South Carolina DNR freshwater fishing report 1-13

Mountains Spot
Piedmont Area
Midlands Area
Santee Cooper Technique
SC Freshwater Fishing Laws (Adobe PDF)
Obtain a fishing license
Boat Ramp Places
State Fish Consumption Advisories

StriperFishing trends courtesy www.SCFishingReport.com. Examine the site for modern updates and thorough reviews.

Mountains Area

Lake Jocassee: (unchanged from Jan. 5)

Trout: Fair. Fish can be caught from the surface area down to 50 feet by anglers fishing trolling spoons and shiners trolling huge shiners looks to be the very best way to steer clear of modest fish. The bite must keep on to improve for the following few months.
Black Bass: Fair. Fishing is day to day, but very good fish can be located in pockets off the major lake, and trout are mixed in with bass. Fishing under universities of bait is also a great wager. Surface area activity is becoming reported and bass will get a lure that thrown correct on their head soon after they demonstrate themselves. Red Eye Shad, Float-n-fly rigs and jerkbaits will all catch fish.

Lake Keowee:

Largemouth and Spotted Bass: Excellent. The moderate weather so far this winter has stored most of the fish shallower than typical. Use shakey head worms in twenty five feet of h2o. Also some bass on Carolina rigged worms fished off primary lake factors in 25-thirty ft of drinking water.

Lake Hartwell:

Largemouth Bass: Very good. The mild weather conditions is trying to keep ’em shallow. Search anyplace there is wood go over. Slow moving soft plastics or jigs are functioning.
Catfish: Fair to Great. Blues are performing properly on reduce bait in 30 ft of h2o about details, but they have not moved into creeks nevertheless. Some channel cats can be caught on reduce herring, but they are mostly fished out.
Striped and Hybrid Bass: Fair. Totally free lining or umbrella rigs are producing, but the fish are scattered all more than from creeks to the main channel. Search for wood in 80 ft of drinking water about ten to 15 ft down.
Crappie. Reasonable. Check out bridge pilings at twelve-15 ft above thirty ft. Moderate weather conditions has some night time action with lighting on.

Piedmont Spot

Lake Russell: (unchanged from Jan. five)

Largemouth and Spotted Bass: Great. Catch bass mid-lake in 25-35 ft of h2o just off the primary channel. The essential is fishing close to the universities of bait. Jigging spoons are the synthetic lures of selection and minnows will also catch fish. eighty% of the bass caught have been spotted bass, but largemouths are also combined in as properly as other species. The best fishing seems to arrive in the middle of the day when the sunlight has been on the drinking water for many hours.
Perch and crappie: Very good. A lot of white perch, yellow perch and crappie caught about colleges of bait in 30-35 ft of drinking water. Fish medium minnows just off the bottom and anticipate a mixed bag with some bass and catfish thrown in, way too.

Lake Thurmond:

Striped and Hybrid Bass: Great. Check out the mid-lake region pulling planer boards more than 20-thirty ft of drinking water.

Lake Wylie:

Largemouth Bass: Honest. Catch fish primarily on deep spoons about twenty ft about channels and points. The major position is come across the bait. There even now could be some fish shallow around the warm discharges.

Midlands Spot

Lake Greenwood:

Largemouth Bass: Reasonable. Alabama rigs are turning out to be rather common and are demonstrating some benefits. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits and worms off points are also working.
Crappie: Excellent. Odd on the lake for this time of 12 months, but minnows are producing at twelve-fifteen feet.

Lake Monticello: (unchanged from Jan. five)

Catfish: Excellent. Captain Chris Simpson reports that the large fish bite has been quite great but really should get even much better in the coming weeks. Some huge fish have been caught free line drifting and Santee-fashion drifting, but anchoring has been the most successful way to catch a trophy. 35-60 feet has been a very good depth variety, and some times the fish can get in a extremely narrow band such as 55-sixty feet – and fishing at any other depth can be a waste of time. Obtaining colleges of bait balls on your depth finder is crucial, but obtaining bait balls that are more compact and a lot more broken up (which means fish are feeding on them) is a lot more critical. A assortment of bottom construction has been effective, which includes deep flats, vertical ledges and everything in between. Gizzard shad, white perch, and crappie have all been very good baits.

Lake Wateree:

Crappie: Very good. The best fishing is had up the river or at the top rated of the lake on the ledge of the river channel. Fish in about 18-twenty five feet.
Largemouth Bass: Great. Captain Chris Heinning studies that the bass bite is still very good on Lake Wateree due to moderate air temperatures. Most fish are being caught around rocky factors in the vicinity of deep h2o with crankbaits, jigs, and shakey heads. The jig bite has gotten strong with some good top quality fish. Dock fishing around deeper docks with gentle plastics is also a excellent wager. Additionally, there is a jerkbait bite in the back of some creeks.

Lake Murray:

Crappie: Honest. Fish are feeding in a winter pattern up the rivers in 8-12 ft over fifteen feet. Free lining rods and fishing close to docks and bridges are producing.
Largemouth Bass: Honest. Fish are even now shallow owing to the hotter weather conditions, but it really is primarily the scaled-down fish. The bigger fish are at 15-eighteen ft especially early in the day. Use crank bait and jigs. Also check out shallow about rocky details.
Striper: Reasonable. Up the lake in the rivers location is making. Adhere to the birds. Totally free lining is catching fish with warmer weather conditions, but the fish are scattered.

Santee Cooper Technique

Catfish: Honest to excellent. Captain Jim Glenn reports that most times the blue catfish bite is honest to great, and fish are becoming caught in numerous depths from four-10 feet on down to fifty feet. The concentrations may be biggest in deeper drinking water. Both anchoring and drifting with new cut gizzard shad, menhaden, perch or mullet will catch fish in the appropriate spots.
Striped Bass: Fair to great. Captain Jim Glenn reviews that anglers are catching a great deal of striped bass in equally lakes, but really handful of 26 inch fish are currently being landed. Possibly 1 in fifty is a keeper for most anglers, but the good news is that striper seem plentiful and most are strong and balanced. Fishing 35-50 feet deep with live baits such as big shiners and gizzard or threadfin shad is operating, and anglers are also getting accomplishment trolling and chasing schooling fish on the surface area with jigs, spoons and surface plugs.
Shellcracker: Sluggish. Some caught in creek channels, but not actually value putting a line in for them.