By Terry Madewell

If you love to fish, South Carolina is a good place to live. Regardless of what your preferred style of fishing is, there's plenty of it in the Palmetto State. At any time of the year you can expect to find great fishing opportunities somewhere - and, in some months, everywhere - in our state.

Big lakes or small lakes, big rivers or small rivers, mountain streams or mountain lakes, freshwater or saltwater - no matter what you like, your biggest decision is to decide which of these you want to enjoy.

To that end, South Carolina Game & Fish magazine has compiled a list of 36 of the top fishing trips across the state for your consideration. They include all types of trips in all 12 months of the year for a wide variety of fish species.

Let's go fishing.

Gulls will tell you where the fish are schooling; fish there if you're close enough and fast enough. Bucktails, deep-diving crankbaits and spoons are all very effective. Look for the stripers to work off points and the bends in creek channel ledges. The action is best early and late, but often goes on all day. When the fish sound, stay in the area and jig spoons.

For the big blue catfish on Lake Moultrie, use shad (readily obtainable with a cast net) and lower the bait to the depth you marked the fish on the graph. On typical years, the fish will be holding somewhere between 15 to 35 feet deep along the drops. If you don't get bit quickly, haul in the lines and move on. When you get on the fish right, it will be super-fast action.

The white perch at Wateree will be over mid-lake ledges and humps and are best taken with small spoons; the 1/8-ounce size seems to work best. Live bait such as worms and minnows work well, and you can take a limit of fish quickly from one spot when you locate them. Cull out the small fish; there are some big schools of 1/2- to 1-pound fish roaming all over this lake.

South Carolina is one of the top states in the nation for crappie fishing. Photo by Ron Sinfelt

The crappie fishing at Lake Wylie is excellent throughout the spring, but the early anglers in February usually get in on some of the fast-paced early-season action that others miss by waiting until March. The best bet is to troll deep along the ledges using small jigs or minnows. Most anglers use a multi-rig trolling setup to cover as much ground as possible. When you find fish at this time of the year, work that same general area hard - crappie bunch up in good-sized schools, so where one strikes, more are feeding.

Big largemouth bass are on the move in the upper reaches of Lake Marion in February. A top technique is to fish live bait around the grassbeds or shallow ditch lines. Also, if the weather warms early, the big bass will move into spawning country during this month and you can catch them in the black-water ponds and other traditional spawning areas using plastic worms and big spinnerbaits. Hold on to that rod tight: you are in hawg country down here in February.

The hybrids at Lake Hartwell will be on the move in March and you can usually find them in the creeks and off main-lake points this month. Look for them to congregate near junctions of two creeks or along old roadbeds inundated by the lake. The entire lake is good, but the major tributaries in the mid-portion of the lake seem to produce best.

Lake Greenwood is the place and March is the time for prime crappie fishing. Trolling is a very productive method and as the month progresses, the depth you'll find the fish will generally become more and more shallow. Live minnows fished around visible cover will begin to produce excellent results around mid-March and on into April.

The smallmouth bass in Lake Jocassee just keep getting larger. The lake holds the current state record - a world-class fish - and maybe someone will set another state record this year. Certainly April would be the prime time to do it. Work the points and rock outcroppings in the backs of the creeks and coves with small jigs, spinnerbaits and crankbaits. This is the best time of the year to find the fish in reasonably shallow depths, which makes them more accessible to anglers.

The crappie action on Lake Moultrie will generally differ from other lakes. Most of the fish will have left the spawning beds on this lake by now, but you can catch them stacked in like cordwood on brushpiles in 12 to 25 feet of water. Look for these places along the many drops and ledges around the lake. Fish vertically with small jigs or live minnows. When you find a place that holds fish, you can sometimes catch limits from that single spot. If you don't limit out, go find an area similar to it and you can finish the job.

Offshore trolling for dolphin is excellent during this month and catching some wahoos on the same trip is a distinct possibility. The big bulls are the prime draw, but for eating quality, getting into a mess of "peanut" dolphin - those 3- to 7-pound fish that roam in huge schools - can be hard to beat. When you get into the peanuts, keep one hooked all the time and the others will stay excited. You can catch a bunch of fish in a hurry like this and their aerial acrobatics are hard to top.

If you prefer the solitude and peace of the mountains, you can work a multitude of mountain streams that hold trout. The purist will rely on flies and artificial offerings, but live bait can be productive as well. Beware of heavy localized rainfall that could mess up your favorite stream.

For scenic beauty and lots of panfish, the Edisto River and redbreasts are hard to beat. Use live bait or small beetle spin-type spinners for plenty of action with these feisty panfish. Don't hesitate to cull the smaller ones. You should be able to catch plenty of hand-sized redbreasts during a day of fishing.

The flounder fishing is excellent all along the coast during this month, and for the remainder of the summer. Trolling mud minnows around the mouths of inlets as well as along the deeper holds of the major creeks will put you on some fish. Fishing live shrimp under a bobber, letting the offering drift over the shell beds, is another excellent way to hook up with founder - and an occasional bonus redfish.