While on a number of South Carolina lakes fish are deep and topwater schooling activity is virtually non-existent, right now Lake Greenwood anglers report that the best fishing for a number of species is on the surface. Captain Chris Simpson (864-992-2352) reports that on days when striper are schooling activity can be wide open and catch rates can be very fast. This bite has gotten strong enough that some anglers are employing the method of sitting or riding around and looking for fish, and then throwing artificial lures at the schools when they hit the surface. Some days this can be a good way to catch fish, but with schooling activity somewhat sporadic and fish often not staying on the surface for very long Chris warns that it can be feast-or-famine.
More reliable for Chris’ boat than simply waiting for fish to hit the surface has been riding around and locating groups of fish on the graph, then putting down-lines with live herring just above the depths where fish are marked. Of course, if bonus fish come up on the surface you are ready and can capitalize on them. Chris reports that lots of small 10-14 inch fish are being caught but with a little searching it is also possible to locate schools of the larger 5-10 pound fish.
Overall, Lake Greenwood is at 437.6 and fishing is pretty strong for August.
Catfish: Good. Captain Chris Simpson reports that the channel catfish bite has been good, and this year there have been a much larger number of big 8-12 pound channels than over the past few years. Anchoring on humps and points and fan-casting dip (stink) baits, shrimp and herring from 2-20 feet of water is the most productive method. Drifting in and out of large feeder creeks with cut herring, shad and shrimp is also catching fish.
White Bass and Perch: Fair to good. Captain Chris Simpson reports that the white perch fishing has been good once fish are located, but some days finding them is proving to be difficult. The safer areas to look are in the backs of creeks as most of the fish seem to be holding in 10-14 feet of water; this usually correlates to midway to the backs of the creeks and coves on the lower end, and the mouths of creeks and coves on the upper half of the lake. Sabiki rigs tipped with worms and belly meat from a white perch are the best method to load up on them. Some surface schooling from white bass can be found in the upper half of the lake, and anglers have been catching them on small bucktails and rooster tails.
Largemouth Bass: Fair. While veteran tournament bass angler Stan Gunter reported a good deep brush bite earlier in the summer, that bite got very tough in the last couple of weeks. Even though it seems odd Stan reports that this seems to happen every year. However, the deep brush bite has been replaced by schooling activity, and as with other species bass can be found schooling around humps, points and even out in open water. The fish will be following the bait and the bass will go where the bait goes. For targeting these fish Stan likes to throw Tiny Torpedoes or small gunfish. As a secondary pattern, anglers can also head up the Reedy River and flip docks in the moving water.