Water continues to pour into the Santee Cooper lakes, and despite the power company releasing water through all three discharge sites Lake Marion is at 76.6 and Lake Moultrie is at 75.1, both only a few inches below full pool. At the same time that the lakes are experiencing massive inflows, Captain Jim Glenn (843-825-4239) reports […]

Everyone knows that the Santee Cooper system has a history of producing big fish, whether largemouth bass (co-state record), catfish (3 state records and one world record), crappie (state record black crappie), bream (state record shellcracker), or striped bass– among other species.  However, a 3-pound crappie is a big crappie anywhere, and catching more than […]

Perhaps it’s the season, and perhaps it’s the effects of the recent rain, but largemouth bass fishing has been wide open on Santee Cooper recently.  Captain Linwood Thornhill (843-509-8174) reports that on one recent trip he caught 40 fish, and on another he caught more than 30 bass.  Most of these have been in the […]

Captain Jim Glenn (843-825-4239) reports that he has had some good days recently drifting for catfish on Lake Moultrie, and on a recent trip drifting white perch in 14-25 feet of water yielded about a dozen fish with more than half of them keepers.  Included were the 14- and 17-pound fish pictured below, as well a […]

While Captain Jim Glenn (843-825-4239) continues to report that the overall fishery for blue catfish in the Santee Cooper lakes is a bit down from past years, recently his boat has been having successful days for big catfish on both lakes.  He has caught a number of fish in the 30-40 pound range as well as […]

It may not be what people think of as traditional crappie season on the Santee Cooper lakes, but that doesn’t mean that anglers who know where to look can’t wear them out even during the heat of the summer. Captain Steve English (843-729-4044) reports that his boat is catching 50-70 crappie per day right now […]

Lake Marion is at 75.1 and Lake Moultrie is at 74.9. Crappie: Good. Captain Steve English (843-729-4044) reports that crappie are in a post-spawn/ early summer phase. His boat is catching good numbers of fish – 35-45 per day – fishing minnows around brushpiles in 15-25 feet of water. Bream: Good. Captain Steve English reports […]

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 Marion is at 75.2, about a foot and a half below full pool, and Lake Moultrie is at 75.0, about six inches below full pool. Water temperatures are climbing fast. Crappie: Good. Captain Steve English (843-729-4044) reports that crappie have moved up shallow into the backs of creeks, and they can be caught around […]

The South Carolina Bass Federation had its second tournament of the season today on the Cooper River, and it appears quite likely that a new state record for a 5-fish tournament limit was set – it certainly represents a new SC Bass Federation tournament record.  Brian Tyler of Johnsonville caught a massive 42.3 pound bag, […]

On Saturday, February 14 the first event of the 2015 BFL South Carolina Division season took place on Lake Murray out of Dreher Island State Park. 90 boaters and co-anglers braved freezing conditions early, and fierce winds throughout the day, in search of unpredictable late winter bass. Most anglers described the conditions and the fishing […]

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 […]

ABA D-96 Tournament Results Clarks Hill Lake – April 13, 2014 Division 96 2014 Season   Group picture from left to right; 1st place Jay Treon of Greenwood, SC / 2nd place Steve Christie of Gray Court, SC / (3rd place – not pictured due to boat trouble is Phillip Anderson of Saluda, SC) / 4th place Jason Moyer […]

The Santee Cooper lakes have long been known as an exceptional catfish fishery, blessed with both large numbers of fish and very large fish.  And while the world record channel catfish was caught from Lake Moultrie (58 pounds, caught in 1964), and the state record flathead catfish (79 pounds – 4 ounces, caught in 2001) […]

This summer I had a chance to make my second catfishing expedition on Lake Moultrie with Captain Jim Glenn, and for the second time I was blessed with unseasonably mild weather.  In the winter of 2008 we went on an unusually warm day where air temperatures bumped the 70 degree mark, and this summer we […]

Thanks to tournament director Phil Morris for results and information… ABA D-96 Tournament Results Clarks Hill – June 2, 2013  Group picture is of the top 4 from left to right; 1st place Steve Christie of Gray Court, SC.  2nd place and big fish winner William Hooker of Appling, Ga. 3rd place Don Kneece of Saluda, SC 4th place Chris […]

Last year I was fortunate enough to go on a Lake Wateree crappie fishing trip with Southern Crappie Tournament Trail fishermen and Wateree master crappie angler Will Hinson.  Our trip did not disappoint, and we caught several limits of crappie using his preferred warm-water techniques of fishing around brush piles and targeting bridges.  Crappie are […]

Check out this nice bass caught by Captain Steve English on Christmas Day.  It was taken on a crankbait in the upper lake fishing in a creek in about 8 feet of water.

When I call my contacts for fishing updates and reports, from time to time I will be told that they don’t have a new report for me.  Occasionally a tackle store will tell me that it has received few reports on a particular species recently, a guide will tell me that he has not been […]

Lake Greenwood is on Fire: Catfishing on Lake Greenwood with Captain Chris Simpson When I went fishing with Captain Chris Simpson for trophy blue catfish on Lake Monticello, we anchored down and waited patiently for the big bite. It was an exciting waiting game, because nothing and nobody can tell a giant blue catfish what to […]

When Captain Doug Lown says that Lake Murray is like a pond out of balance it is worth listening. Captain Lown has fished Lake Murray for 35 years and has been a preeminent largemouth bass guide on the lake for more than 20. He has watched the crappie fishery decline over the last 20 or […]