“A lot of anglers believe that the small spotted bass have resulted from anglers keeping all of the big ones, which is entirely untrue. In fact, it is the opposite. The small size is directly related to too many fish in the lake competing against each other. It would do the lake a world of good if anglers harvested more spotted bass, but this goes against the grain of bass ethics today.”

Even with the problems the introduction of spotted bass have caused on Lake Keowee, Rankin said anglers could still find a big largemouth bass but not so for spotted bass. Data showed that 14 percent of the largemouth bass harvest consists of fish greater than 18 inches long, whereas less than 2 percent of spotted bass were that size.

Redeye bass also occurred in Lake Keowee, but Rankin stated that these fish have essentially been “hybridized” out of the population by cross-breeding from spotted bass.

The last lake in the chain for this region is Lake Hartwell, a nearly 56,000-acre lake west of Clemson and Anderson. Rankin does not have recent angling data but stated the lake is still predominately a largemouth bass lake with decent fishing.

“From our electrofishing efforts and talking with anglers, the largemouth bass population seems really stable,” Rankin said. “The lake is not known as a big-bass lake but there are good numbers of 1 1/2- to 3-pound fish with a few trophies.

“Much to our dismay, spotted bass and hickory shad have also been introduced into the lake. Most of the spotted bass seem to be in the Tugaloo arm.

“Threadfin shad are the dominant forage for bass, but blueback herring and gizzard shad are also present. We don’t know what kind of impact the hickory shad will have on the system. They are reproducing and we have seen threadfins in the stomachs of hickories. Only time will tell what the outcome will be,” Rankin said.

Redeye bass are also present in Lake Hartwell, mostly being found in the tributaries into the main lake. Where the populations of redeye and spotted bass have overlapped, a DNA study by Clemson University indicated that the spotted bass has hybridized the redeyes. Rankin explained that fortunately, the redeyes might not disappear entirely from the system because there appears to be natural shoal areas in the tributary arms that have prevented spotted bass from encroaching into the entire redeye habitat.

Rankin also mentioned that the fishing on some sleeper lakes might surprise anglers who are willing to seek out smaller, more urban impoundments.

“There are seven state lakes in this region and several water system impoundments,” he said. “Some of the ones over in the Greenville/Spartanburg area are particularly good.

“Lake Johnson is a 40-acre lake that has an abundance of 2- to 3-pound largemouth bass, with some over 5 pounds. Lakes Robinson, Cooley, Bowen and Blalock are some others I would check out, too. Most are moderately fertile lakes that produce chunky bass.”

Be cautioned that many of these lakes have horsepower restrictions and a fee is usually required to fish.