Columbia - Brett Witt (803) 667-0696
Clemson - Greg Lucas (864) 654-1671, ext.22
Charleston - (803) 667-0696
Spokesman - Mike Willis (803) 734-4133
After Hours Radio Room - (803) 955-4000
SC Dept. of Natural Resources
P 0 Box 167
Columbia, SC 29202
** Archived Article - please check for current information. **
October 24, 2005
Freshwater Fishing Trends
Mountains Area
Lake Jocassee: Largemouth Bass: Very Good, morning and late evening
casting Carolina-rigged worms, Gary Yamamoto watermelon purple plastic worms
with slow retrieve topwater and sinkos. Trout: Fair, at 100 to 115 feet with Bad
Creek spoons, Sutton, Doctor and Apex spoons. Try drifting large minnows from
surface to 100 to 115 feet and trolling with minnows. Night fishing producing
fair minnows, nightcrawlers catches, fish at 80 to 115 feet with nightcrawlers
sprayed with garlic spray. Smallmouth Bass: Good. Casting minnows around rocky
points. Crappie: Poor. Try small minnows and jigs around brush piles. Catfish:
Good. Try nightcrawlers or cut bait on bottom. Bream: Excellent, fishing with
redworms, popping bugs and crickets around banks and brush.
Lake Keowee: Largemouth and Spotted Bass: Good, schooling increased. Try
using jigging spoons, doodling with drop-shot rigs in 30 to 40 feet of water.
Bass are hitting topwater plugs in schools. Crappie: Fair, under bridges with
lights early in the day and night as days are still warm, minnows at night 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. Basket fishing
for catfish still productive. Bream: Good, using redworms and crickets around
brush piles, stumps and bridge pilings.
Lake Hartwell: Largemouth Bass: Fair, casting spinnerbaits and crankbaits
off points and jigs around structure. Fair catches with live large minnows,
white flukes and topwater flukes in morning and evenings and using 8 to 10 inch
worms at night. Striped and Hybrid Bass: Fair, trolling umbrella rigs,
free-lining live herring and large minnows and jigging in about 38 feet of
water. Fair catches around the dam with live herring at 40 to 60 feet. Good at
daybreak on cut bait on points or breaks. Use blue umbrella lures when trolling.
Schooling early morning and evening. Crappie: Fair, some catches at 25-30 feet
with small to medium minnows. Also, try using umbrella rigs. Catfish: Fair,
using cut herring, large shiners, nightcrawlers, shrimp and chicken livers on
the bottom. Bream: Fair. Try using redworms and crickets under boat docks and
bridges and brush piles.
Piedmont Area
Lake Russell: Largemouth Bass: Good, shallow running crank baits. Yellow
Perch: Fair, try fishing deep with medium minnows, worms and jigging spoons.
Striped and Hybrid Bass: Fair, using bucktails, cut and live herring and jigs
below the dam when water is running. White Bass: Fair, using bucktails, spinners
and live bait below the dam when water is running. Crappie: Excellent, using
minnows and jigs around brush piles and bridge pilings at 5 to 7 feet. Better at
night. Catfish: Good, using cut bait and nightcrawlers on the bottom and around
the riprap at bridges. Bream: Good, using crickets and earthworms around bridge
pilings and structure.
Lake Thurmond: Largemouth Bass: Fair, casting plastic worms, Rattletraps,
CountDown lures, deep-running Rebels, ShadRaps, Yozuri plugs and Challenger
plugs. Striped and Hybrid Bass: Fair, using medium and large minnows, Sidewinder
spoons, and 1/3 and 2/5 ounce Cleos. Also, Berry spoons, KastMasters and Hopkins
spoons. Best early in the morning, late afternoon and night. Crappie: Fair,
mostly using small minnows and greenish mini-jigs and Wobbly-eye jigs around
deep brush tops. Catfish: Fair, using cut bait and nightcrawlers fishing on the
bottom, particularly around structures like riprap and bridge pilings. Bream and
Shellcrackers: Fair, using earthworms and crickets around banks and brush along
the bottom as well.
Lake Wylie: Largemouth Bass: Good, casting spinnerbaits and medium-running
crankbaits along points close to the bottom. Also topwater baits good in morning
and late afternoon. Striped Bass: Good, using spoons and bucktails behind Lake
Wylie dam. White Bass: Good, below the dam casting smaller bucktails and spoons.
Crappie: Good, using small minnows and jigs around docks, piers and brush tops
in 10 to 15 feet of water. 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, try crankbaits. Stripers: Good,
behind the dam using Bombers, Charlie plugs, and flukes. Also good catches in
lower lake with bucktails and Berry spoons. White Bass and White Perch: Good,
schooling activity reported over the lake. Try casting and Beetle Spins and
Panther Martins in school areas. Crappie: Good, best catches at night. Use small
to medium minnows, mini jigs and Slider jigs around brush in 15-20 feet of
water. Catfish: Good, try using redworms in 6 to 8 feet of water. Bream: Fair,
with redworms and crickets along shoreline structure and docks in 4 to 6 feet of
water.
Lake Wateree: Largemouth Bass: Good, best caught with shad on points.
Some schooling activity reported. Striped Bass: Good, lower part of lake fish
deep live shad. Schooling activity early morning and late afternoon. White Bass:
Slow. White Perch: Good, casting and jigging Twister-tail grubs and live
minnows. Crappie: Excellent (21 fish at 44 pounds), shallow water in the creeks,
along edge old river channel and trolling Wow grubs, Sliders and live bait. Best
fishing with 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 green pumpkin plastic worms and
lizards, trick worms and Carolina rigs, Texas rigs around shrubs and brush in 15
to 20 feet of water. Points and secondary points in 10 to 15 feet of water. Best
fishing early in shallow water and late in deep water and some topwater
schooling. Striped Bass: Good, early fishing is best with free lines and down
fishing to 30 feet. Fishing with freelining live bait, Sammy's, Striper Delight
and Pencil Poppers. Also, trolling and down rods with live herring 60 feet.
Trolling is fair with bucktails and hard lures. Also use lead core line with 6
to 9 colors. Schooling underway with best fishing from Bomb Island to the big
gap. Try dragging free lines on banks Crappie: Fair, using minnows and jigs
around brush piles in 8 to 20 feet of water and casting jigs. White Perch: Good,
jigging with small spoons in 8 to 20 feet and using worms. Catfish: Good, using
cut herring and nightcrawlers on the bottom 6 to 20 feet deep. Bream and
Shellcrackers: Excellent, using redworms, baby nightcrawlers, crickets,
Beetlespins around green grass in 20 feet of water and around docks.
Santee Cooper System
Lake Marion: Largemouth Bass: Fair, using artificial worms, Carolina rigs
and live shiners, fishing along drops and creek banks, especially in morning.
Striped Bass: Good. Schooling started. Fairly well with live bait in riverbed
off dam or drifting along the dam with shiners or blueback herring. White Perch:
Slow. Try jigging off bottom with Hopkins spoons and with smaller nightcrawlers
on sand points. Use nightcrawlers at sunrise and sunset. Crappie: Good, using
small and medium minnows over deep brush piles, bridge pilings and piers. Best
fishing in the morning and evening. Catfish: Good, once wind slows. Use cut
shad, herring and live shiners off bottom in drifting deep water and at night in
shallow water. Flatheads good with live bream or perch straight down on
structures. Bream and Shellcrackers: Fair, using redworms, crickets and waxworms
in 4 to 6 feet of water and fishing shallow and on the borrow pit.
Lake Moultrie: Largemouth Bass: Slow, casting spinnerbaits, plastic worms
and lizards along docks and structure. Also, casting Rattletraps and Rapala
lures around Pinopolis Point and Old Hatchery. Striped Bass: Poor, casting and
trolling Stretch-25s early morning. Crappie: Good, try using crickets and small
to medium minnows around fish attraction areas and brush piles. Some crappie
being caught on the bed with minnows and jigs. Catfish: Good, 9 to 15 feet deep
using cut herring, stink bait, chicken livers and shiners 9 to 20 feet deep near
the bottom dike edges and around the dam. Bream: Good, try using crickets and
redworms, nightcrawlers around fish attraction areas and banks. Shellcrackers:
Poor. Try using crickets and redworms along the banks in river runs and along
points, possibly in canals.
- Written by Brett Witt -
For South Carolina freshwater fish regulations: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/regs/pdf/freshfishing.pdf