5/17/07

Fishing conditions excellent – go now!
By Terry Madewel

The bream and shellcracker fishing has been simply outstanding, with parking lots around the lake full of anglers chasing the big pan fish. The largemouth bass fishing is still very good, the catfishing is wonderful and even the crappie are still being caught in good numbers in the deep water. If you’re into the sport of fishing at all in any shape, form or fashion, now would be the time to go.

The biggest news would be the bream and shellcracker action. Both species have provided outstanding fishing for the past week to ten days and the action should continue to be good. The fishing on the beds has slowed as the moon phases changed, but within a short period of time we’ll be cranking up on the next full moon. The next full moon is June 1, so that’s not too far away. The bream fishing has been best on crickets, with worms producing more shellcrackers, but both are being caught on either live bait. Also, beetle spins have worked very well on big bream as have flyrods and popping bugs.

The catfish are still biting great with both blue and flathead catfish being caught. The blues are being taken by either drifting cut bait along the ledges or fishing flat lines in the shallows near the drops. The flatheads are generally being taken by anchoring and fishing on or near the bottom with live herring or other forms of live bait. Some excellent channel catfish action has been enjoyed as well by anglers fishing stink baits and worms in 8-12 feet of water.

The largemouth bass action continues to be very good, but perhaps a bit slower, with top water lures such as the Bang-O-Lure and Pop R now producing some excellent catches of good-sized fish. In addition, plastic worms, crank baits and spinner baits have all taken good catches of bass. Most of these fish have been taken from shallow water.

The key to success for the bass in shallow water is staying on the move until you put together a productive pattern, and then work that pattern hard. Many anglers have done extremely well with plastic worms, especially around woody cover.

The crappie fishing is still very good but the fish are in deeper water where they can be caught in good numbers for the next several weeks. Anglers using either jigs or minnows are making good catches.

The striper fishing on the upper end of Lake Marion and near the dam in Lake Moultrie is good. Herring has been the bait of choice for most anglers, with shad also producing some action as well.

Good fishing has been reported both in the river and from the flats in upper Lake Marion. Many striper anglers are also catching some bonus blue catfish as well.

Fishing along the South Carolina coast is excellent with numerous reports of redfish being taken on both live and artificial baits as well as big speckled trout. The flounder fishing has also continued to improve and is very good now as well. Offshore, the dolphin and Wahoo continue to be taken in good numbers.