Freshwater Fishing Trends – June 7

Fishing trends courtesywww.SCFishingReport.com. Check the site for recent updates and detailed reports.

Mountains Area

Lake Jocassee:

• Trout: Good. Captain Steve Pietrykowski reports that the trout bite continues to be strong both day and night on Lake Jocassee. Early in the morning the bite has been good at the intakes for a couple of hours, and after the sun comes out fish are spread across the lake. The best technique has been trolling spoons at 1-2 miles per hour in 35-60 feet of water, and silver, chartreuse and glow colors are working well – with the brighter spoons working best at the deeper end of the depth range.
• Black Bass: Fair. Captain Pat Bennett reports that easy springtime fishing is over and a summer pattern is upon us, with fish out deep and relating to roaming schools of bait fish. Making good use of your electronics is essential this time of year on Jocassee. In the early morning hours some suspended fish have been caught on topwater lures fished out over deep timber in 60 or more feet of water, or over underwater humps.

Lake Keowee:

• Largemouth and Spotted Bass: Slow. Guide Brad Fowler reports that catching bass has become even tougher on Lake Keowee. Fish are on the move and related to roaming schools of baitfish, and it is unusual to find them in the same locations from day to day. The best places to look are around depth changes, including points, humps, and drops in 10-40 feet of water. Bass can be caught with Spooks, flukes and other lures fished at the top of the water column.

Lake Hartwell:

• Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good. Captain Bill Plumley reports that striped bass are feeding well off points in 20-40 feet of water. Most fish are being caught in the main lake or up the larger rivers, and down lines have been most productive.
• Black Bass: Good. Guide Brad Fowler reports that a few big single fish can be seen cruising the banks where they are feeding on bream, but the majority of bass can be found around points and drops in 10-25 feet of water. Flukes, Spooks, and swimbaits fished near the surface will all catch fish.
• Catfish: Good. Captain Bill Plumley reports that the blue catfish have made their way out to deep water and timber, and so tangling with a big blue is difficult right now. A few small blue cats can still be caught shallower. Channel catfish are scattered out across the lake in 5-25 feet of water, and they can be caught on dip baits, night crawlers, cut herring, shrimp and a variety of other baits.
• Crappie: Fair to good. Captain Bill Plumley reports a strong crappie bite at night fishing 12-18 feet deep over 20 feet of water around bridges. Anglers are putting out lights and fishing with minnows and reporting a lot of success.

Piedmont Area

Lake Russell:

• Striped bass: Good. Guide Wendell Wilson reports that it’s a good time to try and catch a monster striped bass on Lake Russell. Fish are being caught free lining live herring, gizzard shad or trout on the upper end of the lake from Sanders Ferry to Hartwell Dam.
• Black Bass: Fair to good. Guide Wendell Wilson reports that bass are leaving the banks and following the bait schools deeper. Some topwater schooling has been reported off points in 15-25 feet of water, and in the same areas Carolina rigs and Spot Removers will both catch spotted and largemouth bass on the bottom.
• Bream: Fair to good. Guide Wendell Wilson reports that bream are bedding right now on Lake Russell, but the fish are bedding in 8-10 feet of water where they can be difficult to find. Blind casting with crickets or worms is the best technique for locating fish, and unfortunately they don’t seem to bed in the same spots from year to year.
• Catfish: Fair to good. Guide Wendell Wilson reports that catfishing on Lake Russell is pretty good anchoring off points and fan casting cut bait into 5-15 feet of water.
• Crappie and white perch: Fair. Guide Wendell Wilson reports that small crappie can be caught way up the creeks trolling jigs, but most of the fish are too small to keep.

Lake Thurmond: Video  How to fish Crappie

• Crappie: Very good. Captain William Sasser reports that crappie are feeding very well off the sides of the river channel in relatively shallow water. Fish are bunched up around brush and trees in 15-20 feet of water and they are holding about 10 feet deep.
• Shellcracker: Good to very good. Captain William Sasser reports that shellcracker are spawning all over the place. The best locations to look are around islands and blow-throughs, and Louisiana pink worms are the best bait.
• Catfish: Good. Captain William Sasser reports that this is the peak time for Clarks Hill catfishing, and right now both channel and flathead catfish can be found spawning in the rocks around the bridges. The best technique is to fish a piece of cut herring on a Carolina rig or a split shot rig.
• Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good. Captain William Sasser reports that striper have turned on in the lower part of the lake within 6 or 7 miles of the dam, and fishing should only get better in the coming weeks. In the morning striper are feeding well on down lined live herring fished off points in 25-30 feet of water.
• Black bass: Slow to fair. Buckeye Lures in Augusta reports that fish are in a summer pattern. There is sporadic topwater activity off points, particularly early in the morning, and flukes, Spooks, and umbrella rigs will catch some fish if you happen upon the right point at the right time.

Lake Wylie:

• Catfish: Good. Captain Rodger Taylor reports that high water levels continue to make for a great shallow water bite for channel catfish on Lake Wylie. Concentrate on creek inflows and fish where current is available for the best channel cat action. Drifting has been spotty, and anchoring has generally allowed for the best presentation to actively feeding fish where freshwater is coming in and bringing food to them. White perch and gizzard shad are good baits.
• Crappie: Good. Captain Rodger Taylor reports that small crappie have moved back to the shallow brush with high water levels and are being taken in good numbers using minnows and Charlie’s Jigs.
• Largemouth Bass: Good. FLW Professional and Guide Matt Arey reports that a lot of fish are shallow in the mouths of creeks and along main lake banks. There is a strong “power fishing” bite on Lake Wylie and topwater lures and jigs are both working well around the banks. With so many fish shallow the bream bed bite has gotten even better; look for bass cruising in packs and targeting spawning bream around docks and in the backs of sandy coves. Prop baits, swimbaits and weightless Senkos will all work, and bass will take topwater lures all day long.

Midlands Area

Lake Greenwood:

• Bream: Very good. Sportsman’s Friend reports that bream fishing remains strong on Lake Greenwood. Bream can be found spawning in the backs of coves, pockets and other protected areas with sandy bottoms.
• Catfish: Good. Captain Chris Simpson reports that anchoring on humps and points has been productive both day and night for catching good numbers of channel catfish in the 2-6 pound range. Both shrimp and stinkbait have been catching fish.
• Largemouth Bass: Fair. Sportsman’s Friend reports that fish remain unsettled, and it appears that they are in a transition between a late spring and a summer pattern. As always when water temperatures are warm on Lake Greenwood, fish can be caught first thing in the morning around block walls on topwater lures and floating warms.
• Crappie: Fair. Sportsman’s Friend reports that crappie fishing has slowed down and fish have gone deep. Fish have moved into a summer pattern where they can be caught around deep brush and bridges. The best fishing is coming at night under a light with minnows.

Lake Monticello: (unchanged from May 31)

• Catfish: Good. Captain Chris Simpson reports that a lot of big blues are being caught right now on Lake Monticello. Anchoring on vertical ledges dropping from as shallow as 5-10 feet down to as deep as 40-70 feet has been a strong pattern. Cut gizzard shad, white perch, bream and herring all appear to be working similarly. As the hydroelectric station stars pumping water in and out more consistently as temperatures continue to warm the bite should get better and better.

Lake Wateree:

• Largemouth Bass: Good. Captain Chris Heinning reports that bass have set up in traditional summer patterns and areas. Bass are being caught around grass, docks, rocky points and offshore structure such as underwater humps and ledges. Early in the morning shad are shallow and bass can be caught on fast moving shad imitation lures like topwater, buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and soft plastic swim or twitch baits.
• Catfish: Good. Captain Rodger Taylor reports that blue catfish are in three different stages of the spawn right now – pre-spawn, spawning and post-spawn. Shad continues to be the strongest bait, and gizzard shad can be caught near shore in the grass mats.
• Crappie: Fair to good. Will Hinson of the Southern Crappie Tournament Trail reports that crappie fishing continues to improve and more and more fish are taking up residence on brush piles in 12-20 feet of water on the main lake. Almost all of the brush piles in this depth range are holding fish right now. Fish are feeding about a foot above the brush, and Will is having the best luck jigging Fish Stalker Slab Tail jigs in Ugly Green, Black Melon and orange colors.

Lake Murray:

• Shellcracker: Good to very good. Lake World reports that the shellcracker bite has slowed down, but fish can still be caught in 2-10 feet of water. To locate shellcracker look for freshwater clams washed up on the shore and fish nearby with night crawler sections.
• Striped Bass: Fair to good. Lake World reports that more and more fish are making their way down towards the dam, and pretty soon all of the fish will have moved down to the lower end of the lake. The best action has been coming fishing down lines in 30-50 feet of water around humps and long points.
• Largemouth Bass: Fair. Veteran angler Doug Lown reports that bass fishing remains a little tough on Lake Murray, particularly for better fish. Early in the morning it’s possible to find some fish chasing bait off points, and before the sun gets up fish can be caught on flukes, topwater lures and buzzbaits.
• Catfish: Fair. Captain Chris Simpson reports that channel catfish are dominating the catch, but an occasional blue is still showing up from time to time. Anchoring on points and humps in the 5-30 foot range and fan casting baits at a variety of depths has been most productive during the day.

Santee Cooper System

• Crappie: Good. Captain Steve English reports that crappie can be found around mid-depth brush piles. Fishing minnows and jigs over brush in 8-15 feet of water has been the best pattern.
• Bream: Fair to good. Captain Steve English reports that overall the bream bite has been pretty good in Lake Marion, but on some days odd frontal systems have pulled the fish out of the shallows. Typically bream and shellcracker can both be caught in the upper lake fishing worms and crickets around shallow cover.
• Catfish: Fair. Captain Jim Glenn reports that blue catfishing remains fair in both lakes. Overall the best bite for both blue and channel catfish has been in the canal because of increased water flows.
• Largemouth bass: Fair. Captain Jimmie Hair reports that on Lake Marion he is still catching some fish around the cypress trees in 2 ½ to 4 feet of water on soft plastics – primarily on Senkos but also on craw worms.