Lake Marion - Taw Caw area

Anyone fish this area around here, by chance?

Kind of forgot about this forum, but plan to start trying to do some crappie fishing for the first time since I was 10 and going with my grandpa. Parents bought a house on lake a few years back and finally got our old 15 whaler (first boat my dad ever bought) rigged up with new trolling motor and a Garmin side scan unit (forget the model, but might be 94sv). I've got no idea what I'm doing, but have been ordering jigs and whatnot pretending like I do. Might try to get out there this weekend and poke around if weather is decent and time allows.

I grew up on the other side of the lake (old lake house parents had) and then we all went to saltwater and I spent the past 25 years going offshore every weekend it was nice enough. Now, back to freshwater and a more laidback kinda fishing :)

Good luck, I would think your timing is pretty good for getting on the lake when the fish are pretty active and showing themselves off.

Taw Caw and surrounding areas are excellent for crappie. There are 1000’s of brushpiles present, and ample shoreline structures to fish when they go shallow. Live scope is king for many, but old schoolers like myself can still catch plenty slow and fast trolling and vertical jigging brush, logs, and grass.

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Originally Posted by Inkdabber

Taw Caw and surrounding areas are excellent for crappie. There are 1000’s of brushpiles present, and ample shoreline structures to fish when they go shallow. Live scope is king for many, but old schoolers like myself can still catch plenty slow and fast trolling and vertical jigging brush, logs, and grass.

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Any trolling tips/techniques? Probably only fish with 2 rods for now (limited rod holders, but plan on adding some more). Watched a video yesterday of Ed from NC down on Lake Moultrie catching some whoppers.

Not sure of water temp yet, but I'm guessing they are starting to move towards shallower water now? I've done just a little scouting with the sidescan, but plan on maybe trolling and checking things out this weekend. Hoping the underspin jigs I ordered show up early enough for my dad to grab from my house when he leaves work tomorrow. I think I saw .5-.6mph is a decent speed to start with.

Like we used to say back home- "That boy's fixin' to be ruint!"

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Originally Posted by happycaster58

Like we used to say back home- "That boy's fixin' to be ruint!"

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This in reference to spending tons of money trying to figure out a few ways to catch some fish?

If so, this freshwater stuff is not as ruinous as the offshore game. Probably had $15k in rods/reels, $3k in tackle and a good bit in "had to have" accessories :)

Might have to whip out the electrics for jigging...lol. Can program them to go up/down (jiggin motion), but doubt I'd ever see a bite on one of these guys. This fish was 1850' deep (were fishing for swords, but only got a wreckfish that day)
Attachment 482120

I've made it about 25 pages or so deep in this thread. Longlining Questions? (crappie.com)

Good news is I am experienced in trolling (still picking up on you freshwater guys' lingo!) and think I have that part down. I've run/mated boats with 13 rods or so running out the back, but we use outriggers/center rigger to help spread lines out and stagger them and most all lures/rigs run high in water column or on surface. Will have to figure out rodholder situation at some point. Boat has handrails on side and only one Perko clampmount holder/side. Thinking some drifter clamp on mounts might be in order....and a pair of those long rods to go with my 7'ers to start off with.

I guess the hard part for me will be figuring out fish patterns. If I can get out Sat, I may just cruise 60-80' from bank and scan looking for structure (and play with unit trying to dial it in/learn how to read it). I thought about "longlining" while searching and may still do that, but won't be able to cover much ground. Quick question on the side scan...is there a good speed to go to help find smaller brushpiles? is 5mph too fast or should I still see structure at that rate?

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Originally Posted by SchoolsOut

Anyone fish this area around here, by chance?

Kind of forgot about this forum, but plan to start trying to do some crappie fishing for the first time since I was 10 and going with my grandpa. Parents bought a house on lake a few years back and finally got our old 15 whaler (first boat my dad ever bought) rigged up with new trolling motor and a Garmin side scan unit (forget the model, but might be 94sv). I've got no idea what I'm doing, but have been ordering jigs and whatnot pretending like I do. Might try to get out there this weekend and poke around if weather is decent and time allows.

I grew up on the other side of the lake (old lake house parents had) and then we all went to saltwater and I spent the past 25 years going offshore every weekend it was nice enough. Now, back to freshwater and a more laidback kinda fishing :)

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I used to fish with my Grandfather out of Goat Island back in the late 60s and early 70s. I remember him going to the island out where Taw Caw came into the main body. There was a stump a couple hundred yards off the island that had a T shaped metal pin driven in it. He would tie up to that spot and we would fish all night using cane poles and graphite telescopic poles. Hoping to get down there soon and see if that stump just happens to still be there. It was a very good producing spot back in the dayAttachment 482149

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Just how far out did you go in that boat of yours Schoolsout?!? The ocean looked like a lake that particular day.

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Originally Posted by jp8848

I used to fish with my Grandfather out of Goat Island back in the late 60s and early 70s. I remember him going to the island out where Taw Caw came into the main body. There was a stump a couple hundred yards off the island that had a T shaped metal pin driven in it. He would tie up to that spot and we would fish all night using cane poles and graphite telescopic poles. Hoping to get down there soon and see if that stump just happens to still be there. It was a very good producing spot back in the dayAttachment 482149

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that island is still there. Water is lower and sides are sheering off, but I’ve seen people camping there. It’s a very cool spot on the lake. DNR put out some structure across the way and there’s a few downed logs that have been there for a while

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Originally Posted by gabowman

Just how far out did you go in that boat of yours Schoolsout?!? The ocean looked like a lake that particular day.

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that wasn’t my boat, but we were a solid 100nm off of Charleston.

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Originally Posted by SchoolsOut

that island is still there. Water is lower and sides are sheering off, but I’ve seen people camping there. It’s a very cool spot on the lake. DNR put out some structure across the way and there’s a few downed logs that have been there for a while

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Yes. I wonder if it's still a good spot for crappie that hover around 10-20 around that structure? I know we fished all around that old stump and wore them out back in the day. I know Hurricane Hugo pretty much changed the entire lake blowing down the cypress fields and alot of floating logs

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Originally Posted by jp8848

Yes. I wonder if it's still a good spot for crappie that hover around 10-20 around that structure? I know we fished all around that old stump and wore them out back in the day. I know Hurricane Hugo pretty much changed the entire lake blowing down the cypress fields and alot of floating logs

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If I can get out there tomorrow, I'll try to take a few pics. My dad and I were putting around and checking out that artificial reef/structure DNR put out and it looked like fish were stacked on it (didn't have any rods and were trying to get the old '79 Evinrude running right).

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Originally Posted by jp8848

I used to fish with my Grandfather out of Goat Island back in the late 60s and early 70s. I remember him going to the island out where Taw Caw came into the main body. There was a stump a couple hundred yards off the island that had a T shaped metal pin driven in it. He would tie up to that spot and we would fish all night using cane poles and graphite telescopic poles. Hoping to get down there soon and see if that stump just happens to still be there. It was a very good producing spot back in the dayAttachment 482149

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It's still there!!

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A few pics. Didn’t fish too long, but did test a few things out. Ended up having 4 holders mounted on rail so turned 2 outboard of boat and left 2 straight up at rear of handrail.

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Originally Posted by SchoolsOut

A few pics. Didn’t fish too long, but did test a few things out. Ended up having 4 holders mounted on rail so turned 2 outboard of boat and left 2 straight up at rear of handrail.

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Thanks for those photos of the island. It has definitely erroded since the last time I saw it. About 40 years ago. I definitely need to get down there and see if it's still a good hotspot for slabs like it used to be. I hate the old stump is gone just off to the right of that picture

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The glitter boats were prefishing for this weekend. Did see a small bass get yanked as we were trolling by at a leisurely .8mph! Lol

2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Santee Cooper Lakes presented by SEVIIN - Bassmaster

if you look hard, you can see a similar stump as one in pic this guy was tied off to. We were going to try to fish that area (it’s to the left near the mainland of looking at island like in pic). Maybe it’s same one and just moved? Been there for the few years we have been in this area.

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Originally Posted by SchoolsOut

The glitter boats were prefishing for this weekend. Did see a small bass get yanked as we were trolling by at a leisurely .8mph! Lol

2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Santee Cooper Lakes presented by SEVIIN - Bassmaster

if you look hard, you can see a similar stump as one in pic this guy was tied off to. We were going to try to fish that area (it’s to the left near the mainland of looking at island like in pic). Maybe it’s same one and just moved? Been there for the few years we have been in this area.

Attachment 482587

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That I bet is the same log!!! If my memory serves me correctly, that looks exactly like it!! Let me know you do if you fish it!

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