The author holds up four big slab female crappie caught in prime condition. Right now is the time to catch crappie in South Carolina. Photo courtesy of Bennett Kirkpatrick

For South Carolina crappie anglers, April is the month many memories of great fishing are made. Let’s look at three outstanding lakes for crappie in what is perhaps the most popular time of year for catching some slabs.

LAKE WATEREE
For mid-state crappie anglers, Lake Wateree is a dream destination. This fertile lake is home to some of the best crappie fishing in the state, and is loaded with brushpiles, snags and trees in shallow water. And in the spring, as the water warms up in the low 50-degree range, crappie begin to head for the spawning grounds. The result is perhaps the best fishing of the year at one of the best crappie lakes anywhere.

I will never forget a trip with a friend of mine from Camden, Fred Sheheen. Fred had a cabin on Lake Wateree. It was a Wednesday afternoon in April and Fred wanted to fish for crappie at his lake house. The water was still a little on the cool side, so I donned a pair of waders before stepping into the water. Fred was going to fish off the bank around the cabin; he had never used jigs before, so I gave him a crash course as how to use them.

The water around his cabin was filled with willows, stumps and laydowns that had fallen into the lake. I hadn’t gone 50 feet from where I stepped into the water when I caught my first crappie. A snap stringer was secured to my belt and I hung the fish on it. It wasn’t long before I rounded the corner of the cove, and could no longer see Fred.

Every piece of visible cover I fished seemed to hold a crappie or two. In about an hour and a half, I had my limit of crappie; my face beamed as I snapped the last fish on the stringer. As I retraced my path to Fred’s cabin, I spied Fred putting a crappie into a five-gallon bucket that was hidden behind a tree up in the yard. He held the fish up close to his chest as if to conceal it before dropping it into the bucket. He hurried back to where he had left his rod, and cast again. The float didn’t move but about a foot before he set the hook on another nice fish. He repeated this sequence three times before I got to where he was.

“Why are you being so secretive in putting fish in a bucket hidden behind a tree?” I asked. “Why don’t you take the bucket down to where you are fishing?” (Continued)

He whispered, “Man, I’ve stumbled onto the secret weapon. I can’t bring a jig by those two stumps out there without catching a fish! I don’t want anyone to see what I am doing!”

The shallower part of Lake Wateree is in the upper portion and it warms up a bit quicker than the deeper water. My favorite places to fish this lake are Wateree Creek on down to Dutchman’s Creek. Taylor’s Creek, Singleton Creek and the Wateree State Park are good bets, too. All of these places are loaded with crappie spawning habitat.

The Wateree Creek Landing at the bridge accesses this area. The Wateree State Park and Taylor’s Marina are good starting points for fishing Dutchman’s Creek. The Taylor Creek Landing and Sutton’s Landing are available on Taylor’s Creek.