SCDNR News Release

Archived Article - please check for current information.

July 31, 2006

Freshwater Fishing Trends

Mountains 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.
Trout: Good, early morning trolling with Apex lures, Sutton spoons and Yozuri baits from 70 to 100 feet deep. Night fishing producing good catches of trout in depths of 100 feet and up.
Smallmouth Bass: Fair, drifting nightcrawlers and small or medium minnows. Also try brown hair jigs on rocky points and rocky banks.
Crappie: Slow, try using small minnows and jigs.
Catfish: Good, using nightcrawlers or chicken livers or cut bait on bottom, Night fishing has produced results. Bream: Excellent, using crickets, popping bugs and dug worms around banks and brush.

Lake Keowee:

Largemouth Bass: Good, using topwater and dropshot lures like the Sammy 100's, Zara Spooks, buzzbaits, plastic worms, floating worms and Carolina-rigged worms in green or red colors in 15 to 25 feet of water in the mouths of creeks and off rocky points. Also try fishing topwater lures in the early morning hours.
Striped and Hybrid Bass: Fair, fishing with live and cut herring and jumbo minnows.
Crappie: Good, using small minnows and jigs in 10 to 15 feet of water around brush piles and bridge pilings. Try night fishing around bridge pilings.
Catfish: Good, using nightcrawlers and cut bait on bottom.
Bream: Fair, using worms and crickets near shallow brush piles, stumps, bridge pilings, and sandy pockets.

Lake Hartwell:

Largemouth Bass: Good, using 5 to 6-inch lizards, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, topwater lures, and Trick worms, jitter bugs and pencil poppers, or white super flukes fishing off points, top water plugs.
Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, try live herring with down-rods in deep water around the dam in 20 to 25 feet deep, umbrella rig crollings.
Crappie: Fair, using small minnows,red worms grubs and small jigs, brush piles and docks. Fish are moving into deeper water.
Catfish:Fair to Good, using cut herring, nightcrawlers and leaches on the bottom.
Bream: Good, using redworms ,crickets, and minnows around brush piles and docks.

Lake Russell:

Largemouth Bass: Fair, casting shallow crankbaits along rocky points and in the back of creeks. Night fishing most productive.
Yellow Perch: Fair, fishing minnows deep.
Striped and Hybrid Bass:Fair, night fishing 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 bridges. Also try fishing jigs along banks with cover.
Catfish:Fair, using cut bait and nightcrawlers on the bottom.
Bream:Fair, using red wigglers, pinks, crickets and nightcrawlers.

Lake Thurmond:

Largemouth Bass:Fair, casting plastic worms. Also try Little Cleos and spinnerbaits.
Striped and Hybrid Bass: Fair, fishing with large minnows and cut bait. Trolling with deep-running Rapalas and Rebels.
Crappie: Fair, using minnows around bridges, piers and brush tops.
Catfish: Fair, using worms and cut bait along banks.
Bream: Fair, using crickets, worms and popping bugs. Fishing should pick up within the next month, below average conditions are due to the very hot temperatures.

Lake Wylie:

Largemouth Bass: Good, jigging Hopkins spoons during the day in deep waters. In the evening, try Carolina-rigged worms along shallow points and banks.
Striped Bass: Good, below Wylie dam using bucktails, jigs and spoons when water is running.
White Bass: Good, casting small spinners and jigs behind the dam.
Crappie: Fair, using small minnows and chartreuse jigs around brush tops. Crappie are moving into deeper water. Night fishing for crappie has been productive in the last week.
Catfish: Good, using nightcrawlers on the bottom.
Shellcracker: Good, using redworms and crickets on the bottom.
Bream: Good, using earthworms, redworms and crickets around the banks.

Lake Greenwood:

Largemouth Bass: Fair, early in the morning and late in afternoon casting floating worms, topwater plugs and plastic worms in shallow water around docks and structure. Also try plastic worms off rocky points with a slow retrieve, bumping the bottom. Largemouth bass are being caught at night using plastic worms in 12 to 15 feet of water.
Stripers: Good, behind the dam using Bombers, Charlie plugs and bucktails. Schooling activity has been reported around Goat Island and in the dam area as well as all over the lake.
White Perch: Good, fishing deep with Berry spoons and Panther Martins.
Crappie: Fair, try fishing in 25 feet of water using minnows and mini jigs at night .
Catfish: Good, using cut bait and worms on the bottom.
Bream: Good, using crickets and worms along shore and docks and fishing from banks.

Midlands Area
Lake Wateree:

Largemouth Bass: Good, using buzzbaits, crankbaits, Carolina rigged worms and spinnerbaits. Fish have moved into deep water in shady areas.
Striped Bass: Good, using live shad with down-rods in 15 to 25 feet of water.
White Bass: Slow. Try shad-like baits in river channel drops.
Crappie: Slow, try fishing over deep brush piles using minnows and jigs.
Catfish: Good, using worms, shad and cut bait in deeper dropoffs, 10 to 15 feet of water.
Bream: Fair. A few bream are bedding now, catch them on crickets and worms and artificial bait that looks like mayflies.
Shellcrackers: Slow. Try crickets and worms.

Lake Murray:

Largemouth Bass: Good, using topwater lures early in the morning and floating worms, jerkbaits and buzzbaits along the banks. Try fishing Texas rigged and Carolina rigged worms midday around stumps and rocky points.
Striped Bass: Good, using cut herring in 60 to 80 feet of water.
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 redworms in 15 to 20 feet of water.
Catfish: Excellent, using cut herring and nightcrawlers on bottom.
Bream: Good. Try fishing redworms and crickets in 6 to 20 feet of water. Also casting beetle spins in colors white with red dots and yellow with black stripes. Bream are also biting crickets.
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, using shad and live or cut herring. Free-lining live shiners has also been productive. Trolling has produced some stripers.
White Perch: Slow. Try jigging off the bottom with Hopkins spoons.
Crappie: Good, using small and medium minnows around deep brush piles and piers. Try fishing at night. Catfish: Good, fishing with cut bait off the bottom.
Bream and Shellcracker: Good, using crickets in early evening.

Lake Moultrie:

Largemouth Bass: Fair, casting, spinnerbaits, plastic worms and lizards along docks and structure in shallow water.
Striped Bass: Good, Jigging and with down-rods in 30 feet of water with live herring near the powerhouse. Night fishing has been the most productive.
Crappie: Good, using small to medium minnows and Beetlespins around fish attraction areas and brush piles. Also try fishing in shallow water 3 to 7 feet deep.
Catfish: Fair, using cut shad, herring, menhaden, live large shiners and nightcrawlers 8 to 30 feet deep.
Bream: Excellent, using crickets, green worms and redworms around public fish attractors. Fish are in 8 to 25 feet of water on beds.
Shellcrackers: Good, try redworms and green worms along the banks 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

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

July 31, 2006

Freshwater Fishing Trends

Archived Article - please check for current information.