Lake Wateree bass starting to get in fall feeding mode

Fish beginning to move toward backs of creeks

With air temperatures cooling and the days getting shorter, fishing around South Carolina is starting to pick up, especially at Lake Wateree, where the largemouth bass are beginning their annual migration to the backs of the creeks.

According to Chris Heinning, of Capt. Chris Bass Fishing, bass are biting just about anything you throw at them lately

“The water temps are starting to drop, and with the cool snaps we’ve been having, the fish are staring to bite pretty good,” said Heinning (www.captchrisfishing.com). “It’s not quite outstanding just yet, but it’s still pretty good. You can catch them on just about all different kinds of baits and cover.”

Each day he’s on the water, Heinning has a set pattern. He’ll start with topwaters or buzzbaits around grass and rocky points, and then he’ll move to deeper water. Along with the topwater selection, Heinning will mix it up with a frog, spinnerbait and even a medium-diving crankbait in those early hours.

“Once the sun gets up, the fish get a little deeper, and I’ll move to the rocky points and use a mid-size crankbait and worms,” he said. “The shady side of the docks on a sunny day will also produce fish. In the fall, these fish tend to go to the back of the creeks. They’re not there yet, but working their way in that direction.”

For colors, Heinning said anything shad-colored will work for the faster lures like buzz and crankbaits, but he prefers traditional browns, watermelons and green pumpkin when not using topwater lures. Size-wise, the fish have been a little small lately, averaging about 2 to 3 pounds each, but Heinning said he expects that size range to rise as the temperatures fall.

“With the shad migrating, anything that mimics a shad is great,” Heinning said. “Normally, they’ll be shallow early, and I concentrate between 6 to 10 feet of water pretty much all day. Sometimes you catch them deeper, but that really depends on the day.”