What lies beneath: Drought reveals dangers

Alan Hawes
The Post and Courier

Stumps that usually provide cover for fish sit in the open air near The Hatchery at Lake Moultrie.

The structure that lies beneath the surface of the Santee Cooper lakes is legendary. When the floodgates were shut more than 60 years ago, the rising water covered standing forests, giant stumps, old road beds, bridges, house foundations and at least one old chimney.

Wayne Clifton, a professional bass fisherman from Moncks Corner, discovered the old chimney the hard way just before Christmas. Clifton was taking advantage of the weather — a series of warm days ahead of an approaching cold front — to hone his skills on the lakes, which were down almost 10 feet from their full level because of the current drought.

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"To prefish in front of a cold front like that is a very good education," Clifton said. "I was using my GPS and got off the trail I had been running for four days by no more than two feet. I hit a chimney top in the entrance to Hog Swamp in the Pinopolis area of Lake Moultrie. It was probably four inches under the water."

Clifton's 2003 Ranger bass boat — a boat he won in a professional tournament — came to a sudden stop. There was a jagged hole in the bottom and parts of the outboard motor were mangled. Water began bubbling into the boat. As as soon as Clifton recovered from the abrupt 40 mile-per-hour stop, he began "stuffing clothes, paper towels, anything you can" to plug the hole.

"Then I beached the boat, which is a relatively easy thing to do when the water is this low," he said. "I bailed it out and stuffed as much material as I could into the holes, then ran to (the landing at) Short Stay, where it sank again."

Clifton said instinct took over in the emergency, the result of spending more than 35 years working in the boating industry. Going into the 58-degree water wasn't an option, and neither was calling for help on his cell phone, which was in a compartment that flooded.

"It took the skeg completely off and tore up one blade on the prop (of the outboard)," he said. "It was a shaky ride back to the landing, but you do what you have to do. There's very little traffic on the lake right now. You can't depend on someone coming by."

Clifton was without a boat for more than a month while it was repaired. The estimated $11,000 damage was covered by insurance. He's also received assistance from local developer Horace Rooke, who is helping him chase his pro bass fishing dream.

Clifton isn't the only person to severely damage a boat because of the low water levels, and a lot of fishermen have said they won't run the lakes until the water levels rise again. But Clifton is ready to get back out there.

"Fishing is so good," he said. "It's awesome. You learn something every time. If you're going to fish like this (professionally) you have to be out there."