Fishing Report for Santee Cooper lakes

Posted
Bass: Fair to good. Steve Harmon reports that fish have settled into a normal summer pattern. Early in the morning fish can be caught in shallow water where they will take topwater lures, but later in the day the best action is in deeper water. When conditions are calm soft plastics are working best for the deeper fish, and when it is windy spinnerbaits work better. Catfish: Fair to good. Captain Jim Glenn reports that catfish the bite for numbers of small blue catfish continues to be strong, and more 20-40 pound fish are also being caught drifting cut bait during the day and at night in a variety of depth ranges. Crappie: Fair to good. Captain Steve English reports that crappie fishing remains pretty good, particularly in the lower lake. Fish have not gone super-deep and they are being caught over brush in 12-14 feet of water on minnows. Bream: Fair. Captain Steve English reports that the bream bite is inexplicably down, although some bluegill and shellcracker have been caught shallow in both lakes.