Black bass fishing is a wide-open, year-round activity throughout the Palmetto State. While tournament fishing does slack off to some degree during the late fall and winter, hard-core bass fishermen are still working the waters for that one big fish bite. With such a passionate following, some anglers are amazed at the quality of black bass fishing still maintained in our lakes and rivers.

But that level of good fishing does exist, according to Ross Self, Chief of Fisheries for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). Self said that despite the fishing pressure on so many lakes and rivers around the state, the black bass fisheries are able to thrive and produce at a high level. Self's overall forecast for black bass fishing in the state is that the lakes and rivers seem to be doing very well.

"We're still not seeing any major problems with the black bass fishery on a statewide basis," Self said. "In many lakes and rivers, the fishing seems to be very productive. One overall concern we've had for a while is the extended drought that's impacting all of South Carolina's lakes and rivers. But that's a concern for the overall fishery and water quality of all our lakes and rivers, not specifically with black bass."

Self said the expansion of spotted bass in the fisheries at some Upstate lakes is one thing still being looked at.

"The agency didn't stock these fish, so we're not sure how they got there," Self said. "Right now, they seem to be added black bass species for the fishermen. However, we're concerned that the spotted bass can become dominant and may eventually have a less than desirable impact on the largemouth population. That's one of the key areas we're watching right now."

Black bass fishermen maintain that one reason the fishery is healthy is the catch-and-release practice, which is used for almost all bass tournaments and the majority of bass anglers when just fishing for fun or tournament practice. Self agrees that catch-and-release is having a positive effect.

Picking the top South Carolina bass fisheries for 2009 is so easy it's difficult. There are few lakes or rivers that would not qualify as potentially excellent fisheries for this year. The hard part is picking some to separate from the rest. There are some lakes and rivers that seem to be at the forefront, based on specific events occurring at those lakes.

We'll start our look at a river that now packs a double whammy for black bass fishing.

The Congaree River is an outstanding black bass fishery and is now perhaps better than ever.

Since the river directly feeds into upper Lake Marion, along with the Wateree River, the lower end of the river is certainly full of largemouths, which can be replenished by Lake Marion. Plus, there is the awesome largemouth habitat found in the swamps in the upper end of that lake. But according to Ross Self, the upper end of the Congaree River has also been a good black bass fishery. However, it is now producing some smallmouth bass fishing as well.

"The smallmouth fishery that was originally found in the Broad River where we stocked smallmouths years ago is continuing to expand," Self said. "We've seen the smallmouth fishery expand to the south toward Columbia over the years. We're now seeing smallmouths being caught in the upper end of the Congaree River. We know for the past couple of years that fish are being caught between the Blossom and Gervais street bridges.