Freshwater Fishing Archives - Page 200 of 292

July 12, 2026

A pair of needlenose pliers is invaluable when removing tiny treble hooks from the mouth of a toothy critter like a pickerel.

Pliers can save your skin

When fishing at White Lake, anglers should have a mechanical means of safely removing small, sharp treble hooks from fish. […]

Butch Foster likes to use marker buoys to mark the spots where he gets strikes while trolling at White Lake.

Marker buoys are big help

Mike Marsh

White Lake has very little bottom structure to attract or hold concentrations of fish concentrations. […]

Fish live minnows around brushpiles in big creeks in the mid-lake area for nice winter crappie on Lake Russell.

When guide Wendell Wilson sees what he likes on his depth finder when fishing for multiple species, he immediately drops a marker buoy, tossing it off to the side of the spot so it won’t spook the fish but will give him a reference point. […]

Yellow perch are an overlooked fish on Lake Russell, where they are a big part of a great, deep-water winter fishery.

Russell’s unique fishery for yellow perch

Terry Madewell

Guide Wendell Wilson said the most-unique fish he catches is the yellow perch, and winter is a good time to catch a bunch of these fish on any given day. […]

Wendell WIlson shows off the kind of multi-species winter stringer he expects Lake Russell to produce: crappie, yellow and white perch and spotted bass.

A typical multi-species February day on Russell

Terry Madewell

Guide Wendell Wilson said when fishing for multiple species in February, there’s no need to get out early. The mid-day is just as good because the fish are so deep. […]

A circle hook, a big chunk of white perch and a 3-ounce sinker make up a standard rig that catches trophy Lake Wateree blue cats day-in and day-out during the winter.

Big baits for big February catfish

Terry Madewell

Jason Knight said he is a big believer in big bait for big fish year-round, especially in February. […]

Records from the Catawba Catfish Club bear out statements from Clay Henderson and Jason Knight (right) that Lake Wateree’s best month for big blue catfish is February.

February’s big-cat data

Terry Madewell

According to Dieter Melhorn of the Catawba Catfish Club, the ”perfect storm” situation for big catfish occurred in February 2010 in a tournament at Lake Wateree. Three of the club’s biggest catches ever were made in that tournament. […]

Start early in the morning and stay all day if can; that’s the equation for catching a big Lake Wateree catfish.

Get out early and fish all day

Terry Madewell

Clay Henderson said fishing patterns will change as the day progresses, so he likes to go early and stay late. […]

Hazel Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of North Carolina’s best-known and best trout streams.

Hazel Creek trout fishing

Robert Satterwhite

At some time or other, anyone who claims to be a mountain trout fisher makes his or her way to Hazel Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to pay homage to one of the South’s most celebrated trout streams. […]

With cold weather again moving across South Carolina crappie fishermen are likely to find fish moving into the backs of Lake Greenwood's feeder creeks to feed on schools of cold-stunned or dying shad.

Look to backs of creeks for Lake Greenwood crappie

Phillip Gentry

It may take some time chasing birds, but Lake Greenwood fishermen who key in on avian indicators might be well on their way to locating big schools of crappie in the backs of creeks and cuts. […]