November 2, 2014

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2014

THE SUMTER ITEM

Call the newsroom at: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: pressrelease@theitem.com

There’s still time to fish, and the deer will still be around I know it may be a little strange right in the heart of deer season, but I think we need to have a little talk about fishing.

Let’s face it, for the most part fishing slows down during the later weeks of August and September due to the heat. Fish have a comfort zone in which they become very active, but outside that zone, too hot or too cold, they slow down a lot and don’t feed.

Hey, I’ll bet you slowed down a lot during August and September. With the Earle high humidity and Woodward excessive heat, noAFIELD & body wanted to be out AFLOAT and about, and that included deer and fish.

As the nights have cooled down and gotten longer, the water temperatures have begun to fall and the fish have once again gotten into the zone.

If you are a saltwater guy, the reports from the coast are very optimistic. Flounder are starting to hit mud minnows again in the Murrell’s Inlet area, trout have been reported in the

inlets and even a few Spanish mackerel. Red fish have also been reported as being active all along the coast.

I’ll have to admit that I’ve never tried flounder in the fall, but I know a couple of guys that do go on a regular basis. They do quite well and claim that the size is up as well, meaning fewer small fish to throw back.

I will tell you that as I age, I tend to think more about catching a mess of flounder than sitting in a deer stand.

Freshwater fishing has heated up a bit as well. I talked to a young lady the other afternoon that was on her way to the lake to do a little bass fishing.

She told me she had been doing pretty good. Crappies have been reported to be moving into more shallow waters and a few catfish have been caught, so the fall feed must be on.

Once that water temperature falls out the bottom of the comfort zone, fish will once again become lethargic and tend not to do a lot of moving and feeding. The fall feeding window is kind of small. The fact is, the 10-day forecast I looked at shows a low of 35 degrees next weekend, so it isn’t going to last long. Cold weather may be great for deer hunting, but it’s not so good for fishing.

Let me give you and idea of what

can be expected if you hit it right.

Last year, on Halloween -- Oct. 31 -Coffee Pot and I went down to my fishing club down in the Wateree Swamp.

We really weren’t expecting to tear them up, but the forecast was for a pretty day and there is no place prettier in the fall than the swamp, so off we went.

We didn’t even bother to get up early. We got up at our regular times and just went fishing; we were planning on a rather lazy day.

Our plan was to fish slowly up to the “lake”, and then dunk a few minnows for crappie. Unfortunately, there was an obstruction blocking the stream and we couldn’t make it up there. Not wanting to go home, we fished downstream and it made a world of difference.

We began to get a few hits on our spinnerbaits, but weren’t hooking up like we should have, so we switched over to beetlespins and started catching bream, mollies, red fin, jackfish, bass, shellcrackers and crappie. If it swam, we caught it.

And I’m not talking about babysized fish; I’m talking slab crappie and hand-and-a-half-sized bream. The red fin were filleting size. The fishing was so crazy, we stopped the boat and

jigged small jigs directly under the boat in five feet of water and continued to catch fish. We got tired of catching fish.

The great part about it was the day itself. The air was clear, there was a light breeze, the temperatures made you want to take a nap in the sunshine and the fellowship was great.

As I mentioned earlier, there is no place prettier in the fall than the upper lake and swamp area. The leaves are changing, the water is black, and the sky usually a vivid blue color.

A rod and reel or a cane pole and bucket of minnows are about all you need to enjoy a day on the water.

For a real treat, add a child or a family member.

There was a time when my lovely bride, Sherri, and I would take a trip in October just to see the leaves changing in the mountains. We’d find 62,000 other people doing the same thing. We now go to the mountains for our anniversary in August and boat ride in the swamp for the leaves.

The window won’t last long, but from the mountains to the sea, fishing should be pretty good for a little bit.

So get out there and enjoy it. The deer will still be there when you get back.

Area women attend leadership conference FROM STAFF REPORTS Sumter county residents Violet Dennis, Joye Davis and Jenny Marshall were among more than 90 women from 24 counties across the state gathered in Beaufort on Sept.

22 and 23 for South Carolina Farm Bureau’s annual Women’s Leadership Conference.

The attendees spent the week participating in workshops that addressed aquaculture and mariculture, personal development and tools they can use to promote agriculture in their local counties. The conference concluded with a tour of historic Beaufort and plantation homes in the area.

Presentations were given by aquaculture producers and farmers in the Beaufort area. Frank Roberts of Lady’s Island Oysters, Jerry Gault of Gault Seafood and Robyn Clevinger of Beaufort Shellfish Co. all spoke about their daily activities in their occupations while the conference attendees learned about how their seafood is grown.

Julie Davis, a living marine resources extension specialist for the South Carolina Sea

Grant Consortium, also presented at the conference.

SCFB President David Winkles said: “We are thankful to have such dedicated women in the Farm Bureau. Without their enthusiasm and com-

mitment, SCFB would not be able to have the far-reaching influence it has. So far this year, these women have put in more than 7,000 hours of purpose activities around the state. We are extremely

proud their accomplishments.”

Farm Bureau Women at county, state, and national levels coordinate agricultural education and promotional activities. Their work in-

cludes supporting important family and agricultural legislation, youth programs, educational activities, leadership development and commodity promotions.

“SCFB women work hard to educate both students and consumers about South Carolina’s No. 1 industry – agribusiness,” said Ag Literacy and Women’s Program Director Vonne Knight. “Their knowledge of and interest in family farms contributes much to the organization, as they work for the future success of agriculture in our state.”

The SC Farm Bureau Federation is a non-profit membership organization formed to promote and preserve the work of family farmers and rural lifestyles across the state. Founded in 1944, SCFB serves more than 100,000 member families in 47 county chapters across the state.

Persons interested in supporting the efforts of local farm women can contact their county Farm Bureau for additional information or visit us online at www.scfb. org.

during times of day. Cut herring, shrimp and dip baits will all catch fish, and generally being in the right area and at the right depth is more important than the bait choice.

Largemouth Bass: Fair. The best pattern for catching tournament-grade largemouth has been to look for bass mixed in with striper that are schooling on top. Pencil poppers are one of the best baits for catching these fish.

Crappie: Slow to fair. Crappie are in a transition period and they haven’t fully jumped into a fall pattern yet. Some of the best places to fish are around brush on the side of creek channels or adjacent docks, and covering a lot of water is essential. Fish should generally be aggressive so jigs are a good bet.

Lake Wateree Largemouth Bass: Very good. Bass fishing continues to improve with bigger and more bass biting well. Fall bass will follow the baitfish to the back of creeks and pockets, feeding up before winter. They will use multiple pieces of structure and move a lot, so be versatile by fishing a variety of cover and using multiple types of lures. Crappie: Fair. Crappie are in a transition period. Fish are starting to move off of brush piles now, and while some fish can be found around brush they have gotten scarcer. Anglers might have to fish 20-30 brush piles to pick up a limit.

Lake Greenwood Bream: Good. Fish bream are up against the bank, with bigger fish generally found a bit deeper. Bream fishing should remain good until water temperatures drop significantly.

Catfish: Good. Plenty of good eating sized channel catfish are still being caught anchoring on humps and points and fan casting out baits. During the day the most productive depths have been 5-20 feet, and at night fish have been as shallow as 2 feet down to about 10 feet. Both shrimp and dip baits have been catching fish.

Largemouth Bass: Fair. Bass are still in a transition period, with some fish caught shallow and others deep. Some bass have been caught on Alabama rigs fished around creek channels, at the mouths of pockets, and inside pockets and coves.

Lake Monticello Catfish: Slow to fair. The bite on Lake Monticello has been inconsistent as of late.

The fall drift bite on Monticello is traditionally excellent.

Lake Russell Black Bass: Very good. Spotted bass are bunched up in 18-25 feet of water around crappie brush piles, and they are feeding so aggressively that they are running off most of the other fish. Look for schools of bait on your depth finder before choosing an area to fish, and then lower a drop shot rig baited with either a medium minnow or a four inch finesse worm to the bottom.

Catfish: Fair. Some good channels are suspended around shad schools in 18-25 feet of water and he has occasionally picked them up bass and crappie fishing.

To target catfish specifically try anchoring cut blueback herring on the bottom in 15-20 feet of water.

Lake Thurmond Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good. On the Georgia Little River, fish can be found from above the Little River Bridge to Raysville,

and on the Savannah River fish can be found from Parksville to the 378 bridge.

Most fish are being caught on down lines, with hybrids found roughly 20 feet deep and striper about 50 feet down - both in 70-80 feet of water.

Crappie: Fair to good. Crappie have moved shallower onto flats and into the backs of creeks, and the best pattern is fishing minnows around brushpiles in these areas. Fish are about 15 feet down over brush in 20-25 feet of water.

Black bass: Slow to fair. Bass on Clarks Hill are still very much oriented to the hydrilla, and first thing in the morning throwing a buzzbait up shallow around grass is the best bet.

Lake Wylie Catfish: Good to very. The bite in the middle section of the creeks seems to be better than out on the main channel, and the morning and late afternoon seem to be the most productive times to fish. Four out of five fish caught in this section of the creek right now seem to be channel catfish, but blues in the 3-5 pound range as well as some much bigger fish - are mixed in. Fresh cut shad, bluegill and white perch are all working well.

Largemouth Bass: Fair. Fish can be caught out on the main lake all year round, but right now good numbers of shad have moved to the backs of the creeks and bass have followed them. There is a pretty good topwater bite , and Zara Spooks have been working well.

Lake Jocassee Trout: Slow to fair. Trout fishing is in the traditional October/ November slow period, but in a month or two fishing

should improve. Later in the fall there will be some action throwing Rooster Tails and small spinners around the shoreline, but for now slow trolling with minnows and spoons is the best technique.

Black Bass: Slow to fair. Smaller fish can be caught on soft plastics fished around the laydowns.

Lake Keowee Largemouth and Spotted Bass: Fair.

Spotted bass can be caught on the main lake in 10-25 feet of water around points and humps. Drop shot rigs are working the best. Fish have not started to move up the creeks in big numbers yet, but they should as temperatures cool.

Lake Hartwell Catfish: Good. Blue catfish are starting to move up into 30-40 feet of water where they are catchable on cut gizzard shad and herring, and as temperature drop the blue bite will get better and better. For now the channel catfish are still the best thing going, though, and they can be caught off points in 16-25 feet of water.

Striped and Hybrid Bass: Fair. As the lake begins to turn over and multiple fronts have come through fishing has gotten tougher, but intermittent schooling activity can be found everywhere from the midlake area down to the dam. Most of the schooling takes place in the morning, but there is also some late afternoon activity.

Throw topwater plugs at these fish.

Crappie: Slow to fair. Crappie can be caught around brush in 16-20 feet of water on minnows, but the hardest part is finding brush at the right depth with water levels down 12 or so feet. Most anglers’ favorite brush piles are only in 3-4 feet of water.

PHOTO PROVIDED

From left, Sumter County residents Violet Dennis, Joye Davis and Jenny Marshall joined more than 90 women from across the state for South Carolina Farm Bureau’s annual Women’s Leadership Conference in Beaufort.

FISHING REPORTS Santee Cooper System Crappie: Good to very good. Crappie fishing has been strong and fish are really ganged up on brushpiles. Numbers of fish are down from last year, but on both lakes the sizes have been outstanding. Fish remain suspended about 8-18 feet down around the tops of brush piles in approximately 15-28 feet of water.

Minnows have been working too well to try anything else.

Bream: Good. Some small bream remain in the shallows, but most of the better fish are stacked up on mid-depth brush piles in 16-22 feet of water. Fish about 8-14 feet deep with crickets.

Catfish: Slow to fair. There is no real productive Santee Cooper catfish pattern to fish most of the time, and cooling water temperatures will have fish scattered until later in the winter.

Lake Murray Striped Bass: Good. Striper are on the move with good numbers of fish found from Spence Island all the way up to Macedonia Church. One productive pattern has been fishing in the mid-lake creeks with planer boards in 2-40 feet of water.

Shellcracker and bream: Good. Fishing is picking up again in 2-10 feet of water using worms. Bream are still biting well in 4-10 feet of water around shallow cover on crickets.

Catfish: Fair. Anchoring on points, humps and other depth changes with deep and shallow water around them and fan casting baits at a variety of depths is still the best pattern. The general depth zone has ranged from 5-30 feet, and there is great variation from day to day and even