Lake Murray produces a lot of heavyweight stripers. Mark Davis of Columbia admires a big fish he caught while fishing from Capt. Rob Lee's boat. Photo by Jeff Samsel

Looking for sizzling striped bass fishing? It's not hard to find. Just unfold a South Carolina map and look for the biggest blue spots (excluding the Atlantic Ocean) on the page. The big reservoirs aren't the only waters in the state that serve up good striper action; however, they clearly rank among the best and offer the most overall opportunity for fishermen in various parts of the state. With that opportunity in mind, let's take a closer look at the two biggest lakes in the Savannah River chain, plus Lake Murray and the Santee Cooper lakes.

SAVANNAH RIVER LAKES
The Savannah River lakes are big striper waters in more than one sense of the word. The lakes themselves are big, together covering more than 160,000 acres, and the fish grow to heavyweight proportions. South Carolina's last three state-record striped bass have come from the Savannah River lakes, with one apiece having come from Hartwell, Russell and Thurmond. The current record, a 59-pound, 8-ounce giant caught by Terry McConnell of Eastanollee, Georgia, came from Lake Hartwell in 2002.

Only two of the three lakes in the Savannah River chain are actually managed as striped bass waters. Lake Russell, the middle lake in the system and the smallest of the three at 26,650 acres, has never been stocked with stripers. Local anglers know, however, that the lake is home to some stripers, which apparently enter the lake either though Hartwell Dam or through Richard B. Russell Dam during pump-back operations. The fish are small in number but grow to large sizes. The fish that McConnell's record striper replaced in the books came from Russell in 2001 and weighed 56 pounds.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) and Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which share management duties for the Savannah River lakes, are currently considering the idea of actively managing Lake Russell as a trophy striper fishery, according to SCDNR fisheries biologist Dan Rankin. Such a plan, if it were ever put into place, would likely include low-density striper stocking and a high minimum length requirement for keeping fish.

Presently, Lake Hartwell and Lake Thurmond are both stocked annually with stripers and hybrids, with the two states sharing stocking duties. Since 2001, the agencies have been stocking higher percentages of stripers in the striper/hybrid mix because of anglers' stated desire to have more of the larger-growing stripers in the mix. Last year, the two agencies stocked 608,671 stripers in Hartwell and 576,005 stripers in Lake Thurmond, according to Rankin.

"Higher stocking rates of stripers have resulted in stronger year-classes, based on our monitoring program," Rankin said. "Condition of stripers continues to be good even with increased numbers. Cooperative efforts of both DNRs toward maintaining higher and more consistent striped bass stocking rates, and the resulting strong year-classes, should bode well for striped bass fishing now and in the years to come."

No creel work has been completed on Hartwell or Thurmond in recent years; however, a five-year creel on Lake Russell, the Lake Russell tailwater and Lake Thurmond began a year ago. Casual reports from fishermen suggest that they enjoy very good fishing on Hartwell and Thurmond, with plenty of large stripers in the mix. The Georgia DNR, which puts together annual reservoir reports for anglers, forecasted good striper fishing for both lakes in their most recent report.

Striped bass feed mostly on threadfin shad and blueback herring in the Savannah River lakes. Herring, which are not native to the system, likely were introduced by fishermen or bait dealers. No surveys have been done to evaluate the specific structure of the baitfish population or to examine the extent to which stripers use the different species. Biologists do know that stripers make use of blueback herring, and they suspect the added forage has benefited stripers in the lakes.