** Archived Article - please check for current information. **

October 30, 2006

Freshwater Fishing Trends

Mountains Area - Piedmont Area - Midlands Area - Santee Cooper System

Mountains Area
Lake Jocassee:

• Largemouth Bass: Fair to Good, casting topwater lures Carolina-rigged worms and crankbaits.
• Trout: Fair, fishing early morning and at night using cut bait, minnows and herring 70 to 80 feet deep. Also trolling early morning and during the day with Sutton spoons and Yozuri baits.
• Smallmouth Bass: Fair, casting brown hair jigs or small plastic worms or grubs on rocky points and rocky banks.
• Crappie: Poor. Try small minnows and jigs around brush piles.
• Catfish: Fair, using nightcrawlers or cut bait on bottom, night is best.
• Bream: Excellent, using crickets, popping bugs and dug worms around banks and brush.

Lake Keowee:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, doodling and drop-shotting baits on the bottom. Buzzbaits, Yozuri baits topwater plugs and plastic worms have also been used to catch bass schooling early morning and mid-day.
• Crappie: Good, using minnows under bridges day or night.
• Catfish: Good, using nightcrawlers and cut bait on the bottom.
• Bream: Fair, using worms and crickets around shallow brush piles and stumps.

Lake Hartwell:

• Largemouth Bass: Fair, using spinnerbaits, bucktails and Roadrunners.
• Striped and Hybrid Bass: Fair, in lower end of lake with live herring, jigs and jerkbaits in 30-feet of water. Some success trolling in this area. Also casting to schools with Super Flukes.
• Crappie: Fair, using small and medium size minnows 15-20 feet deep around bridge pilings, docks and brush piles.
• Catfish: Fair, using cut herring on the bottom in shallow coves.
• Bream: Fair, using crickets and red worms around brush piles.

Piedmont Area
Lake Russell:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, casting lizards, spinnerbaits Carolina-rigged worms, and buzzbaits.
• Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, using bucktails, cut bait and jigs especially when water is running below the dam.
• White Bass: Poor, using bucktails, spinners and live bait below the dam.
• Crappie: Good, using minnows and jigs around brush piles and bridges.
• Catfish: Good, fishing cut bait on the bottom.
• Bream: Excellent, fishing with red wigglers and nightcrawlers.

Lake Thurmond:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, casting plastic worms in the necks early morning and around points late afternoon.
• Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, fishing with large minnows and cut bait, and trolling with deep-running Rapalas and Rebels.
• Crappie: Good, using minnows around bridges, piers and brush tops.
• Catfish: Excellent, using worms, cut bait and chicken livers on the bottom along rip-rap and banks.
• Bream: Good, using crickets, worms and popping bugs.

Lake Wylie:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, casting Carolina-rigged worms along shallow points and banks. Topwater plugs good late afternoon and early morning. Midday fish deep water with and spoons and spinnerbaits.
• Striped Bass: Good, below Wylie dam using bucktails, jigs and spoons when water is running.
• White Bass: Fair, casting small spinners and jigs behind the dam.
• Crappie: Good, using jigs and minnows around piers about 5 to 15 feet of water.
• Catfish: Good, using nightcrawlers on the bottom.
• Bream: Good, fishing with crickets and worms from the bank.

Midlands Area
Lake Greenwood:

• Largemouth Bass: Fair, casting topwater plugs, floating worms, jerkbaits crankbaits and buzzbaits, around docks in 10 feet of water or less.
• Stripers: Good, using live bait, herring or shad 20 to 25 feet deep.
• White Perch: Good, use spinners and topwater plugs where fish are schooling.
• Crappie: Fair, using minnows and mini jigs over brush in 10 to 15 feet of water.
• Catfish: Good, using cut bait and worms on the bottom.
• Bream: Good, using crickets and worms along shore and docks and fishing from banks.

Lake Wateree:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, using buzzbaits and spinners in new grass along the banks.
• Striped bass: Good, casting Topwater lures and Zara Spooks. Good schooling activity reported. Fish with down-rods in about 12 to 14 feet of water with live bait.
• White Bass: Fair, using shad-like baits in state park area, increased schooling.
• Crappie: Good, down-rigging minnows and jigs trolling in creeks in about 11 feet of water.
• Catfish: Good, using live shad and nightcrawlers 10 to 14 feet deep.
• Bream: Fair, using crickets and worms. Shellcrackers: Slow. Try crickets and worms.

Lake Murray:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, fishing Flukes off of points and using top-water lures early in the morning and floating worms and jerk baits along banks. Try Texas-rigging Finesse Worms with a shaky jig head.
• Striped Bass: Good, using live bait on down-rods and free-lining at depths of 40 to 70 feet. Fish are schooling very early and periodically throughout the day. Lots of schooling activity reported from Shull island to Sandy Beach. Good catches in schools with top-water plugs, like pencil poppers and striper delights.
• Crappie: Good, using jigs and small tuffies trolling the creek runs and in the upper part of the lake around the confluence of the little and big Saluda rivers. Try medium minnows around brush piles, docks and around bridge pilings at a depth of 12-feet.
• White Perch: Good, using redworms and small tuffies, jigging Flex-it spoons down 20 to 30 feet and casting little cleos.
• Catfish: Fair, using cut herring and nightcrawlers on bottom.
• Bream: Good. Fish with redworms, baby nightcrawlers and crickets in 6 to 15 feet of water.
• Shellcrackers: Good, using redworms and baby nightcrawlers in 6 to 20 feet of water around rocks, stumps and other structure.

Santee Cooper System            
Lake Marion:

• Largemouth Bass: Fair, using artificial worms, and topwater Rebels fishing along the banks and point early in the morning.
• Striped Bass: Fair, using shad and live herring with down rods in 25 feet of water.
• White Perch: Slow, Try jigging off the bottom with Hopkins spoons.
• Crappie: Fair, Try using small and medium minnows over deep brush piles, bridge pilings and piers.
• Catfish: Good, fishing with live herring and cut shad off the bottom in deep water.
• Bream and Shellcrackers: Excellent, using redworms and crickets in 4 to 8 feet of water.

Lake Moultrie:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, casting, spinnerbaits, plastic worms and lizards along docks and structure.
• Striped Bass: Good, Jigging and with down-rods in 30 feet of water with live herring near the powerhouse and also trolling stretch 25's when live bait does not produce fish in 30 feet of water. Night fishing has been the most productive.
• Crappie: Fair, using small to medium minnows and Beetlespins around fish attraction areas and brush piles.
• Catfish: Excellent, using cut shad, herring, menhaden, mullet, live large shiners and nightcrawlers 35 to 40 feet deep.
• Bream: Good, using crickets, redworms, and small minnows, around manmade fish attractors, crappie beds and around the dam.
• Shellcrackers: Fair, try redworms and green worms along the banks along river runs and points.

REPORTERS: The S.C. Department of Natural Resources appreciates the cooperation of fishing trend reporters for South Carolina's major lakes: Jocassee - Jocassee Outdoor Center; Keowee - Fishing Hole; Hartwell - Lake Hartwell Fishing and Marine; Russell - Tony's Bait and Tackle; Thurmond - Bladon's; Wylie - Catawba Tackle; Greenwood - Sportsman's Friend; Wateree - Wateree Marina; Murray - Dooley's Sport Shop, Lake World; Marion - Randolph's Landing; and Moultrie - Atkins Boat Landing.

For South Carolina freshwater fish regulations: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/regs/pdf/freshfishing.pdf