NEWS RELEASE
June 26, 2006
DNR News (803) 734-3950

Freshwater Fishing Trends:

Mountains Area

Lake Jocassee: Largemouth Bass: Fair, slow retrieves with plastic worms, casting Carolina-rigged worms, top water lures and spinnerbaits. Trout: Good, fishing early morning around intake towers using cut bait or minnows 45 to 55 feet. Smallmouth Bass: Fair. Try drifting large minnows along red clay and rocky points. Crappie: Slow. Try small minnows and jigs around brush piles. Catfish: Good, using nightcrawlers or frozen herring at night. Bream: Good, using crickets and dug worms, popping bugs around banks and brush, some bedding.

Lake Keowee: Largemouth Bass: Good, night fishing with buzzbaits and plastic worms in shallower water. Crappie: Slow. Try using minnows under bridges at night and in 15 to 20 feet of water. Catfish: Good, using nightcrawlers and cut bait on the bottom. Bream: Good, using redworms and crickets around brush piles and around stumps.

Lake Hartwell: Largemouth Bass: Good, using 5 to 6-inch lizards, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, topwater lures, and trick worms. Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, try cut herring and large minnows using down rods all over the lake. Some activity trolling in deep water with bucktails and flukes using lead core line in 60 feet of water. Crappie: Fair, using small minnows, grubs and small jigs. Fish moving into deeper water. Catfish: Good, using cut herring, nightcrawlers and chicken livers on the bottom. Recently a catfish in 12 to 17-pound range was caught. Bream: Excellent, using redworms and crickets around brush piles.

Piedmont Area

Lake Russell: Largemouth Bass: Good, casting shallow crankbaits along rocky points and in the back of creeks. Yellow Perch: Fair, fishing minnows deep. Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, using bucktails, cut bait and jigs especially when water is running below dam. White Bass: Good, using bucktails, spinners and live bait below dam. Crappie: Fair. Try using minnows and jigs around brush piles and bridges. Catfish: Good, fishing cut bait on the bottom. Bream: Good, fishing with red wigglers and nightcrawlers.

Lake Thurmond: Largemouth Bass: Good, casting plastic worms. Also try 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 brush tops. Catfish: Good, using worms, cut bait and chicken livers on the bottom along banks. Bream and Shellcrackers: Good, using pink worms and jumbo redworms around the banks.

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. Crappie: Fair. Moving into deeper water. Night fishing for crappie has been productive in the last week. Catfish: Good, using nightcrawlers on the bottom. Bream: Good, fishing with crickets and worms from the bank.

Midlands Area

Lake Greenwood: Largemouth Bass: Good, casting spinnerbaits and chatterbaits around the banks. Also using plastic worms and lizards around points in 8 to 12 feet of water. Floating worms and topwater lures are producing some fish along banks. Stripers: Good, behind the dam using Bombers, Charlie plugs, and flukes. White Bass and White Perch: Good, using spinners and small jigs in 8 to 10 feet of water. Crappie: Fair, using small to medium minnows and mini jigs over brush in 12 to 15 feet of water. Catfish: Good, using cut bait and nightcrawlers on the bottom. Bream: Excellent, using redworms and crickets along shore and docks.

Lake Wateree: Largemouth Bass: Good. A few bass have been caught on buzzbaits late in the afternoon. Striped Bass: Fair, using live bait, cut bait and bucktails. Fish reported caught below Wateree Dam with topwater lures. White Bass: Slow: Try shad-like baits off points and around Cedar Creek dam. White Perch: Fair. Try using various bait including jigs, grubs and live minnows. Crappie: Fair, try trolling with Wow grubs or Slider grubs. Catfish: Good, using live shad, small pieces of shrimp and cut bait close to bottom in major feeder creeks and below Cedar Creek Dam. Bream: Good, try worms and crickets fished around bedding bream.

Lake Murray: Largemouth Bass: Good, using topwater lures early in the morning. Also try floating worms, jerkbaits and buzzbaits along the banks. Striped Bass: Good, try cut herring on the bottom and down rods in 25 to 30 feet of water. Crappie: Good, using jigs and small tuffies trolling in creek runs and fishing bush piles in 10 to 20 foot of water. White Perch: Good, jigging flex-it spoons and redworms in 15 to 20 feet of water. Catfish: Good, using cut herring and nightcrawlers on bottom. Bream: Excellent, try fishing redworms and crickets in 1 to 10 feet of water. Shellcracker: Good, using redworms and blueworms in 1 to 10 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: Good, using shad and live or cut herring. Free-lining live shiners have 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: Excellent, fishing with live herring and cut shad off the bottom in deep and slow water. Bream and Shellcrackers: Excellent, using crickets, redworms, wigglers and nightcrawlers in 1 to 10 feet of water.

Lake Moultrie: Largemouth Bass: Fair, casting, spinnerbaits, plastic worms and lizards along docks and structure. Striped Bass: Good, fishing live herring 30 to 50 feet deep using down-rods. Crappie: Slow. Try small to medium sized minnows around fish attraction areas. Catfish: Good, using cut shad, herring, menhaden, live large shiners and nightcrawlers 40 to50 feet deep. Bream: Excellent, using crickets, green worm and redworms around public fish attractors. 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.

- Written by Brett Witt -

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