4-14-2025 Fishing Report

So many options right now. The hybrid/striper bite is great on Hartwell, Murray and Clarks Hill. For the most part a lot of the fish that made their way up to spawn are working their way back down the rivers. But remember not all the fish make that run, there is a large number of fish that never run upriver. A lot stay down lake and really go crazy during the herring and shad spawns. The herring spawn has been going on and off for a couple weeks at Murray. These cold fronts seem to run them out a little and then they come back in as it warms. On Hartwell, it seems like the herring spawn is just getting going good. This is a time on all the lakes where I want to launch in the dark and be set up on shallow clay/rock points as it is barely breaking light. If you aren’t catching pretty quick keep moving till you are. Then once it gets more light its a really good time to pull free lines and boards across the points and cover water till you run into a hot point.

Another great option is crappie on deep brush. The spawn is pretty much done and the fish are pulling out deeper and on the feed. I checked some of the brush I fish in late May and June out deep and it was pretty barren. But the brush back in the creeks and coves in 12 to 15 feet of water is stacked. My last trip to Greenwood we got close to 50 with almost all being well above keeper size. We used slip corks and minnows mainly, but jigs work great too. This pattern should hold up great until it water temps get super hot in mid July.

One of my goals this year is to sink a lot more brush on Hartwell than I currently have. I have a ton at Greenwood. But it is really nice to be able to pivot to crappie if the hybrids slow down mid morning at Hartwell. By this time next year I should have so much brush in place that it will be a great option for my clients.

I expect there will be some shell crackers beginning to spawn on the coming new moon but they should go cray heading into the full moon in early May. Greeenwood and Murray are excellent lake for this. Clarks Hill is great too but I’ve never spent the time to find them there.