Fishing Updates

Freshwater Fishing Trends:

Mountains Area
Lake Jocassee:

Trout: Very good. Very nice catches of large rainbow trout are being reported trolling in 60 - 80 feet of water using trolling spoons or large plugs; also pull large live shiners in the same zone. Fishing early and late is best.
Black Bass: Excellent. Bass fishing continues to be very strong. Early morning the best action is coming on topwater lures until the sun gets high around 9 or 10 a.m. By 10 a.m. move out to deeper water and throw soft plastics along 10 - 15 foot drop offs on main and secondary points.

Lake Keowee:

Largemouth and Spotted Bass: Very good. Early in the morning Lake Fork swimbaits have been productive in the upper part of the lake when the baitfish are moving - magic shad and albino colors have been most productive. Spotted bass have been biting very well on Bill Lewis rattle traps and shallow running crankbaits in bluegill and chartreuse orange colors in 5 to 20 feet in the backs of coves and around islands.
Crappie: Fair. Crappie have moved out to 30-40 feet of water and can be caught fishing up against bridge pilings at night.
Bream: Very good. Fish crickets in 5 to 15 feet of water.

Lake Hartwell:

Striped and Hybrid Bass: Very good. Fish in 55-65 feet of water with downrods set at 25 to 30 feet. Try out lead core line and lures such as Cisco Kid and other similar ones as the thermocline may be developing quicker than ever.
Largemouth Bass: Good. Early and late there is still good topwater action along points, and as the sun gets higher switch to shaky head worms and Carolina rigs in 20 to 30 feet of water.
Bream: Very good. Bream have moved into very shallow water and are feeding aggressively.

Piedmont Area
Lake Russell:

Largemouth and Spotted Bass: Good. Try Carolina Rigging or fishing finesse worms in 15 to 20 feet of water, and green pumpkinseed and purple worms are good choices, as is watermelon color. Jigs are also a good choice.
Crappie: Fair. There are reports of decent numbers of crappie being caught trolling up Beaverdam Creek in the late evening.
Bream: Good. Fish have moved into shallow water. Use crickets and red worms.

Lake Thurmond:

Striped and Hybrid Bass: Very good. Striper fishing in 45 feet of water under the 378 bridge is very strong using live herring. Cut bait fished around points is also producing.
Largemouth Bass: Good. Early in the morning bass are being caught around secondary points using Zara Spooks.
Crappie: Good. Crappie have moved back out to deeper water but can be caught around brush piles and bridges at night.
Shellcracker: Excellent. Target shellcracker using red worms, pink worms, and crickets.

Lake Wylie:

Largemouth Bass: Fair to good. First thing in the morning fish topwater Pop-Rs over main channel points in about 8 feet of water - bass are schooling. Night fishing is becoming the preferred time to catch fish - deep crankbaits, dark worms, and jigging spoons are all productive.
White Perch: Very good. Fish in 18-22 feet of water on drops next to river channels and look for sandy bottoms. Use a minnow or small spoon lowered to the bottom and then bumped slowly; crickets will also work.
Bream: Very good. Use crickets or worms and try to "smell out" the beds.
Catfish: Good. Use mussels, shrimp, and stinkbaits. Night fishing is good in shallow water.

Midlands Area
Lake Greenwood:

Largemouth Bass: From very early until 8 a.m. topwaters and floating worms are productive fished around blocks walls, drops, and riprap. At night fish dark plastic worms around piers or brush piles.
Striped Bass: Fair. A few anglers are catching fish with bucktail jigs trolled in 30 feet of water.
Crappie: Very slow. Crappie have moved out over deep brush piles.
Bream: Good to very good. Use crickets and worms fished in 3-5 feet around docks and tree tops.
Catfish: Very good. Fish on the bottom using cut bait or worms in 12 to 15 feet of water and try fishing at night.

Lake Wateree:

Largemouth Bass: Fair to Good. Throw soft plastics - both floating worms and Texas rigged worms - around shallow grass and docks in the mid-lake area. The Zoom trick worm in green pumpkin has been hot. The best bite is early, but even once it starts to get warmer shallow docks and other shady areas still hold fish.
Catfish: Very good. For numbers of fish target the lake flats using cut bait and gizzard shad. Creek mouths where the creeks meet the main river channel are great places to anchor up for bigger catfish.
Bream: Very good. Fish 1 to 5 feet of water using worms and crickets.

Lake Murray:

Striped Bass: Good. Striped bass fishermen are most successful in the lower lake fishing in 55 to 65 feet. The predominate catch is coming with down rods baited with live herring, although some fishermen are being just as productive suspending cut herring at the depth they mark the fish in the same areas.
Largemouth Bass: Tough. Early in the day fish topwaters like pencil poppers, Zara Spooks, Sammys, and flukes.
Crappie: Poor. No one seems to be finding the crappie right now, except a few guides and other anglers who have favorite deep brushpiles.
Shellcracker: Good. Fish 8 to 12 feet of water on crickets or worms.
Bream: Very good. Bream are still shallow. Use crickets.
Catfish: Good. Cut herring and nightcrawlers are producing over most any area of the lake from the campground down to the dam.

Santee Cooper System
Lake Marion:

Largemouth Bass: Fair. Some really large bass are still being caught, though; fish Texas rigged worms in slightly deeper areas.
Catfish: Very good. Towards the dam catfish are in 15-25 feet of water. The bite is hot using cut bait, stinkbaits, or worms.
Crappie: Fair. Try to locate brush in 25 to 30 feet and fish minnows vertically.
Bream and Shellcracker: Very good. Fish shallow using worms and crickets.

Diversion Canal:

Bream and Shellcracker: Very good. Fish are being caught throughout the canal; some fish are spawning and others have backed off into slightly deeper water. The bite is best when water is being pulled through the canal.
Catfish: Very good. Anchor or slowly drift cut bait.
Bass: Good. Largemouth are stacked in the canal around drops where the water goes from shallow to 15 feet almost vertically.

Lake Moultrie:

Largemouth Bass: Fair. Try deep Carolina or Texas rigging in deeper water.
Catfish: Very good. At night large flatheads and blues are both being caught in shallow water. During the day bigger fish seem to be keying on the sides of hills and underwater humps in 18 to 24 feet of water, although they may be shallower at times. Best catches are coming using cut mullet and herring.
Crappie: Fair. Look for structure in 20 to 25 feet of water and fish minnows vertically.
Bream and shellcracker: Very good. Fish 1-5 feet for bluegills and 8 to 10 feet for shellcracker

Saltwater Fishing Trends:

Little River

Spottail Bass: Good. Anglers are catching spottail bass along structure in the ICW, around creek mouth drains, and in the upper creeks using live mud minnows and Berkeley Gulp.
Flounder: Excellent. Flounder continue to be caught in Cherry Grove and 53rd area creeks using mud minnows.
Sheepshead: Very good. Sand fleas and fiddler crabs are both very productive around the jetties and any inshore pilings.
Spanish mackerel: Very good. Look for feeding birds and motor slowly towards the fish; throw Gotcha Plugs, Hopkins Spoons, or anything else with a treble hook to land fish.
Bluefish: Very good. The Cherry Grove beaches are particularly good; use cut bait.
Cherry Grove Pier
Nice flounder are being caught off the pier. Black drum and sheepshead are both feeding very well on fiddler crabs.

Grand Strand

Spottail Bass: Very good. Lots of reds are being caught on the flats and in the backwaters and creeks as well as by flounder fishermen drifting or trolling Murrells Inlet. Mud minnows, live or cut mullet, and cut shrimp are all producing.
Trout: Fair. There are isolated reports of trout being caught in the creek behind Litchfield, as well as on the outside of the jetty walls. Try Mirrolures, Gulp shrimp, or live shrimp.
Flounder: Good to very good. Drift or troll live mud minnows in Murrells Inlet or the Tubbs Inlet area.
Black Drum: Very good. Target deep holes in the creeks, such as the hole off the end of the Murrells Inlet (old Veterans) Pier. Cut shrimp, live shrimp, and crabs are all productive.
Sheepshead: Excellent. At both the Murrells Inlet and Georgetown jetties the sheepshead seem to be ravenous. Fiddler crabs and live or cut shrimp on a Carolina rig fished vertically are producing. Pompano: Good. Fish with sand fleas in areas that have not been dredged for best results.
Bluefish: Good. Schools of nice sized bluefish are beginning to show up again in the surf, and anglers are doing well fishing cut bait on the bottom or on bluefish rigs.
Springmaid Pier
Early and late in the day Spanish are being caught. Whiting, small bluefish, and pinfish are also abundant.
Second Avenue Pier
Flounder and spottail bass are being caught. Lots of sheepshead are also being landed fishing fiddler crabs vertically around the pilings.
Myrtle Beach State Park Pier
The bluefish bite has slowed down, but Spanish are still being caught in good numbers by fishermen jigging. Small bluefish and decent sized whiting are also being landed.
Apache Pier
The bluefish being caught are small now, but some nice Spanish up to 3.5 pounds are being caught. Some nice catches of flounder are being reported, and black drum up to 10.4 pounds are being caught.
Surfside Pier
Fishing is slow, although white and sharks are still being caught.
Garden City Pier
While bluefish and Spanish mackerel have slowed some are still being caught, although the Spanish are mainly in the 11-13 inch range and being caught jigging. Bluefish the same size are also being caught. Whiting and a few pompano are being taken, and beyond the breakers in the middle of the pier flounder are being caught.

Charleston

The harbor is full of bait - tons of mullet, menhaden, and some shrimp have arrived.
Spottail Bass: Very good. Tailing action is starting to get hot on the flats. Also, around low tide fishing for really big reds in the same areas using cut menhaden and crabs has been red hot. Lots of fish are also being caught in the ICW, creeks, and Wando River.
Trout: Good to very good. Trout prefer clean water, and fishing is best in the Wando River, the Intracoastal around Wild Dunes, and most of the inlets, especially around high tide. Both live bait and artificials are productive at times, and the topwater bite has been strong recently.
Flounder: Good. Target flounder using live mud minnows fished slowly on the bottom in the inlets and creeks. Giggers are reporting good numbers of fish caught.
Sheepshead: Very good. Most any structure, from nearshore wrecks to the jetties to inshore piers and bridges, is holding hungry sheepshead right now. Fish fiddler crabs or cut shrimp.
Spanish Mackerel and Jack Crevalle: Very good. Most anything shiny and fast should draw strikes. Many fishermen are concentrating around the Castle area, and fishing the ebb tide when water is pushing the bait out.

Folly Beach Pier
Some Spanish mackerel up to 5 pounds are being caught, as well as occasional kings. Bluefish and whiting are also very common, and spottails, trout, pompano, and sheepshead have all been caught recently.

Hilton Head

Spottail Bass: On the incoming tide fish the edges of the grass with rattle floats and natural colored Gulp Shrimp to catch slot sized fish as well as larger ones. Also use brown Gulp Swimming Minnows, or mud minnows.
Trout: Good. Outgoing tide has been strongest for the last couple of weeks, and most trout are being caught up against the grass or in areas where oyster beds abut grass. Shrimp and mud minnows fished under Cajun Thunder rattling bobbers, or Gulp grubs, are producing.
Flounder: Fair. Best fishing is around low tide in the same areas as the spottails and trout, or in the mouths of creeks and inlets.

Beaufort

Spottail Bass: Very good. The best spottail fishing is for tailing reds feeding in the flooded grass around high tide; these can be sight-fished for by lure or fly fishermen.
Trout: Few reports. Flounder: Good. Fish mud minnows along the bottom.
Cobia: Fair. The tail end of the Broad River cobia fishing season has arrived.
Bluefish and Ladyfish: Good. Bluefish and ladyfish are present in the Broad River and feeding on the large menhaden schools.
Paradise Pier
Some decent whiting have been caught as well as black tip sharks and stingrays. Sheepshead are also available around high tide when the water is slackest. The biggest catch is blue crabs which are being caught by the 5 gallon bucketful around low tide.