News Release
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 | Largemouth Bass: Good, slow retrieves with plastic worms, casting Carolina-rigged worms jerkbaits and spinnerbaits. |
| Trout: Good, trolling with Apex lures, Sutton spoons and Yozuri baits from 20 to 50 feet deep. During the daylight hours try drift fishing with large minnows in 45 feet of water. Night fishing producing excellent 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: Fair, 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, fish moving into shallow water around grass. Try jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, buzzbaits, floating worms and Carolina-rigged worms in green or red colors in 5 to 10 feet of water or less off rocky points. Fish are bedding around grass. |
| Crappie: Good, using small minnows and jigs in 10 to 15 feet of water around brush piles. Fish moving into deeper water. Also night fishing around bridges pilings using lanterns. |
| 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 flukes, Texas-rigged worms and Carolina-rigged worms. |
| 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 activity trolling in deep water with bucktails in pearl, chartreuse and powder blue colors 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. |
| 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 riprap 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 riprap and brush tops. Crappie are moving into deeper water. |
| Catfish: Good, using cut bait, nightcrawlers and chicken livers on the bottom. |
| Shellcracker: Good, using redworms on the bottom. |
| Bream: Good, using earthworms and crickets around the banks. |
Midlands Area
Lake Greenwood:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, casting floating worms, topwater plugs and plastic lizards in shallow water around docks and structure. Also try plastic worms and lizards off rocky points with a slow retrieve, bumping the bottom. |
| Stripers: Good, behind the dam using flukes with water corks and shallow-running crankbaits and bucktails. |
| Crappie: Good, using small to medium minnows and mini jigs over brush in 6 to 12 feet of water. |
| Catfish: Good, using cut bait and worms on the bottom. |
| Bream: Excellent, using redworms and crickets along shore and docks. |
Lake Wateree:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, using spinnerbaits and shallow running crankbaits in 3 to 4 feet of water in the back of coves and around docks. |
| Striped Bass: Good, schooling activity has begun. Try using Zara Spooks, casting to schooling fish. Also try live shad in 12 feet of water with down-rods. |
| White Bass: Slow, trolling shad-like baits in the back of creeks. |
| Crappie: Good, try Wow grubs and Sliders using various colors in all major feeder creeks in 8 to 12 feet of water and deeper. |
| Catfish: Good, using live and cut bait close to bottom in 6 to 8 feet of water and deeper. |
| Bream: Good, using crickets and redworms. Look for bream on the bed. Also try fishing around docks and structure. |
Lake Murray:
| Largemouth Bass: Good. Bass are hitting spinner baits in the shallows and shaky head artificial worms around brush and shallows using watermelon red, candy or green pumpkin 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, 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: Fair, fishing with live herring and cut shad off the bottom in deep 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: Excellent, using cut shad, herring, menhaden, live large shiners and nightcrawlers 25 to 30 feet deep. |
| Bream: Good, using crickets and redworms around public fish attractors. Fish are moving into shallow water. |
| Shellcrackers: Good, try red-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 - Mr. David Sweat.
For South Carolina freshwater fish regulations:
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/regs/pdf/freshfishing.pdf
