11/30/06

Striper and largemouth fishing good – take advantage of great conditions
By Terry Madewell

Terry Madewell Photo

Noted Clarendon fishing guide Inky Davis with a pair of Lake Marion bass caught recently.

Fishing conditions may change a good bit over the next week or two because of all the rain and the huge volume of water coming through the lakes. Most of the lakes above Lake Marion (Wateree, Fishing Creek, Wylie) are very high and dumping a lot of water through the system. So while fishing had been pretty good for largemouth and striper recently, it will likely be more of a day-to-day changing situation for a week or two. Once the water conditions stabilize, we’ll likely have consistent fishing.

Prior to the influx of all the water, the striper and largemouth fishing were both very good. Both were still being taken post-rain, but as noted, with a lot of water coming through, that could change.

The news on the striped bass was good with good catches are being made on stripers. In addition, the largemouth bass action is very good with a few good-sized fish being reported caught. Manning’s Inky Davis continues to make good catches. A few anglers scratched out good catches of crappie and good catches of the blue catfish continue to be made.

Local guide Inky Davis reports that crank baits are still producing some quality fish in lake Marion for him and his clients. Slow-rolling a spinner bait has also been productive as well as the stop-and-go retrieve using a shad-colored crank bait.

The striper action was getting good but we’ll just have to see how the water impacts this fishing. It’s still a good bet to be on the water early and late … stripers are eating machines and they’re going to be eating something, somewhere. Hopefully it will still be on or near the surface where we can see the action. The best fishing seems to have been by drifting bucktails or live bait. Shad are good live bait, but shiners will work very well if you can’t get shad. Find the areas where the baitfish congregate and drift your lure or bait at the depth the shad are schooled.

The catfishing action seems to be best for the blue catfish, but some good flathead are being taken as well. A few big fish are being hooked as well as numerous fish in the 3-10 pound class. Cut bait is still the best choice for most anglers and live shad, shiners, bream or white perch have produced fair action on the big flatheads. Some good action on smaller channel catfish on stink baits and worms has also been reported.

Crappie fishing was good but the influx of water seemed to slow that action down at first. Hopefully it will perk back up. Live minnows, in the medium to larger size had been producing good catches for several anglers.

The fishing along the South Carolina coast continues to be good for redfish as well as speckled trout. Gold spoons are taking the reds in the shallow flats at low tide and chartreuse jigs with red heads are working well on the trout. Both are also being taken with mud minnows.