10/11/07
Fishing good; lake access remains tough
By Terry Madewell

While getting your boat on the lake can be quite challenging at many locations around Lake Marion, the fishing is actually pretty good according to most reports. We’re in the bass school month of October; the striper action is beginning to perk up a bit; crappie are biting decently and some bream action is still to be had. Plus, October ranks as one of the top months for taking big catfish from either Lake Marion or Lake Moultrie.

It may be wise to call around to landings before going to ensure you can get your boat in the water. Recent rains may help a bit, but overall the entire watershed is still way low on water. The water level up river at Lake Wateree is also quite low, so there’s not a lot of help coming from that direction.

On the fishing news, there are some bright spots.

Several reports indicate the catfish action remains very good.

The catfish are being caught on a variety of baits including live bait, cut bait stink baits and night crawlers. Several big flatheads and a few good-sized blue catfish have been taken recently. Most of the catfish are coming from the ledges and flats near deep water. However some of the big catfish are being hooked in fairly shallow water.

The largemouth bass action is very good and reports are that a variety of lures are productive. Top water schooling action is occurring with bass schooling in shallow water throughout the lake, with the best reports in the upper half of the lake. Plastic worms are producing some quality largemouth right now, with the Texas rig in purple with a chartreuse tail and pumpkinseed colors working particularly well. The Carolina rig is producing good results on drops and ledges.

The crappie fishing action continues to improve as the water temperature slowly cools. Some crappie catches have been made recently in water 6-12 feet deep. The fish are beginning to scatter a bit in the creeks and coves and a few can be caught around shallow water cover such as brush piles.

Striper action is fair but still spotty. If you get on a good school of fish, the action can be excellent. However, the overall action is still scattered. Reports are that you may find fish in an area one day, not much activity the next. But again, with cooler weather, this should improve as well.

Along the coast, the shrimping action has been awesome. Quick limits of huge shrimp are being reported by some shrimpers. Most report good catches of medium to large shrimp at the worst. We’re approaching the time that many feel offers the best combination of big shrimp and weather conditions. If you enjoy shrimping, I’d say go now.

Good fishing continues for speckled trout, redfish and flounder in the inshore areas. The redfish are being taken on live bait (mud minnows) and trout are being taken on green grubs and live bait such as finger mullet. Trolling live bait such as mud minnows has been effective for flounder.