1/18/07

Bass and catfish action fair to good
By Terry Madewell

The fishing action has seemed to slow recently, perhaps because of the big influx of water from upstream after the rains. Lake Wateree and the Wateree River have been very high, so a lot of water is pouring into the upper end of Lake Marion.

The lower end of the lake still seems to have pretty good fishing, but overall, the striper and the catfish action have both been tough. A few catfish are being taken, but apparently not in the traditional manner for wintertime blue catfish fishing.

The largemouth bass action has been fair. Latest reports are that some are being caught, and the warm weather over the past weekend did seem to perk the action back up a bit.

The crappie news is only fair by fishing live bait in deep water in 10-20 feet of water based on recent reports.

The influx of water into the lake is usually good for catfish, but for wintertime action, we need cold weather, which there just hasn’t been much of this season. Last weekend was extremely warm.

The striper action has slowed, but you may still find some action drifting live bait. Again, this action has been quite inconsistent throughout late fall and winter. We’ll get a few reports of decent fishing, then several not-so-good- reports.

One of the most consistent fisheries for action has actually been the largemouth bass, and that’s not a certainty either. Some reports of fish catching action are still being received that note fish are begin taken by working spinner baits slowly and by the jig and grub or jig and pork frog as well as the plastic worm. Also some bass have been caught on bottom bumping baits with both jigs and trailers and plastic worms producing decent action.

Fishing action along the South Carolina coast continues to be fair for trout and good for redfish. Some recent reports indicate the inshore water around the Charleston to Georgetown area has been especially productive. Jigs for trout and live mud minnows or gold spoons for the redfish have both been very productive.

Bottom fishing for black sea bass, grouper and red snapper has also been good recently.