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

January 9, 2005

Freshwater Fishing Trends

Mountains Area
Lake Jocassee: Largemouth Bass: Fair, casting Carolina-rigged worms, topwater plugs and slow retrieves with plastic worms. Fair catches in the early morning. Trout: Good, trolling with Sutton spoons, Lucky Jaks Spoons, Apex lures and Yozuri baits from surface to 30 feet deep. Smallmouth Bass: Slow, drifting large minnows and brown hair jigs around rocky points and rocky banks. Crappie: Slow. Try small minnows and jigs around brush piles. Catfish: Fair, using night crawlers or cut bait on bottom. Bream: Fair, using redworms around banks and brush.
Lake Keowee: Largemouth Bass: Good, Try doodling and drop-shot Carolina-rigged worms in green or red colors and jigging spoons in 30 to 50 feet of water in the mouths of creeks and off rocky points after mid-morning. Crappie: Fair. Try small minnows and jigs in 10 to 15 feet of water around brush piles and bridge pilings. Catfish: Good, using minnows, nightcrawlers and cut bait on the bottom. Bream: Slow. Try using redworms and crickets around brush piles, around stumps and around bridge pilings.
Lake Hartwell: Largemouth Bass: Excellent, using topwater lures, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and Trick worms fishing off points. Best catches reported at dawn and dusk. Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, using umbrella rigs also live herring with down-rods in deep water around river channels 15 to 30 feet deep. Trolling activity has increased, try depths of 15 to 25 feet of water. Crappie: Good. Try using small and medium minnows along with small crappie jigs in 15 to 20 of water over brush and structure. Catfish: Good, using shrimp and chicken livers, cut herring, large shiners, nightcrawlers on the bottom. Bream: Slow. Try using redworms and crickets under boat docks and bridges.

Piedmont Area
Lake Russell: Largemouth Bass: Slow. Try plastic worms along grass banks. Also try channels and deep creeks using jigging spoons and deep-running crank baits. Yellow Perch: Fair. Try fishing deep with medium minnows and jigging spoons. Striped and Hybrid Bass: Fair, early morning with bucktails, cut, 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 around brush piles and bridge pilings. 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: Good, casting CountDown lures, ShadRaps, plastic worms and deep-running Rebels. Striped and Hybrid Bass: Excellent, using KastMasters, Little Cleos, Berry Spoons, 1/2 ounce yellow and white RoadRunners with bucktails around the dam in 30 to 50 feet of water. Also, try large minnows and live herring. Crappie: Excellent, using small minnows and jigs around deep brush tops. Limits are being caught. Catfish: Good, using cut bait and nightcrawlers fishing on the bottom. Bream and Shellcrackers: Slow. Try using earthworms in 5 to 10 feet of water around brush-tops.
Lake Wylie: Largemouth Bass: Good, casting plastic crawfish jigs and Carolina-rigged worms along shallow points and banks. White Bass: Good, below the dam casting smaller bucktails and spoons. Crappie: Good, using small minnows and jigs around brush tops in 12 to 20 feet of water. Catfish: Good, fishing on the bottom with a variety of baits. Shellcrackers: Try using redworms and crickets on the bottom. Bream: Slow. Try red-worms and nightcrawlers from the bank.

Midlands Area
Lake Greenwood: Largemouth Bass: Fair. Try crankbaits, jigs, plastic worms and lizards around points and brush piles in 12 to 15 feet of water. Stripers: Fair, using live bait, herring or shad 20 to 25 feet deep. Also casting spoons and bucktails to schools. Some stripers being caught behind the dam.White Bass and White Perch: Good: Schools are scattered. Good results with Berry Spoons in 10 to 15 feet of water. Crappie: Good, using small to medium minnows and mini jigs over brush in 12 to 15 feet of water. Good catches of crappie along brush and bushes on the Reedy River. Catfish: Good, using redworms on the bottom in 12 to 15 feet of water. Bream: Fair, with redworms along shoreline structure and docks in 6 to 12 feet of water.
Lake Wateree: Largemouth Bass: Good, best caught with shad-like lures on points. Striped Bass: Good. Fish 12 feet deep with live shad. White Bass: Slow. White Perch: Good, casting and jigging Twister-tail grubs and live minnows. Crappie: Excellent, best fishing with minnows, jigging in 16 to 20 feet deep water. Catfish: Good, using earthworms, nightcrawlers, shrimp, small pieces of cut bait and live shad. Bream and Shellcrackers: Slow, using crickets, worms and artificial lures fished around piers, structure and brush. Water temperature 42 degrees.
Lake Murray: Largemouth Bass: Good, best fishing early in shallow water and late in deep water. Striped Bass: Good, try dragging free lines along banks. Early fishing is best with free lines and down fishing to 30 feet. Fishing with freelining live bait, Striper Delights. Crappie: Good, using minnows and jigs around brush piles in 8 to 20 feet of water and casting toughie minnows and jigs in creeks runs and around docks. White Perch: Fair, jigging with small spoons in 8 to 35 feet. Catfish: Slow, using cut live herring, cut bait and nightcrawlers. Bream and shellcrackers: Fair, using redworms.

Santee Cooper System
Lake Marion: Largemouth Bass: Good, using artificial worms, and bucktails fishing along the banks and point early in the morning. Striped Bass: Good, using live shiner 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: Excellent, use live shiners, cut shad, and herring off bottom drifting in deep water and at night in shallow water. Bream and Shellcrackers: Fair, using redworms, crickets and waxworms in 4 to 6 feet of water and fishing shallow.
Lake Moultrie: Largemouth Bass: Fair, cast spinnerbaits, plastic worms and lizards along docks and structure. Also cast Rattletraps and Rapala lures around Pinopolis Point and Old Hatchery. Striped Bass: Fair, casting and trolling. 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 25 to 40 feet deep on bottom. Bream: Fair. Try using crickets, redworms, and small minnows, around manmade fish attractors, crappie beds and around the dam around grates at powerhouse. Shellcrackers: Slow, 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.
- Written by Brett Witt -
For South Carolina freshwater fish regulations: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/regs/pdf/freshfishing.pdf