Fishing With Hunter

12.28.19

Water temp from 58 to 62 degrees

Finally got to fish with Hunter.  It is a long time ago that we got together to fish.

We couldn't remember the last time he caught a spotted bass.

But he caught this beauty drop shotting.



I think my fish was prettier as they seemed to like the Zman Hula Stick today on steep rocky banks.




We had fun the few hours we got to fish together.

Hope to do it more in the future.

Love That Early Winter Bite

12.4 and 12.7 2018

The late fall, early winter bite is so much fun when it all comes together.

Nancy and I got out on a beautiful Sunday afternoon with the temps reaching 70 degrees.

We caught some nice spots spooning but the fun was on windy rocky points.

Nancy likes spooning and caught a few but they were some little guys.



As the wind picked up some nice fish started eating the Lucky Craft Staysee.



I went out on a solo trip yesterday the 7th and went looking for fish to spoon.

I wasn't disappointed as I REALLY found them.

Here is a pic of my graph.



I spooned and drop shot these fish in Crow Creek for a couple of hours in the afternoon.  Ended up with 16 fish to the boat and a bunch got off as they came up.



As you can see they were stuffing themselves with shad.

The better fish came off the edge of the channel when I saw shad skittering around the surface of the water.

I would throw the Duo Realist Spin Bait at the school and my first cast brought a 18 3/4" spot to the boat.



I caught four more with this technique, 2 16" fish and one smaller.

Hopefully this bite will remain as the water temp was still 62 degrees.

Nice Jerkbait Bite Going On

11.17.18

Water temp 75 at Keowee Town

Got out a couple of hours Sunday on a beautiful fall day.

Had a slight wind moving and the we wished main lake windy rocky points.

Landed 5 nice spots as we rotated between a couple of points.

They all came on the Luckycraft Staysee.

Fall fishing on a jerk bait...not much better than that.

Some Spooning and Dropshot Action

11.11.18

Water temp low 60s to low 70s

Got into a dropshot/spoon bite as the bass are starting to move towards the creeks.
Most fish were located in the 50' to 70' of water with the real active ones located above the shad bait balls that were near the bottom of the water column.

My buddy and I brought 10 fish to the boat in a brief outing this morning.

The first fish hit my spoon and turned out being a crappie.  After that it was all bass ranging from 10" to 17"

The biggest one ate my drop shot in 55' of water.  I tipped it with a Zman Trickshotz.

It was a little cold as my camo suit will testify.

Much Better

10.28.18

Water temp. 75 degrees

Headed out of Keowee Town ramp this morn and the air was 39 degrees.

Combined with the water temp, this is what you get.



Fishing was good with the Mikey Jr. nailing some nice bass.  It started off quickly on the first point I hit.



I fished my point rotation and ended up with 6 fish on top with the Mikey.

Started fishing the shady side of the river banks and caught a nice spot on a yamamoto grub.

Easing down the bank I would throw Mikey over trees dropped in the water.

A nice largemouth came out of one treetop and got a mouthful of Mikey.



Finished up dropshotting a couple of other spots up.

In total 11 bass were brought to the boat.  And all were keepers.

Also, saw a monster buck swim across Crow Creek.

Fall is here.

Water is Cooling, Bite SLOWLY picking up

10.22.18

Fishing the bassing fools tourney Monday.  An inches tourney, and we had 79 3/4" to finish second.
Fishing on the main lake was slow, but concentrating more towards pockets and the bite picked up.
Caught one 20" spot and another 18" spot in pockets in Crooked Creek.
The spider grub is heating up as I caught 5 fish on it.
Water temp is now in the mid 70's.
It is time fish, so get biting!

Still Junk Fishing

10.1.18

Water temp still in the mid to high eighties

Last few times out just been moving in and out to try and locate fish.

Today in a club tourney me and my partner won.

I caught three on Mikey Jr., one on a ned rig and this nice one on a 5cm shadrap.  He caught his lone fish on a ned rig.



You can tell Keowee is a  nuclear power lake as I am glowing!

Fishing last Friday we caught 7 largemouth on worms rigged wacky style.

But they pulled the water down 3 feet and those areas were almost dry today when I checked.

I keep saying things will get better but right now, I don't know when.

Getting A Little Better

9.23.18

After fishing the southern part of the lake for the past 2 weeks and getting my rear end kicked from the lack of bite down there, we fished from Keowee Town Landing up to Falls Creek Landing.

Had everything on the deck today and caught fish on each setup.  Although only two kept it was nice to have a consistent bite.

Caught spots on top with Mikey Jr, cranked one on a shad rap, spooning caught one, drop shot caught one, and at the end of the day caught a 3 lb largemouth on a spider jig in watermelon green.

Had two nice fish get off at the boat, one on a spin bait and one on a 1 oz Mack spoon.

Saw a little bit of schooling on top, but not as much as the last time I fished up there, which was 3 weeks ago.

The water is still warm, high eighties, a slight breeze to place a ripple on the water and the sky was sunny to partly cloudy.

Seems like the water is clearing up as the boat traffic is not as bad.

9.11 Birthday Fish

Nancy celebrated her birthday in style while spooning up a crooked tail spot in 110' of water here at Lake Keowee.
The bite is tough.  I also spooned one up, but it was shallow, 65'.  Ha!

Mixed Bag

Fished today 8.30 from 6:30 AM to 10:30 AM, or about when the temperature hit about a 100 degrees.  Sunny and slick and hot.  Water temp from 85 to 89.

Tried finding fish from Keowee Town up to Fall Creek Landing.

While waiting to see if the fish that were in the cove by Fall Creek Landing that I fished last week, I just beat the rocky channel side bank with a chartreuse Shad Rap.  Caught 3 stud bluegills, a small non keeper spot and my obligatory catfish.

Got off the hill and graphed the cove and no fish were seen.

Headed down towards Keowee Town graphing coves and points to no avail.

Finally ended up at the large cove by the ramp at Keowee Town and saw a little activity on the graph and a few fish schooling once in a while.

Nothing on a spoon, but caught 3 drop shotting a Zoom Meathead in natural color.  One was a very nice fat 15 1/2” spot the other two were just keepers of 12”.  Caught one non keeper spy baiting while they were schooling around me.

And did I mention it was hot?  But few boats.

Big Bluegill I Thought Was A Bass

Better Fishing Is Coming

8.21.18

Fished from 7 AM to 10:30 AM.  The water temp was in the mid 80’s and the wind was from the south with a lot of clouds.

I started in the back of Crowe Creek looking for a largemouth bite, which didn’t materialize.  Threw topwater, ned rid and crankbaits.  Lots of threadfin shad seen, but no action.

Fished 2 deep cuts, one by the Fall Creek Landing ramp and one by the Keowee Town ramp.

Both had fish in them.

I spooned two small 11-12” spots out of the Fall Creek Cove in 40-45 feet of water.  Lost one on a spinbait and many were seen schooling and as usual just a half a cast too far.

Moved down to the cove by Keowee Town and spooned a 14” spot and a very nice fat 19” spot out of 55’ of water.  Again, schoolers were coming up and I did hook up on 3 more on a spinbait but couldn’t keep them buttoned up.

Very nice to see some activity today.  Hopefully better fishing is on the way.

Sugartits and Spoons

7.17 and 7.19

Water temp was 87 degrees as I headed up into Crow Creek to look for new water.  The sunrise was unbelievable.  The sky looked like it was on fire.

I wanted to try new water and look for cuts off the main creek channel for some spooning.

But tried some shallow points first and scored 14” spot on a Mikey, Jr. wakebait.

Hit another rocky point and got a 15” spot on a bluegill colored Sugartit squarebill.

Got a nick in my braid and the next cast I sent the squarebill sailing into the woods.  Gotta monitor those nicks in braid.

I have been wanting to try spy baiting with a Duo realis g-fix spinbait. 

I caught my first fish on it on a point, it was a little one, 13” but it was neat to catch one on a new technique.

Started searching for a cut with bait and found it in the back of Little Crow but couldn’t get any bites.

Worked my way back to where I left them in a cut near Keowee Town ramp yesterday and they were still there, but spread out more.

Spooned a solid 17” spot.  Spy baited 3 14” triplets in the cut and spooned up a 25” flathead catfish.

There are a kit if threadfin shad in this pocket and they occasionally came up chasing and I was able to reach out and touch them with the spybait.

Decent day looking at new water and using a new technique.

First Square Bill Fish

7.13.18

Caught my first fish on a Square Bill Crank bait.
Bought one from Sugartit Custom Lures in Greer.
Nice Name!

Fishing Is Slow

7.9.18

Fishing has slowed to a crawl.

Been out a few times and manage a fish or two on topwater then a couple of bites later on soft plastics.

Nothing really to report other than the water is really hot, high eighties.

But, doing some graphing for future reference.

Summer Is Coming and The Fishing Is Slowing.

6.12 Hartwell Report

Water 80 degrees

My friend and I tried Hartwell again this morning.

They had pulled it back down to normal pool so the ramp was accessible and he didn't have to wade to the boat.

The topwater action slowed and we boated 3 stripers and 3 spots in about 4 hours.

They were banging the chug bug clear out of the water, but I couldn't get attached to the fish except for 4 times.

Still fun to have them bash the plug and experience their pull.

6.14 Keowee Report

Fished solo this morn from 6 until 10.

Caught 6 on top with the Mikey Jr.  The water was slick calm and hot at 82 degrees.

A bald eagle flew over the boat me this morning as a beautiful sunrise greeted me.



Caught one largemouth on the hula stick late in the morning and called it a day.

The summer temps are heating up!

Hartwell. On. Fire..

6.5.18

I finally made it to Hartwell after about 25 years.

I've been wanting to go and a friend I met at the ramp at Keowee said he would show me around.

His name is Billy and he knows Hartwell.

After a very short ride from the ramp at Lawrence Bridge, we started popping them.  Billy was wearing them out on a baby spook.  I was getting no love on my gunfish, so I went back in my memory bank and tied on a Cordell Redfin.  My memory served me well and soon I got into the catching.

Many, many stripers, hybrids, spots and even a largemouth came to the boat.



I also starting throwing the ol' Chug Bug after my memory was jogged and the hybrids tore it up.

I haven't had that much fun fishing/catching in a long while.

Going back soon!

One Big One Between Many Casts

6.1.18

Water temp 78 degrees

A LOT of rain this week has the water a little off.

But my neighbor and I did manage 4 bass. The biggest was a 19.5" spotted bass caught on a Keitech swim bait.

At first we thought it was a big largemouth, but it was the biggest spotted bass I have caught out of Keowee.



Craig caught a couple on the Red Eye Shad.  My other fish came on a Zman Hula Stick.

It looks like summer is coming as the fishing is slowing down.

Lake Tugalo In The Canoe (rhymes)

5.28.18

We did some exploring on Lake Tugalo.  After a 4 mile drive down a dirt and gravel road we reached the steep ramp.

Being Memorial Weekend we figured a bunch of people would be there, but we only saw 3-4 boats today.

We broke out the ultra lite gear and caught our share of panfish and little bass.

It is a beautiful small lake with no houses on the shoreline.  Can't wait to go back and figure them out some more.

Another Good Bite at Keowee In The Rain

5.25.18

Water Temp 80

The bite continued on Keowee as the fish are still eating well on points.  I fished through the rain today and the fish bit through the rain as well.

Fishing in the mouth of Mile creed and hitting a bunch of points, 10 nice fat spots came aboard.

Many fell victim to the Hula Stick, but I also caught 3 on the Keitech Swim bait, which was a first for me.  It was a no doubt bite when they smacked the bait.

Good Day On Keowee

5.22.18

Rainy day greeting me as I took a neighbor out fishing between the storms.

I haven't been on Keowee in two weeks or in the Champion so it was time to get both going.

Started out with a buzz bait trying to catch a largemouth, but only had one blow up.

So it was off to worm fishing all the points I know.

Every point had one bite on it, but at the end of the trip, the last two points had multiple fish on them and they were eating.

Ended up catching 12 nice spots.

I was throwing a 1/6 oz Zman Shroomz jig head with a Zman Hula stick on it.

I also drop shot a couple of fish under the boat, video game style.

Also saw a armadillo, turkey, beaver, otter, osprey and a bald eagle, so nature was showing off in the low cloudy conditions.

Canoe, Smallmouth, Lake Jocassee

5.17.18

Took the canoe out a couple of times on Lake Jocassee.
The last trip was fun as the rain held off and we caught fish and enjoyed a wonderful view of the cloud capped mountains.



We caught 6 fish, 5 smallmouth and one spot fishing north of the canoe boat ramp.

Fish were schooling when we arrived and we tried to get them to bite on shad raps and jerk baits, but to no avail.

We switched over to the ned rig with a TRD or Hula Stick and started to get consistently bit.

I caught the biggest smallmouth I have ever caught since leaving Ohio 40+ years ago.



I was snagged on a tree and suddenly I felt this one whack my Hula Stick and helped me get unsnagged.  Superb fight to the canoe.

No Morning Bite, But A Few Like the Hula Stick

5.9.18

Water temp 66 degrees up and 72 down

Got out early looking for some topwater action...but to no avail.

Travelled up and down the lake looking for fish, even saw the Jocassee Dam today, pretty impressive, but no fish up there for me.

Headed back down towards Keowee Town Ramp and found some biting on broad red clay points and they wanted the Hula Stick.

Brought four to the boat.

Bite Faded Away

Week of 5.1.18

water temp 68 degrees

The Keowee Anglers tourney was this week and I was on the water a lot watching the topwater bite and shallow water bite slowly go away.

My and my partner only caught two fish in the little tourney on Wednesday.

The winning catches were on points in deeper water throwing a ned rig.  They were running and gunning points.

I managed to catch one good fish a day.

I drop shotted this beautiful spot practicing for the tourney.

The moon was full and bright every night this week and I think the fish fed all night, as the ones we caught were full of shad.



That is my theory and I'm sticking to it!

Topwater Is Beginning to Pick Up

4.27.18

Water temp. 68 degrees

I hit a bunch of points in front of the Keowee Town boat ramp this morning and found fish on all but one.

The Luckycraft Gunfish has been kind to me as it seems to call them up well.

Did some fluking and worming with marginal success. Brought two decent fish to the boat drop-shotting, but love that topwater splash when they hit!

Topwater and Fluking Has Begun

4.22.18

Water temp 66 degrees

Drizzly day.

Got out at 7 AM with Craig, a newby who moved here from Colorado.

He bagged 3 spots quickly on top with a Gunfish 117.  That success will ruin him.

We ended up with about 10 fish in 4 hours.

I nailed this nice largemouth out of a downed tree top on a fluke.  Which for me is a fluke.

Lake Jocassee Is Deep!

4.13.18

Fished beautiful Lake Jocassee today.  The water was in the low 60's. 

It is really deep! I actually graphed over 300 feet in places.

And Beautiful.

The haze in the picture is actually pine pollen.

The wind was howling towards the mountains and the pollen was flying!

Fishing? Not so good.

One little spotted bass and that was it.

Fished coves, steep banks, docks, gently sloping points, nada....

But I did graph a lot of fish.  Just not happening for us today.

Another day!

Quick Outing on Keowee, Still Biting

4.12.18

I caught 4 spots and 1 nice spunky largemouth in windy pockets on boat docks above Keowee Town this afternoon.

Tough detecting the bites as the wind was howling and the one tenth of an ounce shroom jighead was tough to control.

Basically, if it felt weird....jerk!

I am teaming the jig head with a green pumpkin Zman Hula Stick.

Water temp is about 67 degrees.

Lake Robinson SC Canoe Outing

4.10.18

Wanting to get the canoe out in some freshwater, we headed to Lake Robinson in Greer, SC.
It is a limited HP water supply lake and is said to have some nice bass in it.
It is a beautiful setting, with a great ramp and picnic area.
We headed out with the mountains in the background on a cool day.


Nancy got on board relatively quickly with a nice largemouth on the ned rig in a cove that had one of many beaver dams we saw on the lake.



I caught three more bass on the neko rig before calling it a day.

The motor ran great and we got to see some more of the upstate, which keeps impressing us.

Slower, But Nice Largemouth Kept It Interesting

4.3.18

Water Temp: 64-66

Got out today on my first mini tournament by Keowee Anglers.

Paired with a partner and you fish 4 hours.  You measure your fish by inches instead of pounds.

It is an interesting concept and much different than a "normal" tournament.

We measured a little over 80" for our catch.

I was slow crawling the white shad rap over some stumps and rocks early in the morning when this girl engorged the bait.  She put up quite a fight on my sissy stick.



We hunted and pecked for our fish with a bunch caught on the ned rig and one on a Staysee.

Did not see a fish shallow as I believe they spawned on the recent full moon.  Looking forward to the next full moon though, as the next wave should appear then.

Not a bad catch for my handful of times on this beautiful lake.

Good Fishing As Spawn Is On

3.29-3.30.18

Water temp in low 60's

It has been fun fishing the last couple of days as the boy and girl fish get together in shallow water.

Looking at fish on beds in 10' of water is pretty cool.

Starting the day out with slow cranking suspending shad raps and then not being able to resist looking for spawners, we head shallower.

The ned rig and neko rig have been the go to baits for me.



Rip rap and rocky points have been really good s.l.o.w.l.y cranking shad raps.



Nancy caught her first fish in Keowee and lo and behold it was a nice largemouth on the ned rig.



I put this 19" fish in the boat with the help of the Ned rig.

Really nice spotted bass that was on a trashy bank with a beaver dam.

Hate for this season to pass, but it sure is fun!

Where Did This Downpour Come From!

3.20.18

Water temp 64 degrees

Got out after twerking the Champion for a couple of days.

Lost 4 on docks using the Neko rig.  Learning how to use it, gotta use a bigger hook for sure.

Then the HARD rain came out of nowhere.

Soaked, took shelter under a dock.

Eased back into the ramp and my weather app went off.  TAKE SHELTER!

Too Late!

If A Limit is Two, I'm In

3.16.18

70 degrees

water 57 upper 61 lower

Got out today on a nice March afternoon. The wind was whipping around but still very fishable.

We are wandering around the lake and after a stop near the ramp we headed up towards the Jocassee Dam.

As we idled under the route 11 bridge the cooler water was felt on our faces and it seemed a lot cooler up there than down lake and it was confirmed as the water temp was about 5 degrees colder.

But we did find one little spotted bass pulled out off a steep sided bank.  The depth finder kept looking like a bunch of spaghetti under the boat and I managed to pull one out of the bunch.

Another came on a gently sloping rock bar in Cedar creek.

Both were caught on the Ned Rig, which I am new at.

What a simple small rig.  Easy to fish. Easy to snag. Ha ha.

Lost a nice fish on a jerk bait.

And that was about it.



As you can see the water is quite clear and we were in the dirtiest water I could find.



I think I rigged many more times than the fish I caught.

And I thought this lake wouldn't be snaggy.