I’m in Columbia for an extended period and am interested in fishing the lower saluda. I do not have a boat, so I’d mostly be walking/wading around the zoo or Saluda Shoals park.
Frankly, I’m just not much of a freshwater fisherman. I have gone out there a few times now, and caught one small trout and a bream here or there. I don’t really care what I catch (trout, stripers, bream, catfish, whatever), I’d just like to go and have semi-consistent action and feel like I at least have a good chance of catching fish. As it is now, I’m one of those guys you see who may as well be fishing in the desert.
Point being, if anyone has any general advice on this area I’d love to hear it. I’m open to all techniques and targets.
Fishing in the Saluda for fish other than stripers gets tough once the stripers move up, as they have now. The stripers feed on the stocked trout so your best chance at getting trout(or other smaller fish) is during the winter months and early spring. There is an area of rapids about a quarter mile up from Metz Landing. Metz landing is the one directly across from Saluda Shoals and is accessible off of Corley Mill rd. I would not recommend trying to walk up the Saluda Shoals side to get there. For the best results, fish blue or red worms on the bottom with a small splitshop sinker allowing the bait to drift through the current bouncing on the bottom. You can use a lot of other baits but worms are almost always the most effective. One day I fished there a few days after they stocked and caught 52 trout in only two or three hours. I hope this helps.