linwood, Terry knows about as much about fishing these lakes for all species as anyone out there. He doesn't boast his knowledge, though. He just sits back and listens, has fun catching some fish and seemingly has even more fun watching everyone else catch fish.

For information about the Santee Cooper Lakes, check out Santee Cooper Country.

Confidence Backed

"Ready to catch 'em?" David Hilton asked as I stepped onto his pontoon boat this morning. "I'm going to wear you boys out!"

Most guides I fish with start the day with at least a few qualifiers, saying the fish "should" bite, or "they bit well yesterday, so we'll see"  Many quickly point out the wind, a high pressure system, a giant tournament that was just on the lake or some or the reason that catching fish might present problems. They like to keep expectations at least a little low so any measure of success seems extra good.

Not David Hilton. At least not today.

He was certain we'd catch a bunch. In fact, he was sufficiently confident in his approach that he was certain we'd start catching fish almost immediately.

The captain was right. We started catching Santee Cooper striped bass almost as soon as we started fishing, and by 10:30, we had caught and released 58 stripers. We tried some catfishing for a while and the wind kicked up in a big way, so we didn't sustain the same torrid pace, but by our best tally we ended up catching 75 stripers and a couple of blue cats.

I learned a lot today and got a bunch of good material for stories, and just as was promised, I'm worn out!

My Frist Santee Cooper Cast

With plans to travel to Black's Camp on Lake Moultrie today, I can't help but think about the first cast I ever made into the Santee Cooper Lakes. It was more than a quarter century, but I remember it almost as if it was yesterday.

It was an early spring morning, my second semester in college at the University of South Carolina, and I was with James Helms, a friend from South Carolina who had been building the Santee Cooper legend in my mind since the previous fall, when we met. James had a boat at school, so we'd fished Lake Murray together several times, but this was our the first opportunity we'd found to take a whole Saturday and fish Santee Cooper.

It was right at daybreak, and James had just launched the boat about halfway up Lake Marion (I believe at Santee State Park). While he parked the truck, I cast a Texas-rigged plastic worm into the fabled waters from the riprap bank. About two lifts into my presentation, I felt that telltale "thump, thump," paused a moment and set the hook solidly. A few minutes later I was unhooking a thick-bodied, 2 1/2-pound Santee Cooper largemouth.

If you fish much, you probably can guess the rest of the story. We fished from dark to dark on a perfect spring day, hitting some of the most beautiful bass waters you'll ever see, and didn't get another bite!

Ice Ready

It's official: I'm ice equipped. With the recent purchase of an auger, a few accessories like a scoop and bait pucks, and even a sled to drag stuff onto the lake, I now own the basic stuff needed to point the car north and go ice fishing on my own. I still don't own loads of gear or possess years of experience, but I have enough and know just enough to go and am excited about that idea.

 

I haven't set any ice plans in stone yet for this winter, but I have a couple of likely plans going. I'm certain I'll make it north at least a couple of times, and I'll likely do so by driving and try out my own gear at least once.

 

I'm actually debating traveling to the St. Paul Ice Show the first weekend in December to meet folks and learn much more, so if the ice is well in place by then I might add a couple of hard-water play days at that time. I've never been to that show, but it's the biggest one out there, and from what I can tell, the whole US ice community pretty well gathers on one place that weekend. It's a long drive to Minnesota, though, so we'll see.

 

First things first. The catfish are biting on the Santee Cooper lakes, and I'm headed that way tomorrow!

Autumn Creeping Our Way

The first official days of autumn typically don't seem much different from the final days of summer in North Georgia. September normally ends hot, and while w all try to pretend we're turning a corner, it doesn't normally feel that way and we really know better. This year has been different. Several damp, dark cool days have made it really feel like autumn has arrived, and we're even getting hints of color change in our dogwoods and a few other trees and bushes.

It makes me antsy to do some fall fishing. Asher and I did slip out to the pond yesterday afternoon, and we caught 10 bluegills and bass, but I'm eager to do stuff that's really driven by the season -- frog fishing on a grass lake, fall run brown trout, fall flathead fishing...

The fish that have been most on my mind of late have been the salmon, brown trout and steelhead that run up out of Great Lakes into rivers throughout that region this time of year. I've been watching a few reports and doing a bit of vicarious fishing. Looking at deadlines and other travel plans, that's probably as close as I'll get to that stuff this year, but you never know. I always keep an eye on bites and watch for windows of opportunity on the calendar.

Existing fall plans do include a trip to Alabama to fish Lake Guntersville and possibly Pickwick, so I might get to tap into at least a little frog fishing fun. I'm also going to Santee Cooper in November, so if the flathead bite happens to be happening...

Of course, I always look forward to do at least a little October and November fishing in the trout streams of North Georgia and western North Carolina. The fishing tends to be good at that time, the river are beautiful, creating outstanding photo opportunities.

Industry Updates & Weather Watching

Deadlines, distractions and a fast-moving clock kept me from finding my way to the blog world yesterday, but it was an interesting day in the fishing industry. Two new ventures by bass pros were announced, and while there's a bit of overlap in names and faces, the two companies seem to be otherwise unrelated.

Timmy Horton announced Profound Outdoors, a new lure company with lures created by a team of bass pros that will utilize a grass roots approach to sales. You can read the release on Timmy's facebook page, and if you look there, you'll see by the comments and shares that the announcement created a lot of buzz and a lot of questions. Timmy also reported on his page that he hopes to have the Profound Outdoors website live today, and I suspect that will answer a lot of questions, both about the structure and about the lures themselves.

The other announcement by a team of noteworthy pros was the creation of Pro Web Live, which brings home delivery of pro seminars via the internet. These are specific seminars at slated times, delivered with an exclusive feed and with the opportunity to ask questions live. This is the news that Dave Lefebre had mentioned a couple of days ago.

Related to Dave, I've been watching the weather in western Pennsylvania because I'm supposed to do some ice fishing with him in a week and a half. They are finally getting good, cold temperatures, but too much snow is keeping the ice that exists pretty insulted, which makes it tough for it to thicken properly.

I've also been watching weather around the Santee Cooper lakes, where I would have been catfishing yesterday had it not been pouring rain. I might get to try that one again next week, but if I'm going to do that, I'd better get back to writing fish stories.

Gear: Oliso Pro -- Vacuum Sealing Made Simple

No, I don't intend to cook soft-plastic lures, and I'm not looking at vacuum sealing as the new key to compact lure storage. In truth, I was just eager to try out the Oliso Pro VS97A Vacuum Sealer to see for myself it was as elementary to use as it appears in the demonstration videos. If you're like me, you've watched a few demonstrations of things that appeared effortless in the hands of experts but that weren't quite so simple at home! I also had some little people around me who were pretty eager to see just what that thing did.

Turns out the Oliso Pro really is that easy. We followed a few simple steps, and the inaugural attempt resulted a perfect seal with zero added challenges encountered, and in reality there really doesn't appear to be much more to learn. Of course, if you're someone who likes to test something a few times to gain confidence that you have it down, there's nothing to loose with this system because each bag is good for as many as a dozen uses, and the dishwater-safe bag remains full sized and fully intact. The new seal just goes in a different place.

Stand-out features of the Oliso ProVS97A are its "moist" setting, which allows you to seal fresh fish or marinated meats with no risk of ruining the machine with moisture, and extreme portability. The machine itself is compact, and it comes with a 12V adaptor, with everything packaged in a water-resistant carrying case. It also has adaptor for sealing special upright pantry bags and can even be used for canning; however, I'm guessing that I'll mostly be sealing Louisiana redfish, Santee Cooper catfish and such that's getting ready to travel back to Georgia and various jerky or fresh meat that I want to keep marinated or protected from elements on a camping, rafting or fishing trip.

Actually, my first real-life uses are probably only a couple of weeks away, which is part of why I wanted to do a test run with the plastic worms. Nathaniel and I will be camping, wading and fishing from a raft in just a couple of weeks, which means we'll have plenty of reason to have fresh food nicely sealed. Now I can feel confident that the vacuum sealing part  of the trip preparation will be quick, simple and efficient. In fact I'll most likely stick the sealer case in the back of the truck, just in case we want to prepare some more stuff while we're traveling!

Drifting the Diversion Canal for Santee Cooper Catfish

For more instructional fishing videos, be sure to check out our YouTube Channel.

Variety is the Spice of Santee Cooper Fishing

Yesterday's plan included probing deep-water brush for crappie and bluegills and drifting the canal with cut bait for blue cats in the current.

This afternoon we will set up over deep water in lower Lake Moultrie and fish live herring on down lines for big blues and stripers. However, we could just as well be going up onto shallow ponds around Marion or Moultrie to cast for largemouths or pitch worms under floats for shellcrackers or gearing up big with perch and gills in the bait tank to hunt flatheads.

One of my favorite things about the 180,000-acre Santee Cooper system (and there are many!) is the sheer variety of types of opportunities that are available pretty much all the time.  So many species abound in these lakes and grow to big sizes, but the variety extends way beyond the species mix because any given kind of fish can be caught many different ways.

Really the hardest thing about fishing down here for me is deciding which fun thing I want to do any given day!

Santee Cooper Cats & Smoky Mountain Trout

My next two fishing adventures will take me in totally different directions, but neither is terribly far from home. The biggest common denominator, I suppose, is that both are highly favored places for Nathaniel and me to visit.

Come Monday, my truck will be pointed toward Cross, S.C. for a visit to Blacks Camp in the heart of Santee Cooper Country. A family-run fish camp with friendly folks and great Southern cooking, Blacks is located at the mouth of the Diversion Canal, which connects the waters of lakes Marion and Moultrie. And rumor has it that the blue cats are tearing it up in the canal right now.

Cross has a decidedly Lowcountry feel, with moss-draped tupelo trees, huge gators, tea-colored waters and straight rural roads with little along them besides farm houses, country stores and old churches. Beyond its famous catfishing, Santee Cooper is the original home of land-locked striped bass and has produced a couple of former world record shellcrackers. Yet some anglers would reasonably argue that the best fishing is for largemouth bass, crappie or even bluegills. I'm pretty sure we will do some catfishing. Beyond the cats, we'll see what's biting best.

A day and a half after we return from Black Camp, Nathaniel and I will again get in truck, but this time it will be pointed north, and we'll be going uphill instead of downhill. Destination is Townsend, Tenn., just across the Great Smoky Mountains, where the rhododendron should be blooming and the trout should be feeding well.

We're actually headed to Townsend so that Nathaniel can play dulcimer music on the Pickin' Porch at the Wood 'n' Strings Dulcimer Shop on Saturday, June 1. However, we can't go to Townsend without fishing for trout in the cool clear waters that tumble down the steep slopes of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, though, and I should focus my fishing thoughts on Santee Cooper for now.

Santee Cats & Crappie

When I finished 2011 with a little largemouth from a pond near home, I sort of wondered what my first fish 0f 2012 would be. Turns out it was a catfish -- specifically a blue catfish -- and it came from Lake Moultrie, better known as "the Lower Lake" by folks in Santee Cooper Country. Nathaniel and I spent a fun day on the lake yesterday with Kevin Davis, owner of Blacks Camp. We split the day in half, catching catfish in the morning and pulling big crappie off deep brushpiles in the afternoon.

The crappie were using brush along the edge of a hump in nearly 30 feet of water. It is cool fishing because from above the surface it looks like you are in the middle of nowhere, but the boat positioning and depth control must be precise. Davis relies on his electronics, marker buoys and trolling motor to keep the boat where it needs to be. He uses two-foot "pulls" of line off the reels to place minnows and jigs at just the right depth, which normally means barely above the bulk of the brush's branches.

Next stop, North Dakota, for walleyes, perch and pike through the ice. That is unless I find myself back on the pond or waist deep in a trout stream some time in the next week or so!

This Year's Last Bass

Photo by Asher Samsel

My last bass of 2011 wasn't big, and there was nothing noteworthy about the way it it hit or fought. The best part about it was that I was in the canoe with two of my boys, Asher and Nathaniel. In fact, Asher, who is 7 years old, took the picture that documents my last bass of the year.

The three of us left the house around 10:00 and spent a few hours fishing, with that time split between two ponds on the same property. A few days ago Nathaniel had better success on "the middle pond" than on the pond where we normally start and where the canoe is kept, so we toted the canoe down the hill after we'd fished the upper pond a while this morning. It turned out that the upper pond was better today and accounted for four of our five fish.

I wonder what my first fish of 2012 will be. Nathaniel and I are Santee Cooper bound next week, so maybe it'll be a whopper blue cat!