This Saturday Chuck's Lakeside Marine, located near Little River Marina, will have its annual 'in house' Boat Show and Test Drive Event.  They will have several pontoon boats, a Norris Craft Bass Boat  and at 23 foot Mako there in the water for you to test drive.  This truly offers a chance to test performance and style so you can make a good choice on your next purchase.

I took one of my old high school buddies, Terry Norris, and his son, Tyler, fishing.  It was very windy.  We tried crappie for a few hours and stripers for a few.  We only caught a few fish, but Tyler did manage to catch a seven pound striper.  See the picture below:

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 The weather has been up and down; it just depends on which day you go.  Overall, fishing wasn't that good last week.  The good news is most of the fish have not spawned in the lake yet.  So the best fishing is yet to come.  Its definitely a good time to hit the lake.

Remember,  with 1200 miles of shoreline, catching fish is a lot like finding that perfect waterfront property to buy, you gotta know where to go....

Did you know that the Corps of Engineers has made 12 fish attractors on the lake?  The Georgia Department of Natural Resources had made 13 and the SC Department of Natural Resources has made 10.  That gives you 35 excellent crappie fishing spots.  They have made a major effort in the past few years to ad brush to these locations.  There is a list below:    

Thurmond Lake Fish Attractors

US Army Corps of Engineers Fish Attractor Buoys

Scott                                                   N 33° 40.559                        W 082° 11.051

Catfish Bay                                        N 33° 46.064                        W 082° 15.450

Hawe Creek                                      N 33° 50.550                        W 082° 20.792

Hickory Knob State Park                 N 33° 53.500                        W 082° 26.572

Fishing Creek                                    N 33° 54.891                        W 082° 32.071

Murry Creek                                       N 33° 53.198                        W 082° 29.176

Elijah Clark State Park                     N 33° 49.901                        W 082° 23.040

Shriver Creek                                    N 33° 46.720                        W 082° 18.749

Bussey Point, Savannah River        N 33° 44.054                        W 082° 16.046

Bussey Point, Little River, GA         N 33° 41.812                        W 082° 16.002

Cherokee Creek                               N 33° 42.567                        W 082° 19.595

Georgia Department of Natural Resources Fish Attractor Buoys

Bobby Brown State Park                 N 33° 58.997                         W 082° 34.827

Newford Creek                                  N 33° 57.016                         W 082° 34.536

Elijah Clark State Park                     N 33° 51.530                         W 082° 23.756

Soap Creek, Hwy 378                      N 33° 50.239                         W 082° 25.655

Wells Creek                                       N 33° 49.070                         W 082° 21.239

Camp Daniel Marshall                      N 33° 46.120                         W 082° 17.153

Bussey Point                                     N 33° 45.711                         W 082° 16.198

Grays Creek                                      N 33° 41.862                         W 082° 22.489

Clay Hill/Lloyd Creek                        N 33° 40.665                         W 082° 26.640

Amity                                                  N 33° 39.220                         W 082° 29.006

Winfield                                              N 33° 39.189                         W 082° 24.990

Mistletoe                                            N 33° 39.316                         W 082° 22.012

Ridge Road                                       N 33° 40.980                         W 082° 15.860

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Fish Attractor Buoys

Russell Creek                                    N 34° 00.40                           W 082° 33.77

Hester Bottoms                                 N 33° 57.46                           W 082° 31.88

LeRoys Ferry                                    N 33° 54.71                           W 082° 28.76

Hickory Knob State Park                 N 33° 53.19                           W 082° 26.59

Savannah River                                 N 33° 52.24                           W 082° 23.72

Little River, SC                                  N 33° 52.37                           W 082° 21.14

Benningsfield Creek                         N 33° 49.66                           W 082° 18.71

Parksville                                           N 33° 46.47                           W 082° 14.63

Modoc                                                N 33° 43.60                           W 082° 13.63

Scotts Ferry                                       N 33° 41.42                           W 082° 12.47

The good news is the lake is on its way up.  It has come up nearly one foot in the last week or so.  As far as the fishing, it couldn't get any better than it is right now.  Even though I haven't had a chance to go in the last week, I have talked to some who have.  Bill Baab was near the dam on Wednesday afternoon casting lures and was catching some real nice hybrids and stripers in the ten pound class.

Every year the blue back herring congregate in this area and naturally the hybrids and stripers move to feed on them.  Night fishing will become very productive or simply tying up to the cables will work during the day or night.  Early in the morning and late in the evening, try free lining live herring in the shallows.  The crappie fishing has really turned on as well.  Most people are catching them trolling the coves, however, I have had several people say they have caught some on the banks in the last few days.

Remember,  with 1200 miles of shoreline, catching fish is a lot like finding that perfect waterfront property to buy, you gotta know where to go....

The fishing is red hot on the lake right now.  There have been several striper over 40 pounds caught last week.  The black bass are eating up crank baits and the crappie are in the coves and creeks in less than 20 feet of water eating everything in sight.  Barring a severe cold front, we are set for some incredible fishing the next few weeks. 

Below is a picture of Luke and Andrew, a few of my neighborhood fishing buddies.  We caught these crappie Monday afternoon on jigs and minnows.

Lincolnton Marine will have its ground opening this Saturday from 9:00AM until 5:00 PM.  The ribbon cutting is at 11:00.  There will be drawings for free gifts thru out the day.  Matt Herring, a bass fishing pro for Skeeter Boats, as well as numerous other factory representatives will be on hand.  Kick 99 and Drive 93.9 will also be there.  The new location is on Hwy 378 near Soap Creek.  Be sure to look for Turner Realty Agents also. 

While in Lincolnton, be sure to come by to see me between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM  at our office on Humphrey Street behind the library.  I'd love to talk fishing or real estate.   I'll have a sample of my favorite crappie jigs on display.

Remember,  with 1200 miles of shoreline, catching fish is a lot like finding that perfect waterfront property to buy, you gotta know where to go....