Pitching jigs, using live minnows under a float or tight-lining minnows in deep holes and around logjams are all productive. There’s excellent mid-river access at the Highway 52 bridge on the Williamsburg County side of the river.

Another superb crappie fishery is Lake Succession. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) fisheries biologist Wade Bailes notes that this 1,400-acre lake is primarily known for crappie fishing, and that it is a very consistent crappie producer.

"This lake is very fertile and crappie grow very fast there. This is more of a river-run type of lake than the wide-open waters of nearby Lake Thurmond, but it offers fishermen an alternative that should produce good fishing as well," Bailes said.

The fish at Lake Succession are likely to average larger sizes than most of the fish caught at most larger lakes. It is not known as a numbers lake, but catching limits of crappie is certainly a reasonable expectation.

Just north of Spartanburg is Lake William C. Bowen, a 1,600-acre Spartanburg Water Works lake. Located on the Pacolet River, this lake is a supercharged crappie producer, according to local anglers. The lake produces some jaw-dropping sized fish as well as limit stringers of fish. Some of the best fishing is on the deep brush just before the spawn, but when the fish move to the shallows, the fish are in reach of anyone who can scull a johnboat.

There is a public boat landing off SC Highway 9, and there is small picnic area and fishing pier located there as well.

Another area we have not yet explored for small-water crappie is the large number of SCDNR-managed lakes throughout the state. While there may be some that produce crappie, according to Ross Self, Chief of Fisheries with the SCDNR, there is only one of the agency lakes that they actually manage for crappie fishing.

"There may be some of our managed lakes that have crappie in them, but they were not placed there by us," Self said. "The fishing at most of those lakes is generally not very good and the fish are likely stunted.