Freshwater Fishing Archives - Page 106 of 293

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October 12, 2026

Learning how to locate and recognize parts of a stream or pool that, because of a change in bottom contour, will hold trout is a key to catching more fish.

Recognizing productive water

L. Woodrow Ross

Choosing where to fish is as important as your fly selection; fishermen need to learn to “read the water.” […]

Nymphs are a trout angler’s winter dream flies in the Carolinas.

A large, dark shadow was visible in a bathtub-sized pool. The pool downstream from where I stood had produced several average-sized rainbow trout for quick release. The shadow was in a tiny pool upstream in the middle of a turbulent riffle. […]

Jordan Lake crappie best targeted by tight-lining this month

Tony Garitta

Guide Freddie Sinclair said Jordan Lake, south of the Raleigh-Durham area, is holding steady as a good lake for crappie in November.

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South Carolina’s Wateree River gets very little fishing pressure, especially for crappie, and in the fall, that opens up a lot of opportunities for anglers.

Wateree River is place to be for November crappie

Brian Cope

The November crappie bite is usually hot, and you’ll find no shortage of diehard anglers spider-rigging their way across lakes and reservoirs, but you’ll have little competition from anyone on South Carolina’s Wateree River.

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Guide Chris Simpson said he catches plenty of November catfish on Clarks Hill Lake by paying attention to baitfish movements.

Clarks Hill catfish bite will be great through Thanksgiving

Pat Robertson

November might be the most-consistent time of year to catch big blue catfish and big flatheads on Clarks Hill Lake, just as it is on other South Carolina lakes, according to Chris Simpson who previously guided on Lake Monticello, Lake Murray and Lake Greenwood before moving to McCormick, S.C., 18 months ago to guide on Clarks Hill.

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Guide Eddie Moody follows crappie as they move out of deep water this month, normally stopping between 12 and 16 feet deep.

Kerr Lake slabs are on the move through November

Dusty Wilson

When water temperatures drop, crappie go on the feed at Kerr Lake on the North Carolina-Virginia border.

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Lake James State Park features a fishing pier, and it’s in close proximity to a handful of public boat landings on the 6,500-acre mountain lake in Burke and McDowell counties.

Park your tackle at this state park

Robert Satterwhite

North Carolina’s state park system stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to mile-high Mount Mitchell, offering a variety of activities, including camping and fishing in most of the parks. […]

Kevin Davis has weighed in plenty of huge blue catfish on the scales at his business, Blacks Camp.

Trophy cats: a biological perspective

Terry Madewell

Chad Holbrook, a fisheries biologist for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources who oversees the Santee Cooper lakes, said biologists use winter gill-net sampling to assess blue catfish populations and, the data shows increasing catch rates from 2016 through 2018. […]

The Santee Cooper lakes have been producing trophy blue, channel and flathead catfish for more than 50 years.

A long-time trophy fishery

Terry Madewell

A 58-pound channel catfish was caught from Lake Moultrie in 1964, setting state and world records that still stand today. While the Santee Cooper lakes provide excellent fishing for numbers of channel catfish, the sizes are no longer extreme and are not typically considered trophy size, even for channel catfish. […]