By Tim Kelley
If you’re looking for a quiet place to kick back & relax, or go fishing, Lake Wateree is the place for you! Wateree is located thirty miles northeast of Columbia, and is a twenty-one square mile reservoir covering Kershaw, Fairfield, & Lancaster Counties. It was developed in 1919, and is one of South Carolina’s oldest man-made lakes. The maximum depth is around sixty-four feet.
There are approximately seventeen fish attractors managed by South Carolina DNR. The most popular fishing is largemouth bass, catfish, crappie, and striped bass. Along with Lake Wateree State Park, there are numerous marinas that offer gas on the water, including some restaurants that can be accessed by boat. Please check out the website at https://southcarolinaparks.com/lake-wateree & bring the family down to stay for the weekend or the week!
The predominant forage is gizzard shad and threadfin shad. The lake has a really good population of striped bass, crappie, catfish, and bass. The lake also offers a good mixture of cover for bass fishing ranging, from offshore structure to bank grass, sawgrass, shallow water pockets, stumps, laydowns, and of course, lots of docks. It is close to the historical town of Camden, which is a large tourist attraction. The areas surrounding the lake are rural, giving one the true feeling of small town living.