9/18/2006
News Release
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 | Largemouth Bass: Fair, casting Carolina-rigged green or red worms up the rivers. Topwater night fishing should produce around points and secondary points. |
| 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 brown hair jigs or smaller plastic worms or grubs on rocky points and rocky banks. |
| 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, night fishing with buzzbaits and plastic worms in shallower water. |
| 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: Poor. Try casting topwater lures on humps and points and mid-day Carolina-rigging green pumpkin plastic worms. |
| Striped and Hybrid Bass: Excellent, in lower end of lake with live herring, jigs and jerkbaits around 30-feet deep. Also casting to schools with Super Flukes. |
| 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: Fair. Try using redworms and crickets under boat docks and bridges. |
Piedmont Area
Lake Russell:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, best at night, casting Carolina-rigged worms, jerkbaits and lizards. |
| Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, using bucktails, cut bait and jigs especially when water is running below the 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: Fair, fishing with red wigglers and nightcrawlers. |
Lake Thurmond:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, casting plastic worms in the necks early morning and around points late afternoon. |
| Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, fishing with large minnows and cut bait, and trolling with deep-running Rapalas and Rebels. |
| 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 Carolina-rigged worms along shallow points and banks. Topwater plugs good late afternoon and early morning. Fish deep water midday with and spoons and spinnerbaits. |
| 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, fishing with crickets and worms from the bank. |
Midlands Area
Lake Greenwood:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, casting topwater worms, plugs and buzzbaits around docks. |
| Stripers: Fair, using live bait, herring or shad 20-25 feet deep. |
| 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: Fair, around deeper piers and structure casting worms and crankbaits in shaded areas. |
| Striped bass: Good, casting shad-like topwater lures and chuggers. Schooling reported near the dam. |
| White Bass: Fair, using shad-like baits in state park area, increased schooling. |
| 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 other structure in 8 to 20 feet of water. |
| Striped Bass: Good, using live bait on downrods and free-lining at depths of 40 to 70 feet. Fish are schooling very early, Good catches with topwater plugs, pencil poppers and striper delights. |
| Crappie: Fair, 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: Good, using cut herring and nightcrawlers on bottom. |
| Bream: Good. Try fishing redworms, baby night crawlers and crickets in 3 to 15 feet of water. |
| Shellcrackers: Fair, using redworms and baby night crawlers in 6 to 20 feet of water. |
Santee Cooper System
Lake Marion:
| Largemouth Bass: Fair, casting topwater baits, lizards and worms early morning and late afternoon. |
| Striped Bass: Good. Try casting bucktails to schooling fish or fishing live small blueback herring or shiners 15 feet deep. |
| White Perch: Fair, jigging off the bottom with Hopkins spoons. |
| Crappie: Slow. Try medium minnows around deep brush piles. |
| Catfish: Good, fishing with cut bait off the bottom. |
| Bream and Shellcrackers: Good, using redworms and crickets in 4 to 6
feet of water and fishing shallow in river channel. |
Lake Moultrie:
| Largemouth Bass: Fair, using topwater lures and plastic worms in shallows near hatchery area early and late. Best fishing reportedly at night. |
| Striped Bass: Good, fishing live herring 30 to 40 feet deep with down-rods. Some schooling activity reported around the lake. Night fishing the most productive. |
| Crappie: Slow. Try minnows around fish attraction areas. |
| Catfish: Good, using cut bait, shiners and nightcrawlers along dike edges 18-20 feet deep and near Power Plant. Good catches at night. |
| 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.
- Written by Brett Witt -
For South Carolina freshwater fish regulations: http://www.dnr.state.sc.us/regs/pdf/freshfishing.pdf