Striper fishing patterns change on Lake Murray as spring gives way to summer, but the constant is that fish-catching opportunities remain excellent — as long as you adapt to changes in the weather and water that result in fast-changing striper behavior.
Lake Wateree is fast becoming known as a “go-to” location for big catfish, with more and more anglers headed for the Midlands lake in search of big blues. Rodger Taylor of Rock Hill’s Catfish On! Guide Service has been fishing the 13,864-acre lake for years, and beginning in June, he likes to start fishing after dark.
“Do you see that line between here and the bank where the eddy meets the current? Cast upriver at about a 45-degree angle to the other side of that line and reel in quickly,” guide Mike McSwain said on a hot June day while fishing on the Broad River.
McSwain’s client did as instructed, and as the Mepps spinner got to where it was supposed to, something slammed the lure, the rod bent over, and the spinning reel’s drag sang out.
It’s June. It’s hot. So is the catfishing on Lake Murray. And while you don’t want to miss out on the action, who doesn’t want a break from the sweltering heat? Fortunately, you can have both.
Summer is just around the corner, but fishing for stripers and hybrids is already heating up on Lake Hartwell, according to guide Chip Hamilton of Piedmont.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is offering two free fishing workshops in June at the John E. Pechmann Fishing Education Center, in Fayetteville.
Samantha Gay is a Technology Assistant at Greene County Intermediate School in Snow Hill, and students there have always loved hearing her talk about fishing, one of her favorite hobbies. She loves telling those fishing tales, but could never quite put into words what fishing was all about, and when she learned that many of the kids had never been fishing before, she realized what she had to do.
Anglers eager to feel the pull of some good fish can find just what they’re looking for on Lake Hartwell, where the striper bite is heating up with the weather. Smaller pockets of schools are scattered throughout the lake, and Capt. Seth Owens said that means anglers can catch them in a variety of ways, and in a variety of spots on the lake.
Hidden in North Carolina’s coastal plain, Contentnea Creek is unknown to most fishermen, but locals know it well and consider it a treasure. After all, the name Contentnea is derived from a Native American phrase meaning “fish passing by.”
Cobia are on the minds of a lot of the fishermen who charter guide Ken Dempsey of Hatteras this month, but he knows that May’s big draw might be a strong, powerful fish that’s moving in from the ocean — it’s just a copper-colored brute, not a brown one.
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