Fishing

The fishing members of families moving into the Aiken-Augusta area quickly discover they've come to a veritable anglers' paradise.

Three large reservoirs, a major river and mountain trout streams, fee fishing ponds and the Atlantic Ocean are within a few minutes' drive, or a few hours', depending on your location.

Unlike lakes in northern climes, fishing is good year-round in most of the freshwater lakes in this area.

The No. 1 freshwater fisheries destination for most area anglers is Thurmond Lake, a 70,000-acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment on the Savannah River above Augusta. The lower end of the lake near the dam is about a 45-minute drive from Augusta.

Thanks to a reciprocal agreement between Georgia and South Carolina, residents of those states can fish the lake, also called Clarks Hill, with their home state's license.

Anglers can fish for striped, hybrid and largemouth bass, black and white crappies, bluegills, shellcrackers, white perch, and monster flathead, blue and channel catfish. During early fall, schools of hybrid bass and striped bass chase schools of bait fish to the surface, and anglers, in turn, chase the game fish.

Another popular reservoir is Lake Murray, a South Carolina Electric and Gas Co. impoundment near Lexington, S.C. Parts of the lake can be reached by a 45-minute drive from Aiken. The lake has undergone a 14-foot drawdown because of construction but is inching its way back to full pool of 460 feet above sea level. It was about 7 feet down in early November.

Despite the lower water levels, anglers are enjoying fishing for striped bass and largemouth bass.

A third lake attracting fishermen is Lake Richard B. Russell, whose dam is just above the headwaters of Thurmond Lake. Largemouth bass, crappies, striped bass and hybrid bass are targets for anglers who enjoy Russell's hilly setting.

The Savannah River beckons to fishermen, especially below Thurmond Dam during the late fall and winter, when yellow perch spawning runs occur. Anglers can fish from a revamped fishing platform below the dam on the South Carolina side or from boats anchored below the dam's towering superstructure.

The New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam, about seven miles below Augusta, becomes a "magnet" for fishermen from mid-March through May during the American shad's annual spawning run.

Again, the agreement between Georgia and South Carolina allows anglers from each to fish the river with their home-state license.

In other times of the year, river fishing is excellent for bream, shellcracker, redbreast sunfish, crappies, largemouth bass and mullet, the latter coming up from the ocean to spawn.

The states' departments of natural resources have been working for nearly two decades to rebuild the Savannah's striped bass population, which became depleted in the late 1980s. Anglers can catch striped and hybrid bass but must return the fish unharmed into the river.

Georgia boasts more than 800 miles of Blue Ridge Mountain streams, and most are open to the public for trout fishing in the early spring. Other streams remain open year-round, many in a catch-and-release mode during which anglers must use artificial lures and barbless hooks to catch rainbow and brown trout.

South Carolina also has a good trout fishery, including the headwaters of Lake Russell below Lake Hartwell and the Saluda River below Lake Murray Dam.

Anglers who don't own a boat can rent one or fish from the bank in one of 20 Merry Brothers Brickyard Ponds southeast of Augusta's city limits off Molly Pond Road. Some of the ponds have been in existence since the early 1900s, but even some of the newer ponds offer good fishing for largemouth bass, bluegills, shellcrackers, crappies and other species.

No fishing license is needed to fish the brickyard ponds, and there is no creel limit, thanks to an agreement between the ponds' lessee and the Georgia DNR.

Just up Highway 78 near Dearing, Ga., is the McDuffie Public Fishing Area operated by the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division. Picnic areas are adjacent to several ponds that offer good fishing for largemouth bass, bream and channel catfish. A wildlife management area permit is needed to fish there, in addition to a Georgia license.

A 2- to three-hour drive to the South Carolina Lowcountry and the Savannah area of Georgia brings fishermen within casting range of a large variety of saltwater fish.

Inshore, tidal creeks and barrier island surfs attract anglers in search of spottail bass, speckled trout, whiting, black drum and other species. A public fishing pier juts into the water between Hunting and Fripp islands near Beaufort, S.C., while charter boats are available for inshore and offshore outings. Just up the coast is Edisto Beach and a nearby state park.

Chartered and private boats ply Georgia's inshore and offshore waters out of Savannah and Thunderbolt.

- Bill Baab, Fishing Editor