Striper fishing at Lake Moultrie has taken off

Fish back down from the spawn, feeding up on live bait

Striped bass have made the transition from the upriver spawn in upper Lake Marion all the way back to the Pinopolis Dam in Lake Moultrie, where they are being caught in huge numbers and good sizes.

Kevin Davis, guide and owner of Blacks Camp on the Lake Moultrie end of the Diversion Canal said the fishing is absolutely fantastic.

“The really good news is that we’re catching lots of stripers in two different ways,” Davis said. “The primary method is to use live bait, primarily using live herring, on the bottom near the deep water at Pinopolis Dam. We are also catching a lot of topwater schooling fish early and late in the day on topwater lures and bucktails.”

Davis (843-753-2231) said the action is in full swing, and most striper boats are reporting lots of stripers – and several of the 26-inch plus keeper-sized fish as well. He said his last couple of trips have been so good it’s all he could do to keep the rigs baited.

“The fishermen and fish … are working me to death,” Davis said. “But that’s what we look for, fishing action so good it’s all we can do to keep up with the rods and keep fresh, lively bait on them.”

Davis said he uses his graph to locate baitfish and stripers, but he recommends looking for just a few big stripers on the graph.

“The fish I’m catching are in or near 50 feet of water,” Davis said. “The best technique is to mark a few big fish along with the baitfish and go ahead and anchor so the boat is right over the fish. You do not have to see scads of stripers on the graph to set up. When you drop the live bait rigs down to near the bottom, huge gangs of stripers will flood in and give fishermen all the action they can handle in most cases.”

Davis said for schooling fish, he will fish in the vicinity of the Pinopolis Dam early and late in the day, and the fish will come up on baitfish. He said topwater lures and bucktails will both produce.

“The schooling action is a bonus, but one that should be taken advantage of,” he said. “But the bread and butter right now is the live herring on or near the bottom, right above the depth the fish are marked.”

Davis said the fishing is likely to just get better over the next couple of weeks with more of the large stripers showing up.

“While we’ve got great numbers of fish right now as well as numerous keeper-sized fish, I believe the action on the big fish will just get better in the next couple of weeks as they continue to return to Lake Moultrie from their spawning run,” Davis said.