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July 26

Lake Greenwood water levels are at 438.9 and water temperatures are in the mid to upper 80s.  Clarity is normal.

Earlier this summer Lake Greenwood bass fishermen were doing pretty well, but veteran tournament angler Stan Gunter reports that as the summer has gone on fishing has slowed down.  Gone are the 20 plus pound sacks tournament anglers were bringing to the scales, and now a 14-pound bag is close to a lock to a win an evening/ night event.

For the first hour or maybe two hours of daylight fish can be caught around sea walls on topwater lures such as Pop-Rs or chuggers.  Even though they are up shallow early these fish will be near deep water, and most of the action is in the main lake or the main part of creeks.

Some fish are still being caught around brushpiles on the bottom in 15 plus feet of water, but as is typical in the heat of the summer it gets harder to catch these fish when temperatures heat up later in the season.  Stan wonders if oxygen level/ thermocline issues develop.

Probably the best way to catch bass right now is looking for schooling activity.  This isn’t generally a big fish pattern, and most of the fish will only run up to about 2 ½ pounds – although some better ones are mixed in.  This action will be found over the tops of humps, points and brush piles where fish are chasing bait over deep water.

On the striped bass front Captain Chris Simpson (864-992-2352) reports that the striper bite is pretty similar to earlier in the summer, although with the heat there seems to be a bit less feeding activity.  It’s still an early morning bite in the lower part of the lake 18-22 feet down, and groups of striper are starting to use the mouths of creeks and coves to corral schools of shad.  Down lines are now the most effective way to catch fish.

The catfish bite is pretty much unchanged, with the best pattern anchoring and fan casting dip baits in 5-20 feet of water around points and humps across the lake.  The only significant change is that the night bite has overtaken the daytime fishing.

June 23

Lake Greenwood water levels are at 438.9 and water temperatures are in the mid-80s.  Clarity is normal.

It may be hot but Lake Greenwood bass fishermen are doing pretty well, according to veteran tournament angler Stan Gunter.  He reports that numbers have been good but big fish have been a little hard to come by, although there has been a lot of tournament activity on the lake and there have certainly been a fair number of 4-7 pound fish caught.  In the CATT tournament Saturday there were a couple of 21-pound sacks so there are certainly some good fish being caught.

Stan says that the majority of people are fishing around deep brush piles, with 15-18 feet being the key depth range.  The depth is key, and fish can be caught at that depth in the back of creeks all the way out to main lake humps and points.  Shad-colored deep diving crankbaits have been working well, and big worms have also been good.  Worm color doesn’t seem to matter a whole lot but dark-colored Ol’ Monsters in colors like green pumpkin have been good.

In addition to deep brush some fish are being caught off the front of docks, generally in the 7-10 foot range.  Flipping jigs or plastic worms is working for dock fish.

While most anglers are staying deep Stan says that anglers can still catch a fish or two shallow around bream beds, and there may be a short window first thing when fish can be caught on topwater lures around seawalls.  The deep pattern is holding up all day.

He may not be finding striped bass around brush piles, but Captain Chris Simpson (864-992-2352) reports that the fish are holding at a similar depth to the bass.  He is catching them pretty well in the 18-22 foot range, with most of the striper being caught in the lower half of the lake.  Points have been good, points close to the river channel have been better, and points intersecting the river channel have been some of the best.  The striper seem to be corralling baifish around those points and ledges.

The bite is almost exclusively a morning bite, and Chris says anglers really need to be set up with lines in the water by about 5:30.  Some days the fish don’t feed very much after 7:15.

Early in the morning it is possible to pick up some fish pulling free-lines across points, but overall the best bite is coming on live herring on down-lines.

Schooling activity is just getting to the point where it is worth mentioning, although the schooling fish are generally still white perch, white bass, and largemouth.  Some striper are starting to mix in, too.  If anglers spot schooling action, even if the fish don’t stay up it can be a very productive area to slow troll through.

 

Striper have occupied more of his time on Lake Greenwood recently, but Chris says that catfish are biting pretty well on dip baits fished around points and humps.  The best bet is to anchor up and fan cast in 5-15 feet of water, although a few fish will be as deep as 20 feet but not much deeper.  Fish are scattered out over the whole lake and Chris characterizes the pattern as point hopping right now.