Freshwater Fishing Archives - Page 167 of 293

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August 29, 2026

Topwater schooling action does happen in May, but it’s not the most-productive way to catch stripers on Lake Moultrie.

Topwater school action is possible

Guide Truman Lyon said that live bait is the most-consistent method for taking stripers, but there will be some topwater schooling action in May. […]

Make sure to measure stripers, as Santee Cooper fish are managed with a 26-inch size minimum that could change later this year.

Will limits, size minimums change?

Terry Madewell

Scott Lamprecht with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources said that 2015 is the year when the state legislature reviews the 26-inch size minimum limit and SCDNR reports, along with recommendations from the Santee Cooper Stakeholder Committee. […]

Rigging a soft-plastic bait weedless on a tiny jighead will allow anglers to fish flooded shoreline cover around Kerr Lake.

A weedless jig for flooded shorelines

Dusty Wilson

While the impoundment of Kerr Lake may have solved many problems in the flood-prone area downstream, fishing the high water resulting from early spring rains requires another solution. […]

Truman Lyon, 83, and Megan Daugherty, 13, are hooked up at the same time with Lake Marion stripers.

Fast action can be the rule

Terry Madewell

Guide Truman Lyons said that live-bait fishing for stripers this month is not necessarily wait-and-hope fishing, it’s usually fast- paced, and often, multiple fish are hooked at the same time. […]

BYOB — Bring your own brush

Dusty Wilson

Thanks to enhanced sonar capabilities like side-imaging and down-imaging, finding brush piles on Kerr Lake is easier than ever. […]

A backcountry fishing trip requires a good bit more safety gear than a half-day stroll alongside a stream that’s closer to civilization.

Be prepared for anything in backcountry

Jeff Burleson

The mountains contain mile after mile of trout streams tumbling from the steep slopes of the Appalachians, with thriving populations of wild trout, beckoning anglers to try the backcountry. […]

Diamond-shaped signs designate how mountain trout streams are managed in North Carolina.

Stay legal: know your diamonds

Jeff Burleson

Trout-fishing regulations in North Carolina can change from stream to stream and even from one part of a stream to another. […]

Fishermen can catch plenty of bream and shellcrackers this month in the upper end of Lake Marion.

May is hard to beat

Terry Madewell

If there’s one month when just about every angler with a piscatorial preference can find something he or she likes, it would be May. […]

Mike Kesselring fishes Rough Creek in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

A fly in the ointment

Robert Satterwhite

Mike Kesselring of Bryson City has, by his count, 7,500 trout flies, a collection that includes dry flies, wet flies, nymphs, streamers and terrestrials that he has accumulated over 25 years, and, he said, “The only flies I’ve ever tied were at the end of a tippet.” […]

Finding this big flathead catfish floating lazily next to his family's Lake Norman boat dock, 10-year-old Nick Holjak netted the fish and pulled it in. After taking a few pictures, he released the fish, which calmly swam away.

Lake Norman boy, 10, nets 4-foot flathead sunning near family dock

Justin Parker

Nick Holjak often fishes from his family’s dock at Lake Norman, or in a nearby cove from a makeshift boat, but the 10-year-old wasn’t even holding a rod when he landed the kind of fish many anglers spend their lives pursuing: a flathead catfish that weighed close to 40 pounds. […]