Lakes to fish in 2016

Here's a question to ponder while we are waiting for the floods to abate and the water to clear. What lake here in SC, did you fish that you are most looking forward to fishing again. (Stump Hunter started a thread for a Slider giveaway that got me thinking about this)
Mine is Secession. I fished it in 2014, but once Don showed me that long lining would work I went back once and can't wait to try it again. That is one of my favorite ways to fish, but nobody told the crappie in Murray it would work.

(Or if you did not get to fish it and have it on our to do list for 2016.)

This might be the year that I get to fish Lake Marion for crappie during the spawn.

Butch I have the same one as you. I hate to say I'm 56, lives within a few hours of the lake and have never fished it! It is a shame but it is so hard to pass the upstate lakes when the spawn is on to go there. I'm inching to take the kayak down and fish the swamp. I know a few that goes and have a blast most anytime they go. I hear gators don't like to eat old people :)

I am with you Ray. Been on Secession twice and did well both times. Would like to do The Hill again for hybrids. Some kind of fun there.

I have been fortunate to have fished most SC major lakes, and many many more in other states over the years. To pick one would be difficult as I wish to fish where the fish are biting. The one State lake I've had success, and truly loved visiting that wasn't named Santee Cooper would be Clarks Hill. Ray, I would also like to invite you ahead of time to a long lining trip to Lake Murray, yes sir you heard me correctly, Lake Murray. This will be most probably in March, as I believe it's one of the better months on Murray before the lake gets crowded. I'll let you know when.

Mine would be lake moultrie for rockfish....haven't ever been there,or hartwell,secession or greenwood.

Clarks Hill for me. Only been there 3 times and 2 of them was last spring. Can't wait to go back. We must have hit it just right last year. It was two days of the fish being where they were supposed to be. Which is pretty uncommon of my home lake murray

CB, on the hill the fish are VERY predictable, especially during the spring. After getting on fish you just wonder if somewhere else is holding bigger fish is what keeps me moving around.:)

Mine would be The Hill and Lake Marion, as most have said the Hill is a great lake. Parts of it is only 30-40 minutes from my house and I usually only take 1-2 trips a year to it. Would love to try the Georgia side some and become more familiar with it. I also want to take another trip or two to Santee when the weather is decent. Have been down there 2 years in a row with terrible weather each trip and the lake has pretty much whooped my butt except for catching a couple nice fish including 2 3 pound fish in the same day last year pre-fishing. Would like to try it when we don't have freezing temperatures and 30 mph winds.

I say every year I'm going to fish some different lakes and never do.This year I'm going to make a big effort to do so.Always wanted to fish Lake Greenwood (have always heard this lake is a crappie factory).

I am going to make it a point to fish every good crappie lake in SC. I have fished most all of the above and like them all. I am going to fish santee more this year. I am also planning on a couple trips to neighboring states if everything goes okay.

It will probably not happen in 2016, but I want to fish Crescent Lake in Florida and Grenada before I die!

I fished Cresent last year and Talquin the year before and did pretty good. Did not go this year as the bite has been off due to the warm weather they are having. Heard of people fishing three days and catching 9 or 10 fish. Planning on going to Tennessee or Mississippi this year.

would like to fish marion and swamp area for crappie and perch
Rango and me entered a crappie tournament == seems like 100 years ago == on santee lakes
and about the time we got started good one of us got pretty bad sick and had to quit and
I have not been back but would like to make that trip this year sometime
also a trip to Clark Hill for crappie and perch would not get ruled out ether.

I'd like to just go fishing anywhere right now! Rain has stopped, weather and water temps are changing. Yard is dry enough to get to the boat. I'd like to fish Greenwood this year and also Hartwell with Engineman. May have to quit work to do it but I am going somewhere soon.:popcorn

WE NEED TO DO SOME WINTER NIGHT FISHING ON HARTWELL I'VE LOADED THE BOAT PLENTY OF TIMES
IN THE PAST THINGS ARE HARDER DOWN THERE NOW THEN I CAN EVER REMEMBER BUT IT'S STILL WORTH A TRY.
:fish:fish:fish:fish:fish:fish:fish:fish:fish:fish :fish:fish:fish:fish

So glad to see this thread. The wife and I are just starting to look for retirement property. Wish i'd done it years ago.....! That being said we are looking for a waterfront property hopefully with a dock already, that we could build a small home on. We don't want a mansion by any means so are not looking for a million dollar piece of property. I have never been in your region so have NO idea where to even start looking. This may not even be a possibility in today's market. All options are open. My Question in a nutshell. What lake/area would you retire to?

We have a lot of folks move to Columbia/Lexington area to locate on Lake Murray. The main draw is proximity to larger city for health care needs and cultural outlets. It would not be my first choice is fishing was my main goal. The Santee Cooper lakes have become a popular place also and there is more property available and prices are more reasonable. The Santee Cooper lakes are among the best in the country for fishing. Lake Murray is heavily developed and that runs property values up.
So you can google either lake and gets lots of info on either. There are a number of other lakes here also, like Greenwood, and the chain of lakes on the SC/Ga border such as Harwell, Russell, Clark Hill.
To answer your specific question, if it was just me I would have a place at Stumphole Landing on Lake Marion (Santee Cooper) but that is a bit too isolated for my bride.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video...t=mozilla&tt=b

Come visit and see what we got to offer. That is the best way for you to see it first hand. Everyone has ocean front property to sell you! Central state is a good option!:popcorn

I forgot to mention Lake Wylie which is an excellent fishing lake on the NC/SC border. It suffers the same problem as Lake Murray because it is only a few minutes from Charlotte NC and all those NFL and NBA players and coaches got lots of money so the lake property there is off the charts as well.
If you don't want to live on the lake front, Rock Hill and surrounding areas are excellent towns to live in. (Just don't move too close to Brett! :Rofl )

Lol thanks for the input. I will take a look around Wylie, I've found a few interesting sites on Monticello but still a little out of my range. How is the fishing there? I really am leaning towards Santee Cooper but wife is deathly afraid of big green lizards so also looking on the west end of the state. I'm possibly headed to NC. for work in the next couple of months and definitely will come take a look. just never been that far east. Also thanks for the video, Could handle waking up in a spot like that.

Monticello is a good lake to fish, especially big catfish. It would not be on my list as a residence for several reasons. It is a pump in/out lake for the nuclear plant there so the water goes up and down a good bit every day, plus I would not like to look out on the lake every morning and see that big plant sitting there, safe or not.
Monticello is in a very rural area so access to major facilities and amenities requires a good ride to reach. But, for some it is just the ticket. There is no lake front property that I know of in SC that is not highly inflated because of where it is.
A lake for comparison is Lake Secession in the upstate. No gators there I don't think and it is not too terribly far to a major city (Greenville) and the little town of Abbeville is a delight just to ride through. There is some property for sale on the lake and if there is such a thing as "reasonably priced" waterfront, this would probably be it.
Very good fishing lake for crappie and it is loaded with spotted bass as well.

I'll take a look at Secession and see what is avail. Really appreciate the input. Wouldn't like the fluctuating water level's at all. That is what I'm looking for. Only doing this once. Gotta have a great fishery or I wouldn't be interested. Spent most of my life wishing and prefer to spend the rest fishing. It's The one thing that I could do every day if the weather allows. Thanks again and sorry if I hijacked the thread.

I wouldn't let the alligators scare you from Santee. Since they started a select harvest program a few years back gator sightings are becoming more and more rare. Few lakes can match Santee Coopers beauty, and ability to fish without crowds. I've spent time on most SC lakes, and would recommend Santee first, Clarkshill (Thurmond) secondly. I also enjoy Wateree and Greenwood.

I second what Ink said about the gators. If you locate in a developed area the only way you will see one is to go in the swamp looking for one and then it is no guarantee. We see them in the flooded woods during the summer, but they have never posed a threat and since they started a hunting season on them they are more wary of boats.
I would not let that influence my decision. Heck I've heard of a few being spotted it the upper part of Lake Murray and it is as highly developed as you can get. They would have been way in the back waters if indeed they were actually spotted. Lots of logs get called alligators and every snake is a Water Moccasin (even though 98% are harmless water snakes)

All great input. Not having much luck with lake front property without HOA's and a lot of fees/restrictions. Going to change my strategy some and find a house close to a lake and short travel to a couple of others. I saw where you were located SeaRay and Lexington area looks like good access to several lakes within an hour or so. Also spotted Camden/Lugoff with access to several smaller lakes within an hour of some bigger water also. Have to google them for some info.Decisions decisions.

I LOVE living right here in Elberton. Less than 30 minutes to Clark Hill and Hartwell, and only 10 minutes to Russell. AND....theyre some great fishing lakes too. I dont spend alot of time on Hartwell but it's a superb striper lake. Russell is a trophy striper lake and holds the record on striper, great catfishing and crappie. Bass fishermen LOVE Russell as it's slap full of spots. Clark Hill has it all. Oh yea, you can hunt all the corp property around all those lakes where there's plenty of deer and turkey not to mention the small game (squirrels). Plenty of hogs around the lakes too.

Worth taking a look. I have no family closer than Jacksonville Fl. so I really have no pre-destined location. Main concern is being able to fish at the drop of a hat without driving an hour or more to get to a lake. Any town big enough to have a Wal Mart is big enough for us.;) I really appreciate the input and will google Elberton. That's what i'm looking for is people who LOVE where they are. Personally I feel like I've been stuck in the desert for 20 years.

Nearly everyone could or would reccomend the area where they live as being the best for an assorted amount of reasons. Gabowman makes some valid points about being near 3 lakes, but looking at Google maps and now knowing what you're looking for I would reccomend the town of Greenwood SC. Small town feel with all the amenities. You are centrally located between some fine major fishing lakes, many of which are considered the best in the state, and many smaller bodies of water if that interest you. Property is reasonably priced, with acreage available, if desired.

JD1 goggle Seneca,SC you will be at Hartwell and lake Keowee not far from trophy lake jocassie (trout).lots of trout streams and you will be only a few miles from next year's football champ the CLEMSON TIGERS!!!!

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Originally Posted by Inkdabber

Nearly everyone could or would reccomend the area where they live as being the best for an assorted amount of reasons. Gabowman makes some valid points about being near 3 lakes, but looking at Google maps and now knowing what you're looking for I would reccomend the town of Greenwood SC. Small town feel with all the amenities. You are centrally located between some fine major fishing lakes, many of which are considered the best in the state, and many smaller bodies of water if that interest you. Property is reasonably priced, with acreage available, if desired.

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I agree with Inkdabber if you won't a small town atmosphere with the amenities that most big cities have, Greenwood is a great place. If you want to buy on the lake that is an option as well. You are within less than an hour of about 5 lakes (Greenwood, Russell, Succession, Murray, Clarks Hill). With several other good lakes about 2 hours away.

On another note got a trip planned today to one of the lakes I wanted to fish in 2016. Hoping to find some good fish on Marion in March, got a Friday-Sunday trip planned. Ready for March already!!!!!!

Doing alot of looking. Really liking what I am seeing out there. Hoping that the job we are bidding sends me that way.

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Originally Posted by JD1

Doing alot of looking. Really liking what I am seeing out there. Hoping that the job we are bidding sends me that way.

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Understand that on lake Russell there is no water way rights on the lake. There is a 300' bumper around the lake so you won't see any docks besides the ones at the landings so don't fall into looking at "Lake Front Lots" that doesn't have lake fronts.
Lots of great lakes in SC to fish.