— For the last week or two Captain Steve English (843-729-4044) reports that his boat has been catching some crappie in the shallows, and when this pattern first started that meant that there were a couple of shallow spots where they could find fish.  Naturally these were some of the first places to warm, and […]

— 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 […]

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 bite for Santee Cooper catfish is finally turning a corner, and after a rough winter Captain Jim Glenn (843-825-4239) reports more consistent results on recent trips.  While […]

It’s been a wet (fall and) winter in South Carolina, and all that water has to go somewhere.  With many of our lakes drawn down to normal seasonal levels and below, that somewhere has been the Santee Cooper lakes.  The latest reading has Lake Moultrie a couple of inches above full pool at 75.7, while […]

In November and December the Santee Cooper lakes seemed to outdo themselves every week, at least on the catfish front, and news of 40-pound fish gave way to news of 50-pound fish which gave way to 80-pound fish.  But while January can be one of his favorite times to fish the Santee Cooper lakes, Captain […]

Around the Christmas holidays it’s a safe bet that big blue catfish are feeding in South Carolina, and even with unseasonably warm weather this year is no exception.  From the North Carolina border to the Midlands to the lower part of the state, South Carolina anglers are putting some big catfish in the boat right […]

The big fish have been eating on the Santee Cooper lakes recently, and last week Captain Jim Glenn (843-825-4239) reported that a nice 43-pound fish had been caught drifting cut mullet in 17 feet on Lake Moultrie.  Then a few days ago Jim sent me a picture of a beautiful 53-pound fish which longtime clients John […]

Captain Jim Glenn (843-825-4239) reports that water temperatures were down to 59 degrees in the mornings this weekend, and the lakes are still very full.  Due to the significant inflow there has been recent spilling at Santee Dam as well as significant discharge from the St. Stephens Dam, and Lake Moultrie now appears to be more […]

Water continues to pour into the Santee Cooper lakes, and despite the power company releasing water through all three discharge sites Lake Marion is at 76.6 and Lake Moultrie is at 75.1, both only a few inches below full pool. At the same time that the lakes are experiencing massive inflows, Captain Jim Glenn (843-825-4239) reports […]

Everyone knows that the Santee Cooper system has a history of producing big fish, whether largemouth bass (co-state record), catfish (3 state records and one world record), crappie (state record black crappie), bream (state record shellcracker), or striped bass– among other species.  However, a 3-pound crappie is a big crappie anywhere, and catching more than […]

Perhaps it’s the season, and perhaps it’s the effects of the recent rain, but largemouth bass fishing has been wide open on Santee Cooper recently.  Captain Linwood Thornhill (843-509-8174) reports that on one recent trip he caught 40 fish, and on another he caught more than 30 bass.  Most of these have been in the […]

Captain Jim Glenn (843-825-4239) reports that he has had some good days recently drifting for catfish on Lake Moultrie, and on a recent trip drifting white perch in 14-25 feet of water yielded about a dozen fish with more than half of them keepers.  Included were the 14- and 17-pound fish pictured below, as well a […]

While Captain Jim Glenn (843-825-4239) continues to report that the overall fishery for blue catfish in the Santee Cooper lakes is a bit down from past years, recently his boat has been having successful days for big catfish on both lakes.  He has caught a number of fish in the 30-40 pound range as well as […]

It may not be what people think of as traditional crappie season on the Santee Cooper lakes, but that doesn’t mean that anglers who know where to look can’t wear them out even during the heat of the summer. Captain Steve English (843-729-4044) reports that his boat is catching 50-70 crappie per day right now […]

Lake Marion is at 75.1 and Lake Moultrie is at 74.9. Crappie: Good. Captain Steve English (843-729-4044) reports that crappie are in a post-spawn/ early summer phase. His boat is catching good numbers of fish – 35-45 per day – fishing minnows around brushpiles in 15-25 feet of water. Bream: Good. Captain Steve English reports […]

The first time I went fishing with crappie tournament specialist Will Hinson of Cassatt was a warm-weather trip where we targeted crappie around brush and bridges. There were multiple other boats as well as bank fishermen in the same general areas we fished, and I noticed that we out-caught the other fishermen 10 to 1 […]

Week 13 saw four open/ tournament trail events reported on SCFishingReport.com; an ABA Weekend Series event on Lake Hartwell, two CATT tournaments (Santee and Wateree), and a BFL NC Division tournament on Lake Wylie. ABA Weekend Series Lake Hartwell The American Bass Anglers Weekend Bass Series had its second event of the season on Hartwell out […]

Lake Marion is at 75.2, about a foot and a half below full pool, and Lake Moultrie is at 75.0, about six inches below full pool. Water temperatures are climbing fast. Crappie: Good. Captain Steve English (843-729-4044) reports that crappie have moved up shallow into the backs of creeks, and they can be caught around […]

The South Carolina Bass Federation had its second tournament of the season today on the Cooper River, and it appears quite likely that a new state record for a 5-fish tournament limit was set – it certainly represents a new SC Bass Federation tournament record.  Brian Tyler of Johnsonville caught a massive 42.3 pound bag, […]

On Saturday, February 14 the first event of the 2015 BFL South Carolina Division season took place on Lake Murray out of Dreher Island State Park. 90 boaters and co-anglers braved freezing conditions early, and fierce winds throughout the day, in search of unpredictable late winter bass. Most anglers described the conditions and the fishing […]

Winter Catfishing on Lake Wateree with Captain Rodger Taylor In December of 2008 I went on my first “serious” catfishing trip – a guided trip with Captain Rodger Taylor on Lake Wateree. Since then I have fished Lake Wylie twice with Rodger, and he has given me periodic fishing reports on both major Catawba Chain […]

ABA D-96 Tournament Results Clarks Hill Lake – April 13, 2014 Division 96 2014 Season   Group picture from left to right; 1st place Jay Treon of Greenwood, SC / 2nd place Steve Christie of Gray Court, SC / (3rd place – not pictured due to boat trouble is Phillip Anderson of Saluda, SC) / 4th place Jason Moyer […]

The Santee Cooper lakes have long been known as an exceptional catfish fishery, blessed with both large numbers of fish and very large fish.  And while the world record channel catfish was caught from Lake Moultrie (58 pounds, caught in 1964), and the state record flathead catfish (79 pounds – 4 ounces, caught in 2001) […]