12/20/07
Fishing news good on Marion and Moultrie
By Terry Madewell

The fishing news is still stableWe’ll have to see how much impact the rain last weekend has on the lake level but any at all has to be good. It may not bring the lake up much, but perhaps it won’t drop anymore and we’ll hold our own long enough to get another rain system or two through here.

The cold, arctic blast of air and high winds had an effect for a couple of days, making it difficult for fishermen to get out and fish. However overall, the fishing news was very good before the front and will likely perk up afterwards as well.

The fishing news is still stable and relatively good, similar to what it has been for that past few weeks. Based on reports received the fishing is good.

There are some landings where you can still get a boat in and with a little rise in the water, launching will get easier for sure. As noted before, use extreme caution if you try to motor fast to a surface feeding school of stripers, or anywhere. Stumps and logs you’ve never had to worry about are now lying in shallow water waiting to knock off a prop or rip a hole in the boat. As we always should, wear a life jacket in this coldwater time of year.

The striper fishing continues to be good on lakes Marion and Moultrie, as well as other area lakes. Excellent reports have also been noted from lakes Murray and Wateree.

Most anglers are looking for, and hoping to enjoy, surface schooling action. Drifting live bait as well as trolling, such as in the lower end of Wyboo Creek, has been probably more productive than top water action this week. Reports received indicate striper action is best for schooling action early and late using buck tails or top water lures. Fishermen using live bait are also making catches during that time as well as during the mid-day. Find schools of stripers using your sonar equipment and drift live bait through the school of fish, at or just above the depth you mark the fish on your graph.

Largemouth bass action continues to be good with crank baits and spinner baits. Local largemouth bass guide Inky Davis continues to report that chatter baits, plastic worms and jigs have also been productive. Bottom bumping lures producing. Look for the cooler air temperatures to have a slowing impact on the bass bite as the water temperature continues to drop.

The crappie fishing news continues to be decent with reports indicating that most crappie are being caught in water 8-20 feet deep. Fish your bait or lure around submerged brush piles. Green, blue or chartreuse jigs or small-to-medium sized minnows seem to be producing best results.

The catfishing action is also good. Most of the fish taken are blue catfish, with some action on channel cats and flatheads as well. Live bait such as perch, bream and shad are producing flathead action and cut shad is producing best on the big blues. Look for the best fishing action to be in or near deep water.

The news from along the coast is there continues to be good fishing for trout and redfish. The action has slowed a bit recently. Artificial lures such as gold spoons on the shallow flats are producing good catches of big redfish. Green jigs and live bait are producing the trout action.