News Release
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 | Largemouth Bass: Good, slow retrieves with plastic worms, casting Carolina-rigged worms and spinnerbaits. |
| Trout: Excellent, trolling with Apex lures, Sutton spoons and Yozuri baits from 30 to 60 feet deep. During the daylight hours try drift fishing with large minnows in 45 feet of water. Night fishing producing good catches of trout in depths of 25 to 40 feet. |
| Smallmouth Bass, Fair, drifting live bait or brown hair jigs on rocky points and rocky banks. |
| Crappie: Slow. Try small minnows and jigs around brush piles. |
| Catfish: Slow. Try nightcrawlers or cut bait on bottom at night. |
| Bream: Slow. Try earthworms around banks and brush. |
Lake Keowee:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, fish moving into shallow water around grass. Try jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, buzzbaits and Carolina-rigged worms in green or red colors in 5 to 10 feet of water or less off rocky points. Fish are trying to bed. |
| Crappie: Good. Try small minnows and jigs in water 10 feet or less in the brush. |
| 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, floating and Carolina-rigged worms. Look for fish bedding along islands and coves. |
| Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, free lining live herring and large minnows in 6 to 9 feet of water in coves all over the lake. Some are trolling in deep water with bucktails in pearl, chartreuse and powder blue using lead core line in 60 feet of water. |
| Crappie: Good, using small minnows, grubs and small jigs. |
| Catfish: Good, using cut herring, nightcrawlers and chicken livers on bottom. |
| Bream: Good, using redworms and crickets around brush piles. |
Piedmont Area
Lake Russell:
| Largemouth Bass: Fair, 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: Good, using minnows and jigs around brush piles and bridges. |
| Catfish: Fair, using cut bait on the bottom. |
| Bream: Good, using red wigglers, pinks, crickets and nightcrawlers. |
Lake Thurmond:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, casting plastic lizards and 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 rip-rap and brush tops. |
| Catfish: Good, using cut bait, nightcrawlers and chicken livers on the bottom. |
| Shellcracker: Good, try redworms around brush. |
| Bream: Good, using earthworms around the banks. |
Lake Wylie:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, casting plastic lizards and floating worms in the back of creeks. 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 rip-rap and brush tops. |
| Catfish: Good, using cut bait, nightcrawlers and chicken livers on the bottom. |
| Shellcracker: Good, try redworms around brush. |
| Bream: Good, using earthworms around the banks. |
Midlands Area
Lake Greenwood:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, casting floating worms and plastic lizards around docks and structure. Also try plastic worms and lizards of rocky points, bumping the bottom. |
| Stripers: Good, behind the dam using flukes with water corks and shallow-running crankbaits and bucktails. |
| White Perch: Good, behind the dam in the river using minnows and live worms. |
| Crappie: Good, using small to medium minnows and mini jigs over brush in 6 to 12 feet of water. Also excellent catches behind the dam. |
| Catfish: Good, using cut bait and worms on bottom. |
| Bream: Good, using redworms and crickets along shore and docks. |
Lake Wateree:
| Largemouth Bass: Fair, using spinnerbaits and floating worms in 3 to 4 feet of water in the back of coves and around docks. |
| Striped Bass: Fair, using cut shad on the bottom near Cedar Creek. |
| White Bass: Fair, trolling shad-like baits in the back of creeks. |
| Crappie: Good, using Wow grubs and Sliders with chartreuse head black body and a chartreuse tail in all major feeder creeks in 6 to 8 feet of water. |
| Catfish: Fair, using live bait close to bottom 6 to 12 feet and deeper. |
| Bream: Fair, trolling with orange Slider. Also try fishing around docks and structure. |
Lake Murray:
| Largemouth Bass: Good. Bass are bedding and hitting spinner baits in the shallows and shaky head artificial worms around brush and shallows using watermelon red color. |
| Striped Bass: Good catches freelining herring in mid- lake. When schooling use striper delights and pencil poppers. Use live freelining or cut bait on down rods. |
| Crappie: Fair. Use jigs, small tuffies trolling the creek runs, at 8 to 20 feet. Cast jigs and minnows to the bank. |
| White Perch: Good, jigging Flex-it spoons down 15 to 30 feet. |
| Catfish: Good. In the shallows use cut herring and nightcrawlers. |
| Bream: Good. Fish with redworms, crickets in 3 to 8 feet of water. |
| Shellcrackers: Good, using redworms and small nightcrawlers. Drop
baits around sandy shell beds around points and islands at 4 to 15 feet. |
Santee Cooper System
Lake Marion:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, using artificial worms deep. Crankbaits and white spinnerbaits are being fished along the banks. Also try live hybrid red worms. |
| Striped Bass: Good, using shad and live or cut herring. Free-lining live shiners have also been productive. Trolling activity producing some stripers. |
| Perch: Slow. Try jigging off the bottom with Hopkins spoons. |
| Crappie: Good, using 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 water. |
| Bream and Shellcrackers: Excellent, using crickets, red worms, wigglers and nightcrawlers. |
Lake Moultrie:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, around the shallows and drop-offs using plastic worms and crank baits and spinners. |
| Striped Bass: Good, using live herring and using Stretch 25's in deeper water. |
| Crappie: Good, using minnows on the brush piles, the fish have moved out of the shallow water and are now in deep water. |
| Catfish: Excellent, using cut herring, bream, perch and live shiners. Fish are being caught on the ledges during the daytime in 25 foot of water and shallow water at night. The nighttime bite is starting to heat up. |
| Bream: Excellent, using red worms, green worms, mealworms or crickets in 2-6 feet of water. Reports of 3 lb shell cracker are being caught in the lily pads. Try fishing in the early mornings or late afternoons. |
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 - Mr. David Sweat.
For South Carolina freshwater fish regulations:
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/regs/pdf/freshfishing.pdf
