6/16-6/17

[smlfishing]

With striper not being able to be released successfully this time of year we decided to try our hand at catfishing. We set up on several spots in bull run from the ski course out fishing 10 rods. We fished shad, bluegills cut bait and liver. We had a tough time keeping the shad alive I guess with the egg weight did not give them enough room to swim around. We did catch 6 channels all on liver but nothing touched our other bait. Unfortunately only real thing I learned was when you see a storm on your phone radar map better get home as Saturday soaked everything I own even in some of my lockers. Any advise would be much appreciated as I would love to catch some flatheads.

[johnr]

You'll probably have to fish gills and upstream for flatheads. Fish in cover. Logjams, deadfalls, stumps, etc.

[bushwacker]

I boated 4 nice channel cats this weekend. 3 lower Roanoke below the State Park and 1 Lower Black water. All were caught on live shad and Ales behind free weight planer boards. I wasn't targeting them we were Striper fishing. They fought good and were very tasty.

[KB]

Move a little up the lake. Sounds like you had right bait, if your sitting tied up then change your baits often on live bait. If your trolling then make it very slow. I personally like the 6to15 fow for flat heads. If your hanging up on bottom then your in a good spot haha.

[choochoo]

Were you out in what came through Friday night?! That was awful!

[smlfishing]

Thanks, I appreciate all the advise and will put it to use this weekend. Choochoo Unfortunately yes and did it pour...I almost made it back to the dock.

[irons]

Best advice I can give you on catfish is to ditch SML and head to Buggs island. Way better lake for catfish. Chance of catching 50 lb plus blues.

[hambone]

I second irons comment, in my opinion SML sucks for catfishing, Buggs Island is AWESOME. Full of big blue cats, not uncommon to catch fish over 30lbs on a regular basis. Wish SML has blues in it

[Red Bear]

I agree and disagree with irons, it really depends. if you want to go trophy hunting, buggs island obviously beats SML hands down, no doubt about it. if you just want to fun fish and stay close to home(assuming you live on or near SML),or just be somewhere that you feel comfortable then you can catch enough to keep you interested. also, can be fun for the kids. there are some big cats in SML, so the chance is there, but theyre not near as abundant as the big fish in buggs island. if youre looking for eaters, SML is loaded with 18-20 inch 3lb catfish, perfect for eating. the last two years i've broke my PB for cats on SML. last year i caught my PB channel and flathead, this year i upped the PB channel. all 3 on light line, so maybe there is something to that. the biggest cat i ever hooked on SML came on light line as well, it surfaced and rolled then dove back down and snapped my line, it had to be atleast a 40lb flathead. all 4 fish i talk about came on nightcrawlers, 3 on 6lb mono, one on 10lb mono(or maybe it was 8lb lol)...i do have a thought that many of the channel cats at SML are stunted though...

[smlfishing]

I have heard of some nice fish coming from Buggs Island and have some friends who go to Santee Cooper. I was just killing some time until fall.
Thanks again for all the help.