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The objective is to sink 3 natural brush piles (totaling approximately 250 cubic feet) on each of 19 fish attractor locations on Lake Moultrie and 16 fish attractor locations on Lake Marion. Resulting in a total of 105 brush piles at 35 locations, creating 8750 cubic feet of natural material. Fish attractor locations are marked with buoys, and any missing buoys will be replaced. This work is completed annually, typically between May and June. These fish attractor sites provide habitat for fish and publicly known locations to increase opportunity for anglers. Specifics of the methods are described below.

Brush piles will be composed of wax myrtle bushes tethered to cinderblocks using aluminum wire. Screen captures of the sonar and DownScan display at fish attractor locations will be saved for reporting. The fish attractor locations will be marked with the Curd 14 (Figure 14) buoy. This model buoy is a popular regulatory water buoy manufactured by Curd Buoys based in Charleston, South Carolina. It stands 61 inches tall with a 9-inch diameter, making it ideal for water depths of 25 feet or greater in areas with high water action. They are marked with a fish symbol on yellow background and yellow reflective band for visibility and tethered to 160-pound concrete anchors by 5/16” coated stainless steel cable using stainless steel hardware to prevent future loss from wear and tear.

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) has established the 35 marked fish attractor locations. A number of these sites have been upgraded with recycled concrete culverts, and all sites receive new natural materials annually. SCDNR staff will complete the planning and installation of brush piles, as part of the Santee Cooper lakes habitat management plan implemented annually in cooperation with the Sportfish Restoration program. This habitat management plan calls for annual refurbishing of fish attractors sites along with transplanting of native vegetation into areas lacking shoreline vegetation and monitoring the sterile Grass Carp population which is used to manage invasive Hydrilla.

Largemouth Bass, Bluegill Sunfish, Redear Sunfish, Black Crappie, White Crappie, Blue Catfish, White Catfish, Channel Catfish.

The fish attractor locations are published online at the SCDNR website https://www.dnr.sc.gov/fish/fishattract/fishattr.html
The work will be advertised by Santee Cooper Country on their website, social media page, printed visitor guide, and in their visitor center's aquarium fish attractor model. The Carolina Sportsman YouTube page will publish a video documenting the process and reasoning behind the project.