Parents just bought the retirement place on Lake Keowee in Keowee Key near the bridge. Not much of a freshwater fisherman, but would like to try it in a couple of weeks.
What is there?, what do you catch them with?, times of year, spots, etc???
Thanks
i don’t think that stripers have ever been stocked in Lake Keowee. largemouth and spotted bass fishing is supposed to be good along with crappie and catfish. russell and hartwell are the striper lakes nearest keowee.
I just copied this from the SCDNR Fishing Trends site. According to this the striper fishing is good. Of course it says that about Murray as well and it sure didn’t seem good when I went out Sunday. I do not know for sure if they do have stripers or not, just going by what the SCDNR is saying.
Lake Keowee:
Largemouth Bass: Good, using topwater and dropshot lures like the Sammy 100’s, Zara Spooks, buzzbaits, plastic worms, floating worms and Carolina-rigged worms in green or red colors in 15 to 25 feet of water in the mouths of creeks and off rocky points. Also try fishing topwater lures in the early morning hours.
Striped and Hybrid Bass:Good, fishing with live and cut herring and jumbo minnows.
Crappie: Fair, using small minnows and jigs in 10 to 15 feet of water around brush piles and bridge pilings. Try night fishing around bridge pilings.
Catfish: Good, using nightcrawlers and cut bait on bottom.
Bream: Fair, using worms and crickets near shallow brush piles, stumps, bridge pilings and sandy pockets. Water temperature is about 90 degrees.
pardon me
edited to add: or maybe not. if you go back thru dnr news releases most of the keowee reports make no mention of stripers or hybrids, kinda confusing. i will research tomorrow and get back to y’all.
Water Temp 90 degrees ? That seems a little high. When I went to Jokassi (spelling?) it was cold. I dont think Murray gets up to 90. I may be wrong though. Maybe the Nuclear plant heats the water up like Lake Robinson. I’ve seen 105 degree water on Robinson, and thats no BS. Of course the fish go elsewhere other than the discharge canal. Although the fish like the warm water during the winter.
I go to Clemson and fish Keowee quite frequently with pretty good luck, much better than hartwell. We normally just go for largemouths when we fish, but we’ll get the occasional crappie or catfish. I’ve had the best luck with casting towards rocks or other structures around the banks with a purple carolina-rigged zoom finesse worm. With it being so hot recently the fish seemed to have taken to deeper water. If I’m fishing at dusk and see some jumping, I’ll sometimes throw out a spoon, spook, or other topwater lure. Hope this helps, good luck.
CrippledCricket , I live near Kewowee and have fished it from the day it started filling up with water when they built it . There are no stripers in keowee , but for this time of year ,your best bet is to fih the first 2 hours of daylight with topwater plugs off of points ,then go home untill darkness sets in . Lots of people then head to the Jocassee dam to fish the cold water where the bait is . From gap hill landing it is about a 10 minuite ride at about 65mph . If you go there ,just worm fish along the points right before you get to the dam . I fish a small feather jig too , doodling it works fine . When fall rolls around go back to the mouths of the creeks , and keep a spoon tied on for topwater action. I like a heavy spoon because you will see many schools far away and if you can get it in front of them you will catch a few . Spots are the biggest catch of this lake and my biggest is 5# 2 oz. . winter fishing is my time of the year there , using feather jigs and doodling a worm in water from 25 to 75 feet . I have cuaght them in 92 feet of water , so don’t be afrade to fish deep . The hot hole is pretty good in the winter , but you might have to fight for a spot .
Simple deal ,spring fish for bedding fish if you must , summer fish early or at night , fall they might be anywhere (spots roam the open water and are not object oriented like largemouth ) winter fish slow ,trolling is very good in the fall and winter on cloudy or rainy days using bill normans ,bright days —use bright lures ~ white , crome blue combo…dark cloudy days use dark lures …hope this helps some.
great job 'pox
CrippledCricket ,try these
34-48-08
82-54-24
34-48-32
82-53-24
34-48-54
82-53-39
34-47-11
82-54-49
or work the general area,tight lines …Sid
I know this is not a striper report but , it’s my time of the year on Keowee . Fished for about 3 hours on Sat. and had 17 spots and lost about 10 or 12 due to the way they were biting so soft. Fishing in 52 feet of water . The baitwell is about 2 feet across . Tight lines …
dont forget about the hot hole!!!1