News Release
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 | Largemouth Bass: Good, casting Carolina-rigged worms, and topwater
plugs with slow retrieve. Also in early morning drifting minnows off
shallow points. |
| Trout: Fair, trolling early in the day in 40 to 65 feet water with Sutton spoons, Doctor spoons and Apex spoons. Also try drifting large minnows early in the morning in 40 feet of water. |
| Smallmouth Bass: Slow. Try drifting large minnows and brown hair jigs around rocky points and rocky banks. |
| Crappie: Slow. Try small minnows and jigs around brush piles. |
| Catfish: Fair, using nightcrawlers or cut bait on bottom. |
| Bream: Very Good, using crickets redworms around banks and brush. |
Lake Keowee:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, casting Carolina-rigged worms, crankbaits and jerk baits to the banks around brush. Also, some schooling activity has been reported. |
| Crappie: Excellent, using small minnows and jigs in 10 to 15 feet of water around brush piles and bridge pilings. |
| Catfish: Excellent, using jumbo minnows, nightcrawlers and cut bait on the bottom. |
| Bream: Excellent, using redworms around brush piles and around stumps. Also, try fishing around bridge pilings. |
Lake Hartwell:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, using 5 to 6-inch lizards, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, topwater lures and pearl white floating worms fishing off points. Best catches reported at dawn and dusk. Also try fishing in coves. |
| Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good, using live herring with down-rods in deep water around river channels 15 to 30 feet deep. |
| Crappie: Good, using small and medium minnows along with small crappie jigs. Fish are being caught in 10 to 25 feet of water over structure. |
| Catfish: Good, using cut herring, large shiners nightcrawlers, shrimp and chicken livers on the bottom. |
| Bream: Fair, using redworms and crickets around brush piles and in covers. |
Piedmont Area
Lake Russell:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, try shallow creeks, flats, and rocky points with medium-running crankbaits and plastic worms. Better at night. |
| Yellow Perch: Good, fishing medium minnows deep and jigging spoons. |
| Striped and Hybrid Bass: Fair, early morning with bucktails, cut and live herring and jigs especially when water is running below dam. Night fishing has been the most productive. |
| White Bass: Very Good, using bucktails, spinners and live bait below dam. |
| Crappie: Good, using minnows around brush piles and bridge pilings in 14 to 15 feet of water. Also try fishing jigs along banks with cover. |
| Catfish: Fair, using cut bait and nightcrawlers on the bottom. |
| Bream: Excellent, using red wigglers, pinks, crickets and nightcrawlers. |
Lake Thurmond:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, casting plastic worms. Also, try Little Cleos and spinnerbaits. Good catches with deep-running Rebels and ShadRaps. Bass are beginning to bed. |
| Striped and Hybrid Bass: Excellent, using Cleos, Berry Spoons 1/2 ounce yellow and white RoadRunners with bucktails and KastMasters. Also, try large minnows and live herring. |
| Crappie: Good, using small minnows and jigs around deep brush tops. |
| Catfish: Good, using cut bait and nightcrawlers fishing on the bottom. |
| Bream and Shellcrackers: Excellent, using Louisiana 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: Good, using small minnows and chartreuse jigs around rip-rap and brush tops. Crappie are moving into deeper water. Night fishing for crappie has been productive in the last week. |
| Catfish: Good, using nightcrawlers on the bottom. |
| Shellcracker: Excellent, using redworms and crickets on the bottom. |
| Bream: Excellent, using earthworms, redworms and crickets around the banks. |
Midlands Area
Lake Greenwood:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, casting floating worms, topwater plugs and plastic worms in shallow water around docks and structure. Also try plastic worms off rocky points with a slow retrieve, bumping the bottom. |
| Stripers: Good, behind the dam using bombers, Charlie plugs and bucktails. In Lake Greenwood, schooling activity has been reported around Goat Island and in the dam area as well as all over the lake. |
| White Bass and White Perch: Good, fish are schooling together with stripers and largemouth. The most productive way to catch these fish is casting a popping cork, trailing it with 18 inches of leader with a medium size popping bug tied on to the leader. |
| Crappie: Good, using small to medium minnows and mini jigs over brush in 6 to 12 feet of water. |
| Catfish: Excellent, using cut bait and nightcrawlers on the bottom. |
| Bream: Excellent, using redworms and crickets along shore and docks. |
Lake Wateree:
| Largemouth Bass: Good, using Buzzbaits, crankbaits, and spinnerbaits. Fish have moved into shallow water. |
| Striped Bass: Good, try using live shad in 12 feet of water with down-rods. Also try casting bucktails to schooling fish. |
| White Bass: Slow, try shad like baits in river channel drops. |
| Crappie: Good, try Wow grubs and Sliders using 1/8 ounces heads in various colors in all major feeder creeks in 10 to 12 feet of water and deeper. |
| Catfish: Good, using live shad and cut bait close to bottom in 10 to 20 feet of water and deeper down the lake. Also try Cedar Creek Dam area. |
| Bream: Good, using crickets and redworms. Look for bream on the bed around sandy bars. |
Lake Murray:
| Largemouth Bass: Good. Using topwater lures early in the morning. Also try floating worms, jerkbaits and buzzbaits along the banks. Texas rigged and Carolina rigged worms are being fished around stumps and rocky points. |
| 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: Excellent, using cut herring and nightcrawlers on bottom. |
| Bream: Excellent, casting beetle spins in white with red dot colors. Also try fishing redworms and crickets in 1 to 10 feet of water. Bream are bedding. |
| 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. Reports of good fishing on the beds as well. 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: Good. Try casting spinnerbaits, plastic worms and lizards along docks and structure. Also, casting Rattletraps and Rapala lures around the Pinopolis point and the old hatchery. |
| Striped Bass: Fair. Some catches in the early morning and at night fishing with live herring 40 feet deep around the power plant and the Pinopolis Dam. Also some catches trolling with Stretch-25s. |
| Crappie: Fair, caught in the deep brush piles. Catfish: Good, caught on cut herring, night crawlers, clams and mullet in the deep drop offs during the day and shallows at night. The best catfishing is at night, especially with the heat, just watch out for the splash and dash showers in the afternoons as these storms create high winds on the lakes. |
| Bream: Good, Still being caught in the shallows on worms. |
| Shellcrackers: Good. Try crickets and red worms along the banks along river runs 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
