Once darkness settles in, Plumley begins fishing his spots in reverse, following his GPS cookie trail to assist with navigating in the dark. Plumley anchors upstream of his intended spot, using only a bow anchor, and casts baits back into the spot. Because the Wateree's current is sometimes swift, he uses a Carolina-rigged 3- to 5-ounce flat sinker to hold his baits in position. Plumley favors 8-foot Berkley rods outfitted with Abu-Garcia 7000 baitcast reels. His reels are spooled with 50-pound-test Berkley Big Game line. The final piece of his rig is an 8/0 Eagle Claw circle hook.

Plumley's backtracking nighttime game plan is to set up on a spot and give it about an hour, and no more than an hour and a half, to produce bites.

"If I'm getting bites every 20 minutes or so, I'm content to stay there," Plumley said. Otherwise, the veteran catman moves upstream to the next spot on his GPS and restarts the bite clock.

While catfish angling on the Wateree is generally good at any time, a key aspect is water flow.

"If they're running water through the Wateree dam upstream, that running water is like ringing the dinner bell," Plumley stated.

Unlike the common practice for nighttime crappie or striper fishing, Plumley prefers to use as little light as possible when night-fishing for cats. He wires up a single 12-volt light, just enough to see his rods and re-rig or re-bait lines.

EDISTO RIVER
After the confluence of its North and South forks just below Branchville, the Edisto River travels over 60 miles before it comes under coastal influence in the ACE basin. Andy Williams, proprietor of Black River Marine in Orangeburg, indicates the "Big Edisto" is one of his preferred catfish destinations. Williams reminisced about the days of going to the Edisto some years ago with the idea of stocking up on nice eating-sized channel cats.

"It's no problem to put in below Branchville, float down the river a few miles, dropping whole worms or small pieces of cut bait in deep areas along undercut banks or behind snags and come home with a whole mess of 3- to 4-pound channel cats," Williams said. "The channel catfishing is still good on the Edisto, but now the big flatheads have taken over."

Within the last 10 years or so, biologists began receiving reports of 30-pound-plus flatheads being caught in the Edisto's black waters. This invasion has taken quite a toll on the thriving redbreast (also called shellcracker) population. However, the flatheads now provide a trophy "small-water" catfish venue that is welcomed by local catters.

"It's no problem for me to see three or four monster flatheads a week come through my shop during the summer," Williams noted. He said that many of his customers have come to him to outfit them with 14- to 16-foot aluminum johnboats complete with 25- to 40-horsepower outboards to specifically target these fish in the Edisto.

Williams related that these anglers will start on the Edisto just downstream from where the North Fork and South Fork come together and target deep holes in the relatively shallow river.

"We're talking 7- to 10-foot holes in a river that generally may be 3 to 4 feet deep," Williams said.

Tactics are pretty standard: Anglers use a drop rig with a 2- to 3-ounce weight to hold the offering stationary on the upper edge of a deep hole. The bait, preferably a live, hand-sized bream, white perch or gizzard shad, is placed near the target hole from a boat anchored upstream. While daylight and dusk hours work best, the tannic black water of the Edisto provides flathead angling opportunities throughout the day.

William's preferred access points to the river are at Whetstone Crossroads, a semi-private ramp below Branchville and Kill Kare, a county-maintained ramp off County Road 63.

With the hot weather of August in full swing, an adjustment of catfish locations may be just the ticket to escape the summer heat. Fishing the backwater areas offered by many of the state's rivers allows anglers to get away from the crowds on busy lakes and affords the South Carolina catfish angler the chance to see some unspoiled beauty. Whether you are a boating catter or prefer to set up camp along the riverbank, head for one of South Carolina's catfish rivers this month and get in on the backwater action.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION
For more information on catfishing with Capt. Bill Plumley, contact him at (877) 307-3079 or go online to www.lakehartwellfishing.com.

For more information on cat fishing the Edisto River, contact Andy Williams at Black River Marine located at 362 John C. Calhoun Dr., Orangeburg, or phone (803) 536-2277