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

Sept 4 , 2006

Freshwater Fishing Trends

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

Mountains Area
Lake Jocassee:

• Largemouth Bass: Fair, slow retrieves with plastic worms, casting Carolina-rigged worms, topwater lures, crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Good catches in the early morning and at night
• Trout: Fair, fishing early morning and at night around intake towers using cut bait or minnows 70 to 80 feet deep.
• Smallmouth Bass: Fair. Casting Yozuri plugs deep and drifting minnows around rocky points.
• Crappie: Slow, Try small minnows and jigs around brush piles.
• Catfish: Good, using nightcrawlers or cut bait on bottom at night.
• Bream: Good, using popping bugs and crickets around banks and brush.

Lake Keowee:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, using topwater lures like the Zara Spooks, buzzbaits and floating worms early in the morning. Carolina-rigged worms, in green or red colors, in 20 to 40 feet of water in the mouths of creeks and off rocky points after the mid-morning.
• Crappie: Fair, using small minnows and jigs in 20 to 25 feet of water around brush piles and bridge pilings.
• Catfish: Good, using minnows, nightcrawlers and cut bait on the bottom.
• Bream: Good, using redworms and crickets around brush piles, stumps and bridge pilings.

Lake Hartwell:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, using 5 to 6-inch lizards, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, topwater lures, and Trick worms fishing off points.
• Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, try live herring with down-rods in deep water around the dam in 24 to 60 feet deep. Also try night fishing for stripers.
• Crappie: Poor, some catches at 25 feet with minnows.
• Catfish: Good, using cut herring, large shiners, nightcrawlers, shrimp and chicken livers on the bottom.
• Bream: Good. Try using redworms and crickets under boat docks and bridges.

Piedmont Area
Lake Russell:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, casting plastic worms and lizards along rocky points and deep humps Night fishing most productive.
• Yellow Perch: Fair, fishing minnows deep.
• Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, night fishing and early morning with bucktails, cut and live herring and jigs especially when water is running below dam.
• White Bass: Fair, using bucktails, spinners and live bait below dam.
• Crappie: Fair, using minnows and jigs around brush piles and bridge pilings at 5 to 7 feet.
• Catfish: Good, using cut bait and nightcrawlers on the bottom and around the riprap at bridges.
• Bream: Good. Try using crickets and earthworms around bridge pilings and structure.

Lake Thurmond:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, casting plastic worms, Little Cleos and spinnerbaits.
• Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, using Cleos, Berry Spoons and KastMasters. Also try live and cut herring.
• Crappie: Good, using small minnows and chartreuse jigs around rip-rap and brush tops.
• Catfish: Good, using cut bait and nightcrawlers fishing on the bottom, particularly around structures like riprap and bridge pilings.
• Bream and Shellcrackers: Good, using earthworms and crickets around banks and brush.

Lake Wylie:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, casting plastic lizards, floating worms and topwater lures in the back of creeks.
• Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, using Spoons and Bucktails.
• White Bass: Good, with Roostertails and Little Cleos cast to fish schooling in afternoon. Crappie: Good, using small minnows and chartreuse jigs around rip-rap and brush tops. Night fishing for crappie has been productive in the last week.
• Catfish: Good, fishing on the bottom with a variety of baits.
• Shellcrackers: Good, using redworms and crickets on the bottom.
• Bream: Good, using earthworms and crickets around the banks.

Midlands Area
Lake Greenwood:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, casting floating worms, topwater plugs and plastic worms in shallow water around docks and structure early in the morning. Fish being caught around docks and bridge pilings using dark colored plastic worms in 12 to 15 feet of water.
• Stripers: Good, behind the dam using Bombers, Charlie plugs and bucktails.
• White Bass and White Perch: Good, fish are schooling around the dam area. The most productive way to catch these fish is casting a popping cork, trailing it with 18 inches of leader with a medium popping bug tied to the leader or a spinnerbait.
• Crappie: Good, using small to medium minnows, mini jigs and slider jigs around brush in 15 to 20 feet of water. Good catches below the dam using minnows.
• Catfish: Good. Try using redworms in 6 to 8 feet of water.
• Bream: Excellent, with redworms and crickets along shoreline structure and docks in 4 to 6 feet of water.

Lake Wateree:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, using buzzbaits, crankbaits, Carolina-rigged worms and spinnerbaits. Fish have moved into deep water along drops around brush.
• Striped Bass: Good, using live shad with down-rods in 15 to 25 feet of water. Good catches reported with topwater plugs. Stripers also suspended in 15 to 22 feet of water all over the lake.
• White Bass: Fair, using shad-like baits on points. School activity has been reported on the lake in the state park area along points
• Crappie: Good, in river channels and creek mouths trolling Wow grubs, Sliders, Kalin's grubs. Also jigging around brush piles.
• Catfish: Good, using earthworms, nightcrawlers, shrimp, small pieces of cut bait and live shad.
• Bream and Shellcrackers: Good, using crickets, worms and artificial lures fished around piers, structure and brush.

Lake Murray:

• Largemouth Bass: Fair, using topwater lures early in the morning and floating worms, jerk baits and buzz baits along the banks. Try fishing Texas-rigged and Carolina-rigged worms midday around stumps and rocky points.
• Striped Bass: Good, using downrods and free lining live and cut herring at depths of 50 to 60 feet. Fish are schooling very early, daylight, good catches with topwater plugs, pencil poppers and striper delights.
• Crappie: Good, using jigs and small tuffies trolling in creek runs and medium minnows fishing brush piles at depths of 10 to 20 feet.
• White Perch: Good, jigging Flex-it spoons and fishing red worms in 15 to 20 feet of water.
• Catfish: Excellent, using cut herring and nightcrawlers on bottom.
• Bream: Good. Try fishing redworms, baby night crawlers and crickets in 6 to 20 feet of water. Also casting beetle spins in colors white with red dots and yellow with black stripes.
• Shellcrackers: Fair, using redworms and blue worms in 6 to 20 feet of water.

Santee Cooper System            
Lake Marion:

• Largemouth Bass: Good, using artificial worms, topwater lures, crankbaits and spinnerbaits fishing along the banks and point.
• Striped Bass: Fair to Good, using shad and live or cut herring with down rod in about 20 feet of water. Free-lining live shiners has also been productive. Trolling has produced some stripers also.
• White Perch: Slow, Try jigging off the bottom with Hopkins spoons.
• Crappie: Good, using small and medium minnows over deep brush piles, bridge pilings and piers.
• Catfish: Excellent, using cut shad, herring and live shiners off bottom in deep water and at night in shallow water.
• Bream and Shellcrackers: Excellent, using redworms and crickets in 4 to 6 feet of water and fishing shallow in river channel.

Lake Moultrie:

• Largemouth Bass: Fair, casting, spinnerbaits, plastic worms and lizards along docks and structure.
• Striped Bass: Good, fishing live herring 30 to 40 feet deep with down-rods. Some schooling activity all over the lake has been reported. Night fishing has been the most productive.
• Crappie: Fair. Try small to medium sized minnows around fish attraction areas and brush piles.
• Catfish: Good, shallow 9 to 15 feet using cut herring, stink bait, chicken livers and shiners 9 to 20 feet deep near the bottom along dike edges and around the dam.
• Bream: Good, using crickets and redworms, nightcrawlers around fish attraction areas and banks.
• Shellcrackers: Poor, using crickets and redworms along the banks in river runs and along 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