Freshwater Fishing Archives - Page 243 of 292

July 15, 2026

Steve Pack shows off a hefty catfish caught shallow in Lake Marion in June when mussels begin to die off and float to the surface.

June: A buffet for anglers

Terry Madewell

June marks the beginning of the 4-month closed fishing season for striped bass on the Santee Cooper reservoirs. […]

Pinching off the tail or a soft-plastic crappie trailer will often take care of the problem of fish short-striking and missing the hook.

Make that jerk count!

Mike Marsh

Many anglers miss the strike of a crappie because they only feel a tap or hesitation as the lure falls. […]

Although many North Carolina anglers may have missed the shallow water daytime bite for walleyes at Fontana, walleye guide Ronnie Parris says the night time bite is still on.

Fontana walleye turning to after-dark bite on bank

Phillip Gentry

If you’ve been waiting on the daytime shoreline bite for walleye at Fontana Lake, the wait is over – you missed it. […]

Guide Brad Taylor has been catching a lot of Lake Murray crappie in 12 to 20 feet of water this month.

Go Live for Lake Murray’s best fishing

Matt Coffey

From crappie to stripers, live bait on Lake Murray seems to be the cat’s meow when it comes to catching fish lately. Just ask any fishing guide and they’ll tell you that from panfish to their larger cousins, if it’s live bait, it’s working. […]

Guide Buster Rush has been catching Lake Wateree slabs by back-trolling jigs over brush piles

Back-trolling over brush piles producing Lake Wateree crappie

Brian Cope

The crappie fishing at Lake Wateree is hot this month, and Buster Rush of Rush Guide Service said back-trolling jigs over brush piles is a great technique to put these fish in the boat. […]

Guide Marcus Leach casts on the Chattooga.

Trout Triple Play

L. Woodrow Ross

With turkey season in its final days, it’s a perfect time to plan some great trout fishing. […]

Stripers and hybrids head to South Carolina’s Clarks Hill Lake in the spring.

Where and how, not why

Phillip Gentry

William Sasser, a veteran fishing guide on Clarks Hill Lake, just shrugged his shoulders and remained pretty much speechless.

The list of items that Sasser doesn’t have much to say about is definitely a short one, but ask him why May is such a good time to catch striped bass and their hybridized cousins on the sprawling, 70,000-acre reservoir, and the instantly likeable angler goes silent. […]

Tracey Smith shows off a stringer of crappie caught at Tar River Reservoir. The largest fish weighed nearly two pounds.

Little Lake, Big Slabs

Mike Marsh

Lightning may not strike twice in the same place, but the old adage apparently doesn’t apply to crappie fishing. […]

Tar River Reservoir, which covers 1,860 acres, is crossed by three bridges, and fishermen can catch crappie under each of them.

Playing field statistics

Mike Marsh

Construction of the Tar River Reservoir was completed in 1971. The reservoir’s high-water elevation is 125 feet above mean sea level. […]

Mark Crawford finds numbers of fish on the lower end of Clarks Hill Lake, but he looks up the lake, toward the Lake Russell tailrace, when he’s after a big fish.

Trophy fishing

Phillip Gentry

The choice between numbers and size is an easy one for Mark Crawford when he’s targeting big fish in a striped bass tournament. […]

South Carolina’s 2026 deer season begins Aug. 15 in two game zones

Deer

We’re a month away from South Carolina’s deer season opener in the state’s Game Zones 3 and 4! […]

Santee Cooper July fishing report

Freshwater

Striper season is closed for the summer on the Santee Cooper lakes, but plenty of other species are in play. […]

NC Artificial Reef Program gets major enhancements

Newsletters

The NC Artificial Reef Program, in partnership with Stevens Towing Company, completed two major reef enhancements in May. […]

NCWRC seeking volunteers to help improve fishing habitat

Freshwater Fishing

The NCWRC needs help with improving habitat for sport fishes and other wildlife by establishing self-sustaining native aquatic plant communities. […]

Kat catching Catfish

Catfish

Kat Poland went noodling for the first time this past weekend and noodled a beautiful flathead catfish. […]