Lake Wylie bass fishing is off the charts

Guide says shallow-water action is off the charts

When a bass fisherman says that the bite is “wide open,” it’s time to plan a trip to the lake.

That’s the report from guide Rusty White of Rock Hill, and the reservoir in question is Lake Wylie. Two trips over the weekend proved that to White, who operates Fishing With Rusty Guide Service.

“They’re on the beds pretty bad; fish are spawning and they’re all shallow,” said White (803-230-1906). “Whether you drag a Texas rig or fish a floating worm, you’ll catch ‘em.

“It’s wide open; you can go into any of the cuts, and as long as you fish something that will linger around the bed, the mail will come up and hit it, or an aggressive female will hit it.”

Fishing in a team tournament this past Sunday, White and his partner had an 8-fish limit by 9 a.m. and were culling.

“There is a pretty good shallow spinnerbait bite from the mouth of Crowders Creek up,” White said. “We went out and threw a spinnerbait on rocky banks and caught eight or 10 fish pretty quickly. The only bad thing is, big fish are at a premium; good fish are hard to come by. But you can catch lots of 1-1/2- to 2-1/2-pound fish.”

White said there is some indication that a few of Wylie’s bass have already spawned and recovered from their postspawn blues.

“We’re starting to see the first wave coming off the beds and showing up on a few of the crankbait spots,” he said.