— August 4 Lake Murray water levels are down to 356.18 (full pool is 360.00) and water temperatures are in the upper 80s.  Clarity is above average. Striped bass on Lake Murray have gotten into a true summer pattern, and Captain Brad Taylor (803-331-1354) reports that he is catching fish 50-80 feet deep.  Most of the […]

— Lake Greenwood water levels are at 439.1 and water temperatures are in the mid-70s.  The water is muddy up the lake but clarity is good from the middle to lower end. Sometimes the winner of a recent tournament reports a pretty good bite, even while everyone else struggled to catch fish.  That was not […]

— Lake Murray water levels are at 357.55 and surface temperatures are in the low to mid-70s (down significantly from a couple of weeks ago).  The water is clearing, and Bear Creek and below are fairly clear now. Recent tournament results on Lake Murray have been a mixed bag, and in the Carolinas Bass Challenge […]

— Lake Murray water levels are at 357.69 and surface temperatures have shot into the low to mid-70s – in a little over a week water temperatures jumped almost 10 degrees.  The lake has more color than usual and even in the usually very clear lower lake visibility is only a few feet. Lake Murray […]

— Lake Murray water levels are at 357.67, and water temperatures are in the low-60s – and overnight at the dam surface temperatures are dropping into the 50s.  Captain Brad Taylor says that water temperatures won’t rise with all this wind, and today on the water even with sun and decent air temperatures anglers needed a […]

— Water temperatures shot up in March and it looked like the majority of the spawn would take place sooner rather than later, but after three or four weeks of holding and even back-sliding temperatures it now looks like the April full moon will bring up a massive wave of spawning fish on Lake Monticello.  […]

— Lake Murray water levels are at 357.59, and water temperatures are in the low to mid-60s in the main lake and the creeks. It’s been a very strange spring so far on Lake Murray, and instead of air and in turn water temperatures gradually getting warmer – or even getting warmer in fits and […]

— In his last update tournament bass fisherman Andy Wicker of Pomaria predicted that by the March full moon a significant percentage of fish would be spawning, and sure enough that has come to pass.  Andy says that right now most Lake Monticello bass are shallow, be that right on the main lake or in […]

— Veteran tournament bass angler Stan Gunter says that in his opinion there’s only one place worth looking for largemouth bass on Lake Greenwood right now – up shallow around spawning areas!  It’s possible that some big fish remain in deeper water around brush, but just driving around the banks (now that the water has […]

— It’s a special time to go fishing on Lake Murray, and instead of one or two species biting well right now you can find a good bite for pretty much whatever you want to target.  For anglers who enjoy catching more than one species, the hardest part of the day may be deciding what […]

— In the most recent CATT tournament Saturday on Lake Murray veteran tournament angler Captain Doug Lown reports that bass could be found spawning, which is to be expected considering that water temperatures are in the low to mid-60s.  However, Doug believes that the bulk of the fish are still pre-spawn, because even though water […]

— Catastrophic rains and recurrent flooding often made for a rough fall and early winter for Lake Murray fishermen, but probably nobody had it worse than crappie anglers.  The first round of flooding in October eventually caused SCE&G to open the floodgates, and this caused the current to suck away much of the brush they […]

— Lake Murray bass were late getting into a winter pattern this year, and according to veteran tournament angler Captain Doug Lown it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that fish started setting up the way they typically do in the winter.  However, anglers would have been unwise to expect that to last very long […]

— The March 5 Carolinas Bass Challenge Santee Cooper tournament is in the books, and Santee Cooper bass fishing is living up to its reputation – in all respects.  Plenty of big fish highlighted the tournament, with two fish over 9 pounds being caught (including a 9.53 pound beast), and a 32.55 pound sack at […]

In the BFL tournament on Lake Murray this past Saturday many of the top anglers were fishing a shallow crankbait, but as is so often the case it turns out the winner was doing something completely different!  I caught up with the Gamecock Bass Fishing Team’s Hampton Anderson of Anderson, SC today and he was […]

IMPORTANT site changes coming.  Effective March 1 only customers of the Angler’s Headquarters tackle store will have access to our fishing reports.  Read more here.  It appears that the winter is winding down on Lake Murray, but it seems that the bass never really got into a traditional winter pattern.  Veteran tournament angler Captain Doug […]

IMPORTANT site changes coming.  Effective March 1 only customers of the Angler’s Headquarters tackle store will have access to our fishing reports.  Read more here.  It’s winter in South Carolina, which this year means highs in the 70s one week, lows in the 20s and highs in the 40s the next, and then the crazy […]

Who says South Carolina bass won’t bite when it’s freezing cold, snowing, and windy? On January 16 in the Next Level Fishing open tournament 27 teams competed, with two teams bringing in 28+ pound bags and 9 teams catching 20+ pounds.  The tournament big fish was 8.43 pounds.  It was inevitable that tough conditions yesterday […]

Readers of this site know that during the colder months the Lake World bait shop frequently repeats the mantra that to find striper on Lake Murray fishermen should follow the birds.  Tournament bass fisherman Andy Wicker of Pomaria says right now that is also good advice for catching bass on Lake Monticello, and at this […]

The word is getting out that the hawgs are feeding on Lake Murray!  In the Next Level Fishing tournament this past Saturday two teams weighed sacks over 28 pounds, with Reed McGinn and Andy Wicker winning first place with 28.43 pounds and second place going to Hampton Anderson and Zack Woodam with 28.31 pounds.  It’s […]

It appears that the long autumn on Lake Murray is finally over, and veteran tournament angler Captain Doug Lown says that a couple of factors are combining to move bass out of their fall habitats and into a winter pattern.  First, water temperatures are finally dropping, and in one week official water temperatures at the […]

Veteran Lake Murray tournament bass angler Captain Doug Lown says that unseasonably warm water temperatures have kept fish shallower than usual so far this December, and temperatures last weekend were in the 58-59 degree range.  With several warm days surface temperatures are now pushing 61 degrees, and bottom temperatures are around 60 degrees.  As a […]

For the early winter Lake Wylie bait guide I interviewed professional bass fisherman Bryan New – an angler who has amassed over $160,000.00 in career winnings.  Bryan has been fishing the FLW Tour as a co-angler for four years, and each year he has qualified for the Forrest Wood Cup.  In 2014 he won the […]