4/17/08
Largemouth, shellcracker and catfishing is excellent
By Terry Madewell

If you’re waiting on the fishing to get red-hot this spring, you’re a week late already. Get your stuff and go fishing now. Well, I’d read the rest of this fishing report first, however.

If you’re seeking largemouth bass, both lakes Marion and Moultrie are producing excellent results as are lakes Murray and Wateree. The catfishing action is good all the way from the river area in the upper end of Lake Marion, all the way through both lakes. A lot of big blues and flatheads have been taken recently. Good action on channel catfish is also being reported.

The crappie action is still very good and numerous reports of good catches of shellcrackers have filtered in. Some big ones are reportedly being taken from the Canal area.

Striper action is fair in the river channel of Lake Marion using either live or cut bait.

Reports from bass fishermen indicate the fishing is still excellent for many anglers. Largemouth bass fishermen have taken a lot of fish on a wide variety of lures including spinner baits, crank baits, top waters and plastic worms. The dark-colored plastic worms and top water lures such the Bang-O-Lure and Devils Horse are producing excellent action. Look for the top water fishing to continue to improve over the next couple of weeks with some big bass being taken on buzz baits in shallow water.

In addition, some excellent reports of bass continue to be received from lakes Wateree and Murray using spinner baits as well as from ponds around the area. Both live bait and plastic worms continue to produce big fish from local ponds.

Crappie fishing continues to be very good with fish being reported caught from a wide variety of depths, but good shallow water action is being enjoyed. A few “minnow dunkers” are still having good results by working visible shallow water. Drifting and trolling along the ledges and in stumpy flats with small jigs and live minnows is also producing good results.

The catfishing action is still productive for blue catfish and channel catfish with the flatheads being taken in slightly deeper water. Cut bait on shallow sand bars and along humps and ledges are prime places to find the big blues during the next few weeks and the channel cats are being taken on stink bait and worms. Use live bait such as shiners, shad or herring for the flatheads for best results. Shad fished on the bottom in the river has produced some 10-20 pound fish recently.

Red worms have produced the best results on shellcrackers and the crickets and worms are both producing decent catches of bream. Look for the shellcracker action to peak in the next week and the bream fishing to also improve rapidly.