Lake World (803-957-6548) reports that striped bass fishing is very good on Lake Murray right now, and of course anglers are catching fish on live blueback herring as well as on plugs and bucktails.  However, the hottest bite in recent weeks has been on massive 3-ounce Ben Parker Spoons (available at Lake World), and in the last month all of the biggest fish have been caught on them.  Different colors are all working but anglers should know they will get a workout fishing them – whether casting or fishing vertically.

Right now striped bass can be found from the dam area on up to the Gap, and as temperatures are cooling schooling activity is coming on strong.  Down-lining about 30 feet down has been producing, and trolling lead core line has also been productive.

Overall, Lake Murray is down to 356.59 and surface water temperatures are 77.6 at the dam.  Besides striper there are several other good bites on Lake Murray.

White perch: Excellent.  Lake World reports that the white perch bite is still on fire, with anglers catching fish anywhere from 5-40 feet of water.  Fish are schooled up near the bottom, and for the shallower areas worms are working better while in deeper water jigging spoons have been the best bet.

Bream: Good.  Lake World reports that smaller bluegills are hanging around shallow cover, although better bluegill have been hard to locate.  However, the shellcracker bite is strong fishing worms on the bottom in 4-8 feet of water.

Catfish: Fair to good.  Captain Chris Simpson (864-992-2352) reports that the most productive method for catching channel catfish remains anchoring on humps and points and fan-casting dip baits, shrimp and cut herring.  Target ledges that allow baits to be scattered between depths of 5-30 feet.  As water temperatures drop over the next few weeks the drift bite will improve, but for now it is still inconsistent.

Crappie: Slow to fair.  Lake World reports that crappie fishing has been pretty slow around brush, but should start to pick up as water temperatures cool.

Bass: Limited reports.  Lake World reports that some big largemouth have been caught jigging the Ben Parker spoons, but overall bass fishing reports have been pretty slow.