Do you have tips for catching crappie on the santee cooper?

The answer is going to different depending where you are and how the weather conditions are. You can use minnows or artificial lures. If the water temperatures are cold, the crappies are going to be slower and a minnow will work better. The live bait gives the fish more incentive to bite. The artificial lure will not have enough attraction to get the fish to bite. The time of day is a factor as well. It seems that the crappies are more aggressive in the later part of the afternoon or before ten in the morning. Between ten and two the crappie do not feed aggressively. If you use an artificial lure and the crappie strikes, but you miss the bite, you do not lose the bait like you would with a minnow. This is especially true if you are fishing the weed beds. Using a lure allows you drop into the weeds and safely raise the line a bit until you hook one. I would fish around the weed beds and the underwater structures. This is usually where the crappie is going to be located. They are anywhere the baitfishes are schooling. If you fish the area regularly, you could even find a place to use some minnows without losing the bait. If you have a lightweight line and rod, you should be able to feel the bite. Santee Cooper is a great place to fish for crappie. Many fish come out of that area and catching the daily limit is easy enough to do.