Up and down water conditions have played havoc on the Lake Wateree crappie, but in some tough conditions last week veteran tournament angler Will Hinson won the South Carolina Crappie Association tournament on Wateree with 7 fish that weighed 12-11.  Their big fish weighed 1.92 pounds.  Despite an impressive bag Will reports that conditions have […]

Captain Rodger Taylor (803-517-7828) had seen that the catfish bite on Lake Wateree on was good, but after his most recent trips this past weekend he says it is time to upgrade the bite to “very good” – particularly when some wind is blowing.  Fish in the 8-20 pound range are feeding very well, and there […]

For the first installment of a new series I interviewed tournament bass angler Dearal Rodgers with a simple question – what three baits does he have to have tied on to fish Lake Wateree in November?  Fresh off his fourth place finish in the BFL Regional on Lake Wateree last weekend, I thought people would […]

Seasonal changes are underway on Lake Wateree, and veteran tournament angler Will Hinson reports that crappie are starting to migrate up the lake towards the river run.  A lot of fish are in the mid-lake area around the State Park – where a recent tournament was won – and there are already fish setting up […]

Fresh off a fourth place finish in the qualifiers-only 179-boat, 3-day Walmart BFL Regional on Lake Wateree, it’s fair to say that Dearal Rodgers has a better handle on the Lake Wateree bass than most anglers right now.  Despite persistent boat troubles that more than halved his fishing time on both days 2 and 3, […]

It’s amazing what a difference seasonal changes and slight drops in the water temperature can make, and even with the water temperatures only having dropped a few degrees Lake Wateree crappie are starting to make a significant seasonal change.  Veteran tournament angler Will Hinson reports that Lake Wateree crappie are beginning to migrate up the […]

Experienced Lake Wateree catfish anglers know that there are times when the bite is wide open, and catching 50, 60 or more fish in a day is not only possible but likely if you are in the right places with the right bait.  There are also times when catching large numbers of fish in the […]

In mid-June tournament angler Dearal Rodgers (803-223-1117) reported that he and a junior angler had an excellent day bass fishing in the heat of the day – between Noon and 5:00 pm – on Lake Wateree. Dearal reported that they had caught more than a dozen bass over 3 pounds, and he estimated that their best […]

Tournament angler Dearal Rodgers fished from a little after noon until early evening yesterday, and together he and the young man he was fishing with got into some good ones. Dearal reports that they caught more than a dozen nice bass three pounds or more, and he estimates that their best 5 would have gone […]

Lake Wateree is at 97.6% of full pool. Catfish: Good to very good. Captain Rodger Taylor (803-517-7828) reports that catfish typically spawn when water temperatures are in the 78-82 degree range, and with water temperatures entering that range fish are starting to spawn and even a few post-spawn males are beginning to be caught. The spawn […]

The first time I went fishing with crappie tournament specialist Will Hinson of Cassatt was a warm-weather trip where we targeted crappie around brush and bridges. There were multiple other boats as well as bank fishermen in the same general areas we fished, and I noticed that we out-caught the other fishermen 10 to 1 […]

Week 13 saw four open/ tournament trail events reported on SCFishingReport.com; an ABA Weekend Series event on Lake Hartwell, two CATT tournaments (Santee and Wateree), and a BFL NC Division tournament on Lake Wylie. ABA Weekend Series Lake Hartwell The American Bass Anglers Weekend Bass Series had its second event of the season on Hartwell out […]

Lake Wateree is at 97.4% of full pool and water temperatures are rising. Catfish: Good. Captain Rodger Taylor (803-517-7828) reports that overall the bite is pretty good on Lake Wateree. While large schools of threadfin and small gizzard shad can be found about halfway back in the major creek arms, the bigger gizzard shad are still […]

The second Carolinas Bass Challenge – South Carolina Division event of the season is coming up this Saturday on Lake Wateree out of Clearwater Cove. The first event of the year on Lake Murray had 173 boats and 374 anglers competing, with Chris Marshall and Josh Gardner of Rutherford, North Carolina walking home the big winners […]

Week 9 saw six open/ tournament trail events previewed/ reported on SCFishingReport.com, as well as the first week of the “Pick ‘Em” contest on this site.  Results and winning patterns follow: ABA Weekend Series Lake Murray Congratulation to Brock Taylor of Pendleton, winner of the first ABA Weekend Series SC Division event of 2015 on Lake Murray. […]

Congratulations to Gary Michaud and Doc McDaniel, winner of the second CATT Lake Wateree Spring Qualifier today on Lake Wateree.  They caught 21.92 pounds of bass, including a 5.20 pound big fish, to take first place. Finishing in second place were Mike King and Mike Traynum with a 20.70 pound bag, including a 5.94 pound big fish. […]

Week 9 has six open/ tournament trail events calendared on SCFishingReport.com, and with crazy weather and tough fishing around the state it should be interesting to see what anglers are able to bring to the scales. For the first time this week we are offering a $20.00 gift certificate for SCFishingTackle.com to the reader who […]

Each week our sister site SCFishingTackle.com will be offering a “Deal of the Week” to allow people to try out a bait they may not be fishing yet, and this week the special is is a sampler 5-pack of Buckeye Lures Football Mop Jigs – including one bait in each color (brown, contusion, fall craw, green […]

Following the third weekend in January, when several days of air temperatures in the 60s and even 70s had pushed surface temperatures in lakes statewide well above the 50 degree mark, it looked like it might be a short winter and spring might arrive early. At that point it appeared to be too late for […]

Whether he is fishing at home on Lake Wateree or travelling on the road, tournament angler Dearal Rodgers of Camden spends a lot of time throwing a jig. His go-to jigs are made by Buckeye Lures of Augusta, Georgia, and depending on the situation he throws either the Football Mop Jig or the standard Mop Jig. […]

The first event of the Carolinas Bass Challenge 2015 South Carolina Division season is in the books, and as expected tournament director Brett Collins hosted a superb tournament to officially kick off the fourth year of this mega-trail for weekend anglers. 173 boats and 374 anglers were part of the event where more than $40,000.00 […]

Winter Catfishing on Lake Wateree with Captain Rodger Taylor In December of 2008 I went on my first “serious” catfishing trip – a guided trip with Captain Rodger Taylor on Lake Wateree. Since then I have fished Lake Wylie twice with Rodger, and he has given me periodic fishing reports on both major Catawba Chain […]

This article was originally published on December 14, 2008.  To view the original comments to the article visit: http://messageboard.scfishingreport.com/viewtopic.php?f=376&t=1475. _______________________ Friday, December 14 was a cold crisp morning, and even though it was technically still late fall it felt like winter. It’s not every day that you get to fish with a state record holder, but I was […]