Lake Jocassee:
Lake Russell:
Lake Greenwood:
- Trout: Slow. Captain Steve Pietrykowski reports that trout fishing has slowed down for the season on Lake Jocassee. If you’re going to give it a try he recommends fishing spoons or live shiners (or herring if you can’t get shiners) in the main lake in 80-90 feet of water.
- Largemouth Bass: Fair. Not seeing any schooling activity whether it be up the creeks/rivers or main lake.
- Black Bass: Slow. Captain Pat Bennett reports that Lake Jocassee bass fishing is a little slow, and the falling water levels may be partly responsible. Plenty of fish can be seen around laydowns, but it’s hard to convince them to bite. Try fishing finesse worms around visible cover adjacent to deep water.
- Largemouth and Spotted Bass: Fair. Guide Brad Fowler reports that spotted bass can be caught on the main lake in 10-25 feet of water around points and humps. Drop shot rigs are working the best. Fish have not started to move up the creeks in big numbers yet, but they should as temperatures cool.
- Striped and Hybrid Bass: Very good. Captain Bill Plumley reports that fishing remains strong on Hartwell, and he has been catching his best striper and hybrids out in the main river channel 50-80 feet down over 90-110 feet of water. Most of his fish are coming on down lined live herring. Captain Steve Pietrykowski’s agrees than Hartwell has been fishing pretty well. He has also seen a little surface action on the upper part of the main lake with smaller fish, but most of his fishing has been in the lower part of the lake near the dam.
- Largemouth Bass: Good to very good. Guide Brad Fowler reports that the topwater bite around main lake points has been very good over the last week or two, and strong weights have been caught in tournaments this way. Buzzbaits and frogs are working well. Spinnerbaits will also catch fish. Finally, there is also some good schooling activity. Right now fish are keying mainly on threadfin shad, but the bluebacks should get much more active very soon.
- Catfish: Fair to good. Captain Bill Plumley reports that drifting cut herring in 20-30 feet of water has produced occasional small blues and lots of pretty channel catfish. Flathead catfish can still be caught anchoring live bait around brush, but blues will remain difficult to catch until they leave the deep, heavy timber.
- Crappie: Slow. Captain Bill Plumley reports that crappie fishing remains pretty tough on Lake Hartwell. Fish should be leaving the deep timber and pull into 15-20 feet of water soon.
Lake Russell:
- Crappie: Good. Guide Wendell Wilson reports that one good pattern is fishing in the creeks around shallow brushpiles in 8-15 feet. Target brush near the creek channel and cast a jig and swim it back to the boat. The other main pattern is fishing jigs vertically around brush in 18-25 feet in large coves off the main channel.
- Catfish: Good. Guide Wendell Wilson reports that channel catfish can be found in coves where bait schools are located. Anchor and put out several rods with cut bait on the bottom.
- Largemouth and Spotted Bass: Fair to good. Guide Wendell Wilson reports that he is catching spotted bass right now by fishing a drop shot in the large coves off the main river channel. Look in 18-25 feet of water. By the end of the October fish will also be taking spoons, but soft plastics are the ticket right now.
- Striped bass: Fair. Guide Wendell Wilson reports that most striper are still between Sander's Ferry and the Hartwell Dam, but they are starting to migrate down the lake and scatter out. As that happens fish can be in most any creek, and it won't be until the gulls arrive from the coast that fishermen will have easy cues about where to locate fish.
- Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good to very good. Captain William Sasser reports that striper are schooling on the lower end of the lake - in the mouth of Keg Creek, the Little River and at the mouth of the Savannah River. Bigger fish can be caught below the Russell Dam on planer board/ live herring rig. Guide Wendell Wilson reports that there is a good morning and afternoon bite at the top of Clarks Hill. The afternoon bite when they are letting water out of Lake Russell is the strongest, but there is also the most boat traffic. Many people aren't even messing with live herring, instead throwing topwater plugs exclusively for the hour or two before dark.
- Crappie: Good to very good. Captain William Sasser reports that fishing live minnows 20 feet down over trees and brush in about 30 feet of water, and he reports that fish have moved into the backs of coves and the big creeks.
- Black bass: Slow. Buckeye Lures in Augusta reports that fishing is still pretty tough on Clarks Hill, and if you want to catch anything you need to be fishing shallow around hydrilla in 2-5 feet of water. A few small fish can be caught around offshore structure.
- Catfish: Very good. Captain Rodger Taylor reports that the weather is finally cooling and the bite for channel catfish on the drift is very strong, with sizes also very good. Start out drifting deeper water in the major creeks in 25-30 feet of water, but as the day move shallower. Cut white perch are hard to beat for bait.
- White perch: Good to very good. Captain Rodger Taylor reports white perch bite well in spots and a good mess can be taken. Schooling fish (perch) are on the move and tend to bite for a few minutes only to shut off but they return shortly in you are anchored to a good spot.
- Largemouth Bass: Fair to good. Shallow and large amounts of threadfin shad are present in the backs of creeks. Saw schooling bass chasing bait across the water around the same time.
Lake Greenwood:
- Catfish: Good. Captain Chris Simpson reports the channels are biting very well right now. Everything is working right now, but drifting and anchoring is best. The better areas have been around the channel ledges, flats next to the channel and down in the channel. Fresh cut bait of your choice drifted or anchored in these areas is working good, stink bait is still producing fish also.
- Crappie: Fair. Sportsman's Friend reports that crappie are still deep. The best bet is fishing around deep brush or deep bridge pilings at night with minnows and jigs.
- Largemouth Bass: Fair. Greenwood Bassmaster Stanley Gunter reports that the bass bite is still pretty tough and the best pattern seems to be flipping worms around docks and brush. However, it's starting to get towards the time when fish can be caught on buzzbaits and floating worms shallow around sea walls and rocky banks.
- Catfish: Good to very good. Captain Rodger Taylor recommends cut bait drifting for channel cats in 15-20 feet on the lower end of the lake. Cover a lot of water until you locate the fish, and keep a couple of rods out with live shiners for striper. Crappie: Good. Will Hinson of the Southern Crappie Tournament Trail reports that the bite has been pretty good on Lake Wateree. The best areas to look are in the river channels and at the mouths of creeks near underwater structure such as brush, and fish have not yet moved into the backs of creeks. Fish are holding close to the bottom, and fishing 10-13 feet deep over 12-16 feet of water is a good range. Some people are tight lining and a lot of people are vertical jigging. Popular lures include Fish Stalker jigs in pearl white or yellow, Triple Ripple jigs and plain minnows.
- Largemouth Bass: Good. Camden’s Dearal Rodgers reports that shad and the fish are moving toward the creeks. Try deep and medium running crankbaits on points and channel swings in the creeks. Everything will move shallow in the next few weeks, so it's a good idea to check docks with a jig on a daily basis. The sun will also control the depth of the bait (shad) this time of year. When the sun is out, the shad are often near the surface, and it’s a good idea to throw double willow spinner bait, or a square billed shallow running crankbait. Try buzzbaits in the mornings for topwater activity.
- Catfish: Slow to fair. Captain Chris Simpson reports that the bite on Lake Monticello has been extremely inconsistent and the 5-15 pound fish which keep you occupied while waiting for big fish seem to have disappeared. Free line drifters and meat fishermen also report difficulty catching numbers of small fish.
- Bream: Very good. Lake World reports the bream bite has gotten even better, especially for shellcracker. Fish red worms, blue worms or baby nightcrawlers on the bottom in 4-10 feet of water around rocky points.
- Striped Bass: Very good. Lake World reports striper fishing is very good, and fish are starting to spread out from the dam to the mid lake. Right now the largest numbers of fish are between Spence and Shull Island, and in the big water fishing is strong in front of the swimming area on the Lexington side of the dam. This is the time of year when most any technique can be effective, including fishing for schooling striper, trolling lures, down lining and free lining.
- Catfish: Good to very good. Captain Chris Simpson reports that he has caught some very nice channel catfish recently. Anchoring on the upper half of humps and points in the 10-20 foot range is the most consistent method right now. Stink bait has really worked for putting numbers of channel cats and the occasional blue in the boat, but cut herring is also starting to come on strong.
- Largemouth Bass: Slow to fair. Captain Doug Lown reports that fish are still grouped up on the main lake, and he hasn't ventured very much into the creeks yet. The suspended pattern - fishing topwater or barely sub-surface baits around points - is still the dominant pattern, and he is finding that the fishing is best in areas with cleaner water.
- Crappie: Fair. Captain Brad Taylor reports that fish are moving up the rivers into shallow brush, and although the brush may be in 15-20 feet of water the fish are likely to be in the tops maybe 10-12 feet down. The bridges are also a good place to look. Brad spends most of his time in the early fall fishing vertically, both with jigs and with jigs tipped with minnows.
- Largemouth bass: Good. Captain Inky Davis reports that bass fishing has really picked up as water temperatures drop, and fish are moving shallow just like in the spring. The only difference is they are coming shallow to feed and not spawn. Right now soft plastics and crankbaits are among the best ways to catch fish, and it’s a good idea to be on the lookout for schooling activity.
- Bream: Good. Captain Jim Glenn reports that bream are leaving shallow vegetation and heading for deeper water. They can be caught fishing vertically with worms, crickets and small jigs around brush.
- Crappie: Fair to good. Captain Jim Glenn reports that crappie can be caught on minnows around brush in 12-20 feet of water. As water temperatures drop crappie fishing will continue to improve.
- Catfish: Fair. Captain Jim Glenn reports that fishing has been a little erratic recently, with fish spread out at a variety of depths between 3 and 25 feet. Deeper water is holding mainly small blues and good sized channel cats.
- Bream: Good. Captain Jim Glenn reports that bream are leaving shallow vegetation and heading for deeper