Although catfish are prolific and plentiful in South Carolina, that does not mean you can consistently catch them using a random, haphazard approach to your fishing. Catfish can be as structure-oriented as largemouth bass. If you wish to catch them in big numbers and sizes, then be serious in your fishing efforts. The first lake we'll look at is a perfect example of this. Points, humps, drops and ledges area all key structures for success.

To me, Lake Wateree is an ideal catfishing lake because of the type of lake it is, along with a very strong shad forage base. Fed by the Catawba River that winds through the lake, there are numerous river channel ledges and drops that offer particularly good catfishing possibilities. In addition, along the numerous creeks that intersect the river, there are humps and holes that also harbor excellent catfish populations.

Overall, Lake Wateree is not a real deep lake as compared with some in the upstate, but you find depths in the river channel down to 40 to 50 feet in the lower end of the lake. Much of the best catfish action will take place in the lower half of the lake during the warm months of the year. In addition to the main-river channel, the Dutchman's Creek, Beaver Creek and Colonel's areas are prime places to fish.

With water depths in this range, you'll need a sonar unit to find a lot of the best summertime places, but if you find yourself without a depthfinder, you can also look for the long, sloping, hard-bottom points that lead to deep water. Points are a catfish specialty at Wateree and are among the best-producing structures on the lake.

In fact, my most productive catfishing trip to Lake Wateree was during June a few years ago and the channel catfish were literally stacked on the points. Almost every point that dropped toward the channel (the main river and some of the major creeks) -- even if it didn't reach all the way to the channel -- produced several good-sized channel catfish in rapid-fire order. That day, I was fishing with Doc's Catfish Getter Dip Bait and I seldom had time to get more than one or two rods baited and set into the DriftMaster rod holders before a catfish would bite.

The fishing at Wateree is excellent throughout the late spring, summer and fall with sporadic success on cut bait during the winter. There are several public launching ramps located around the lake that will enable you to get close to your targeted area. However, if you have a big rig, the entire lake can be covered within a reasonable time. Also, during the spring and fall, some decent catfishing can be experienced from the shoreline around the public landing areas.