Report:Santee Trifecta

[Inkdabber]

The shallow bite over the last month and a half has been fantastic. After being released from Jury duty early on Tuesday, I headed to the lake to try my luck. As has been the norm, I went straight to the shallow brush. To my disappointment, be it the low water conditions or the bait leaving the area, the crappie were gone. I moved to another area and eeked out a limit catch. On Wednesday I decided I would head down the lake and fish some deep brush located on the main channel. It didn't take long to find those big fish, and boy were they hungry and aggressive. Despite a stiff 10 to 12 knot northeast wind, limit catches were made both Wednesday and Thursday. As many of you know, I jig fish using the outboard motor to maneuver the boat. The wind and waves were so bad, I had to leave the bilge pump running continuously to pump the water out of the boat as the waves crashed over the back of the boat as I held the boat in position while in reverse so I could jig the brush. It was tough on both equipment and fishermen, but the quality of the fish was worth it. Water temps have cooled to 78 to 80 degrees depending on area. Jig color was white and chartreuse, presentation was vertically jigging, water depth 18 to 22 feet, depth fished was 12 to 15 feet, skies were overcast, air temps were low 60's in the morning, around 80 by midday.



Tuesday's box shot




This water snake was enjoying his breakfast on the boat ramp this morning.



Wednesday's box shot.



One of the many big fish caught.




Thursday's box shot.