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!