Freshwater Fishing Archives - Page 164 of 293

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October 13, 2026

Above: A small topwater plug like this Spook Junior is a perfect tool for drawing strikes for hybrid and spotted bass feeding at the surface on small baitfish.

Opportunities on top

Conventional fishing wisdom says that topwater baits should be retired shortly after sunrise, not to be picked up again until shortly before sunset. […]

Big expanses of lily pads offer bass a great amount of shad.

Amphibian modifications

David A. Brown

Frog baits account for some of the most-exciting strikes you’ll see in the pads. Most work well right out of the package, but a few tweaks can help sell the ruse. […]

Fishermen can fish streamers either downstream or upstream, although they might be more effective downstream.

Sculpzilla: king streamer

Robert Satterwhite

Streamers are flies that imitate a variety of aquatic life, especially minnows, and when fly fishers fish big waters for big trout, they’ll usually tie on a streamer. […]

Max Tiberghien (center), caught this 6.1-pound walleye on a Lake Hartwell trip on Monday with younger brother Alex (left) and dad Xavier.

A Lake Hartwell surprise: teen catches 6.1-pound walleye on striper trip.

Phillip Gentry

Max Tiberghien, the 13-year-old son of “Fish’N Crazee” television show host Xavier Tiberghien, thought he was reeling in another one of Lake Hartwell’s striped bass or maybe a spotted bass on Monday when he joined the club of anglers who have landed a trophy walleye from the lake – this one a 6.1-pounder. […]

Angler Frankie Jacobs Holds up a double handful of great Lake Wateree bream caught on a jig and grub.

The jig is up for Lake Wateree bream

Terry Madewell

It’s no surprise to Lake Wateree anglers that bream fishing is great right now. This is the time of year when fish are caught in huge numbers, and with some culling, some excellent limits. […]

The upper end of Lake Gaston holds the highest concentration of striped bass because of water temperatures.

Head up the lake for Gaston’s striped bass

Craig Holt

Because of what he calls “a weird year” this spring and early summer, Don Enderle of Tri-Lakes Guide Service said he’s quit trolling baits and is casting artificial lures at striped bass in the upper reaches of Lake Gaston, where the species’ false spawning toward the tailrace below Kerr Dam is six weeks late. […]

Guide Jerry Kotal said fishermen can catch big numbers of catfish by following a few steps in his gameplan.

A guide’s guide to catfishing by the numbers

Terry Madewell

Targeting big catfish is the current craze for many anglers, and with good reason, but it’s not the only exciting way to enjoy summertime catfishing. […]

It’s summer, and the catfish action at Santee Cooper is as hot as the weather.

Hot Santee cats – Summer catfishing on the Santee Cooper lakes and rivers is as good as it gets

Terry Madewell

Catfishing on the Santee Cooper lakes has morphed into a year-round quest, but summer is tops for as providing the year’s most-diverse catfishing opportunities. […]

A Texas-rigged plastic worm is a very productive bait fisheda round Randleman Reservoir’s numerous tree laps.

Randleman’s tree bass

Craig Holt

July is a tough months to catch bass in shallow water on most lakes in North Carolina, unless you’re there at the crack of dawn to take advantage of the last few minutes of the night bite. […]

Spotted bass are an aggressive cousin of smallmouths and largemouths that have become a big part of Fontala Lake’s black bass fishery.

Peeling Fontana – Layer down for great summer fishing at Fontana Lake

Phillip Gentry

On Fontana Lake, water temperatures in June and July cement the summer fishing season. While a few fish can still be found in and around the shallows — usually only early and late in the day — most have retreated to deeper, cooler water in the 10,230-acre lake west of Bryson City. […]