Freshwater Fishing Archives - Page 192 of 292

July 12, 2026

Guide Chris Orvin said the Santee Cooper lakes and the Santee and Cooper rivers are blue catfish hotspots this month.

If it swims, it’s biting

Terry Madewell

There are times when almost anything worth catching is biting, and May is one of those months at Santee Cooper. […]

Freshwater mussels of all sorts will attract shellcrackers, which can crack open the shells of the small clams with tooth-like grinders in their throats.

The redear sunfish: nature’s perfect nutcracker

Tony Garitta

The redear sunfish, known scientifically as Lepomis microlophus and informally as bream, stumpknocker, cherry gill, rouge ear sunfish, Georgia bream and shellcracker, is a slab-sided fish with a red or orange edge along its ear flap, a characteristic that distinguishes it from other sunfish. […]

Fishing Creek isn’t a particularly big lake, but its crappie fishing is second to none in May.

Fishing Creek Lake facts

Terry Madewell

Fishing Creek Lake is a Duke Energy reservoir on the Catawba River that was impounded in 1916. The lake has 3,431surface acres of water and 61 miles of shoreline. Full pond elevation is 417.2 feet. […]

Being bigger on the average than other species of sunfish, shellcrackers are extremely welcome guests at any fish fry.

Recipes for redear sunfish

Tony Garitta

Redear sunfish make heftier and tastier filets than other sunfish mostly because of their larger size. They can be fried and grilled in a number of ways. […]

Guide Buster Rush will hook live minnows twice — once through the eyes and then out the body — to help make the bait weedless when fishing around brush.

Minnows can be the key

Terry Madewell

Guide Buster Rush of Camden said that despite the typical success he has trolling on Fishing Creek Lake, fishing minnows vertically over and into brush will often be the key to success. […]

The float rig is a key to success when fishing offshore humps to reduce snagging and hook more shellcrackers.

Special rigs for rock piles

Terry Madewell

Fishing the high spots of rock piles that are abundant in Lake Murray is a key to shellcracker success from May through the fall. Guide Brad Taylor uses a special rig to fish these places most effectively. […]

Shellcrackers may be the target, but Lake Murray fishermen will likely wind up with a mixed bag that includes bluegill, largemouth bass, white perch, striped bass and catfish.

Shellcrackers are the rule, but a mixed creel is likely

Terry Madewell

Retired guide Doug Lown said that when fishing for shellcrackers around high spots that drop into deep water, catching multiple species is pretty common. […]

Shellcrackers have a distinct red edge on its ear flap that distinguishes it from other sunfish species.

Shellcracker particulars

Terry Madewell

The shellcracker, also known as the redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus), is native to the southeastern United States but can be found all over North America. […]

Hilton Fulmer said that Lake Marion shellcrackers have really been biting over the past week.

Shellcrackers on the feed in a major way in upper Lake Marion

Terry Madewell

The shellcracker fishing in the upper end of Lake Marion is red hot, producing some of the best action in years, according to several experts, among them Hilton Fulmer from Summerton, who has been targeting shellcrackers on upper Lake Marion for 35 years. […]

Stripers and hybrids are headed up into Lake Hartwell's rivers and are beginning to hit topwater baits.

Topwater bite is on for Lake Hartwell stripers, hybrids

Glenn Corley

Lake Hartwell’s hybrid and striped bass have started to move up the rivers for their false spawning run and are hitting topwater lures, according to Capt. Steve Pietrykowski of Fishski Business Guide Service. […]