Usually by this time of year I have stopped fishing the lake, so I am pretty clueless as to what to expect right aftet the lake turns over.
I know the fishing can be tough right after it turms, but for how long? Days? Weeks?
…and what about the fishing makes it tough? Is it just because the fish can be hard to find? …or do they get lock jaw for a while even if you find them?
Anyone have any tips as to what to look for and what parts of the lake I should be looking when I go out Friday am??
Here’s a tip for you guys with the turn-over blues… The water in the big Saluda above Murray will be about 4 degrees colder than what you see at the towers in late Sept/ early Oct… Shad will spawn twice a year, in the spring when water temp is around 68- 70 and in the fall when water temp is about 68- 70… so if you go back and look at the surface water temps at the tower, you will realize how long the fish have been biting up in the river… the fish up there aren’t affected by the turn over. They have been up there feeding on the fall shad spawn…now the cold fronts that keep pushing through will eventually make the fish pull off into deeper water (its obviously shallower up there). Fish don’t like the fluctuating temperatures so they pull off into deeper water because it doesn’t change as much. The little Saluda is warmer than the big Saluda. So I always head for the Big Saluda first as water temps drop because its colder, then transition to the Little Saluda as it gets colder because the water there is warmer…
I’ve spent about 85% of my life’s wages on fishing, the rest I just wasted…
Some neat info in this. Not saying run all the way to the rivers, but you can take this info and use it…
I went up the big saluda on the 20th. The kids wanted to fish and it seemed to windy to take them out on the big lake. I only marked a few scattered fish, but the bait was thick. I went up about 2 miles and there was bait on the screen at all times. Only makes sense the striper would be there soon. the water was 69-70 and we never had a hit. I’ve been thinking about that post by woody since turnover talk started. Woody posted that last year on November 4th.
I’ve been up there 4 or 5 trips already but most of those, I planned to catch some nice Gizzard Shad to pull…and then threw the net for 3 quarters of the day to get 5 or 6. Tons of threads everywhere flipping but only the occasional Gizzard shad flips to throw on. I’ve caught a few fish on herring and see the occasional blow ups but it just hasn’t been as consistent for me as the bite down towards the mid to lower lake with the herring. If I could get a couple dozen 6-10 inch Gizzards, ready to pull at first light, heck yeah I’d be up there…lol
I plan to troll umbrella rigs Sat. and don’t plan to pull them in water less than 20 ft deep so that will pretty much eliminate fishing above the bridges for me. I do know of a couple spots where I caught them schooling last year where I might could catch a few on a super spook but I’m going to try and catch an 8 lb fish trolling u-rigs closer to Hilton…and then watch Fogman beat me with an 8 lb 2ouncer…lol
I’ve spent about 85% of my life’s wages on fishing, the rest I just wasted…
