Lake Moultrie is the third largest lake in South Carolina covering over 60,000 acres (240Â km2).
Location
Lake Moultrie is located in Berkeley County, South Carolina, is fed by Lake Marion through a diversion canal. Nearby towns include Moncks Corner, Bonneau, Cross, and St. Stephen.
Origin
Lake Moultrie was created in the early 1940s by the South Carolina Public Service Authority. Its effluent is the Cooper River, and it is dammed by the Pinopolis Dam. It covers about 60,000 acres (240Â km2). It was named for Governor William Moultrie.
Fishing
Lake Moultrie offers a varied fishing environment. There are shallow swamps, black water ponds, thousands of tree stumps and live cypress trees, as well as large open areas of water. This lake does not form ice in winter months. A world record Channel Catfish weighing 58Â lb (26Â kg). was caught from this lake. The lake also holds the state record for Black Crappie (5Â lbs).
Recent news
- On September 16, 2007, 59-year-old Bill Hedden was snorkeling in the lake when he was attacked by a 12-foot (3.7Â m), 600Â lb (270Â kg) alligator, which ripped off his left arm. Five nurses who were at a picnic nearby were able to stop the bleeding until help arrived. The alligator was killed and the arm recovered, but doctors at the Medical University of South Carolina were not able to reattach it.
- In September 2010, Maryellen Mara-Christian, a 48-year-old former bank marketing officer from Fitchburg, Mass., bagged a 13½-foot 1,025-pound alligator in Lake Moultrie. It took about two hours to secure the gator.
See also
- Lake Marion
- List of lakes in South Carolina