5/17/07

Lakes Marion And Moultrie promise great channel catfishing
By Terry Madewel
Part 1 of 2

Terry Madewell Photo

Catfishin’ isn’t just for the boys! Jaime Madewell with two terrific channel cats.

Looking at a 60-quart cooler packed to the top with catfish, caught in just three hours, underscored the meaning of a successful fishing trip. It was the kind of fishing trip that more anglers should take advantage of ... specifically fishing for channel catfish.

I believe the primary purpose of a channel catfish is to provide fast action, a hard fight, loads of fun and fine table fare. This almost forgotten fish species at the Santee Cooper lakes of Marion and Moultrie provide all the above – and then some. I have to think back no further than last May when I was fishing with some friends on of the most fun-filled trips of the year. I didn’t even get to catch a fish ... there was no time.

The channel catfish were so cooperative I simply didn’t have time.

When fishing for channel catfish on these lakes, I’ll usually rig eight rods so I can effectively fish a lot of different areas simultaneously. I anchored the boat in seven feet of water, adjacent to a drop that quickly fell to about 22 feet of water. This is a typical and ideal pattern for this month and throughout much of the summer. When beginning early in the morning, I’ll fan cast the rods around the boat to cover all depths of water. Typically, there will be some early morning feeding activity on top of the ledge in three or four feet of water. As the run rises and the bright light hits the water, the fish generally move back toward the ledge and into deeper water where they typically stay until late evening. We’ll usually catch several fish in the deeper water early as well.

I had things organized pretty well, or so I thought, in hopes of getting all eight rods baited and cast out before the fish started biting. I had fished this spot a couple of days prior and knew the fish were working this area rather heavily. As usual, I was using Doc’s Catfish Getter Dip Bait, the prime bait for many local anglers who fish for channel catfish.

I only managed to get four rods out before the first fish bit. Daughter Jaime snatched the rod from the Driftmaster Rod holder (I strongly recommend the use of a quality rod holder) and the rod arched in a deep bow. I heard the drag slip as I grabbed the net and a couple of minutes later I slipped the net under one kid’s eight-pound catfish. Before I took the net out of the water, I netted a two-pound fish her buddy had hooked and brought to the boat, not waiting for Jaime to land hers.

While I was re-baiting those two rods, both girls hooked fish on the remaining two rods. I scarcely had time to cast the second re-rigged one out when I had to net fish once again.

A couple hours of feverish work later I finally gave up. We had all eight rods in the boat, un-baited, and four fish flopping on the floor. The girls told me they’d push me in the lake if I tried to re-bait at that moment. We all took a well-deserved break before starting again. By 9:30 that morning we were headed back home with a days worth of fishing action crammed into three hours. It almost took as long to clean the fish as it did to catch them.

Such is not the exception when fishing for the channel catfish of our lakes. Overshadowed by their bigger relatives, the blue and flathead catfish, the channel catfish provide outstanding fishing throughout the summer months. They are relatively easy to locate, not difficult to catch and provide great action on light-to-medium tackle. They’re great for hard-core anglers or for a family adventure. You can’t ask much more from a fish than that.

While their average size doesn’t rival that of the blues and flatheads, the world record channel catfish of 58 pounds did come from these waters. Most of the channel catfish caught will be in the 1-6 pound class, but fish in the 10-15 pound class are occasionally taken. When fishing the structures we’ll discuss, with the Doc’s bait, catapla worms, night crawlers or live minnows, you occasionally catch some blue catfish, too. Many of the blues are the same size class as the channel catfish, but often they’re much larger. A 15-30-pound blue on light tackle can make even veteran anglers anxious. Doc’s stink bait, a cheese-based concoction that’s been around since 1927, is really all you need for these willing-to-bite fish.

The key to catching these fish throughout the summer is the proximity of deep water. As noted earlier, you’ll often find them foraging in the shallows very early and late in the day, but most of the time they’ll be moving along the drops in 10-25 feet of water.

Use your graph recorder to work along the drops and ledges, looking for a closely grouped cluster of fish. Often, I’ll find the fish right at the base of the drop, where the steep slope levels off. This may occur in 10-12 feet of water or it may be over 20 feet deep. The proximity of forage fish is also important. There doesn’t have to be scads of baitfish, but some in the area is certainly a plus. The catfish prefer a sand or gravel type bottom over the soft mud. In fact, most places where you find a steep slope of sand or gravel, flanked on both sides by a mud bank is likely a hotspot for these fish. There are lots of places in Lake Marion around the shoreline that drop into 15-20 feet of water rather quickly.

The points of islands which fall into deep water and underwater humps which rise to a few feet of water, but drop into deep water on at least two sides are also prime target areas. The key is to locate areas that have a quick shallow-to-deep water route the fish can follow. With a bit of experimentation, they’re not difficult to locate. The good news is that once you find a spot that produces a good catch of channel catfish, the odds are good it will continue to produce on a regular basis in the coming weeks and actually from year to year. The fish move from structure to structure during the summer and fall, but what produces good this June and July, will likely produce good action about the same time next year. Through the years, I’ve found a number of places that produce at certain times of the year and I have to make a conscience effort to not get into the habit of making a “milk run” and fishing only these proven spots. I like to keep looking and discovering more and more spots.

Next week we’ll examine specific places to catch these fish in abundance.