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Where Southern Stripers run
prefer to fish rivers. Landlocked striped bass are as large and powerful as any fish in freshwater, and for most of the year they are only available to big-lake anglers who troll or downline live baits.
That all changes in spring. The first groups of striper migrate into the rivers on spawning runs. In many locations, this spring run is followed by a larger summertime push, when pods of striped bass move up into cooler, more oxygenated waters. Sometimes they pile up below dams, and sometimes they patrol surprisingly skinny waters in wolf packs, gobbling up any prey species that crosses their path.
It is a good time to be a river angler. Here are three excellent destinations for river-run striped bass in the South.
SALUDA RIVER: COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA
In spring and summer, scads of striped bass make the 60-mile run up the Congaree River
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10-mile-long tributary that’s fed with cold water from the dam at Lake Murray.
August is the heart of the Saluda season, when 100-fish days of 2- to 5-pound stripers are possible. Fish heavier than 20 pounds are a possibility, but this fishery sees a lot of pressure and the water is normally very clear. The big ones spook easily and become finicky late in the season.
