Rolling on the River

[Bud Kennedy]

Waccamaw River 9/14/15

[Princeton_Man]

I have to fish that!

[Lipripper]

Nice pictures Bud and looks like some great fishing spots when you get them figured out.

[Pferox]

Boy, that place looks kind of fishy.   

[Polaris425]

Wow!!

[Lee Smith]

Yep, I'd be very busy on them Cypress trees 

[Deadeye]

That really looks a lot like the St Johns River down here. And everything DOES look fishy, that's part of the problem. Not all of it holds fish but what does still looks like the parts that do not.

PULL YOUR HAIR OUT LOOKING. Yet oh so much fun when you find them.

[Mike Cork]

Oo, Oo, Oo, I bet there is some bassy's in that cabbage 

[Bud Kennedy]

Deadeye you are exactly right.  I can find fish but getting them to bite has been another problem.  Aside from a few dinks nothing has been real good yet.  There are just a ton of places to look and so many joining waterways that I have not explored yet but overtime I will give them a whirl.

Yesterday the water temp was 78 to 80 and the fish were holding deep.  Found nothing up shallow.  The river topography is very interesting.  The trees are in 3-6 feet of water but just a few feet away the depth can drop to 20 ft.  The root structure on the cypress trees is massive.  Much more that I had at Santee.  Very easy to get hung up in there.  Best bet appears just to pitch and not to try to cast around the trees.

While this river is not known for big bass it does produce some good sized fish but the numbers are rumored to be good.  Can't prove that by my performance so far.  It can be a bit frustrating but sooner or later I will get the hang of this place.  This is a tidal river but it does not run all that fast.  The cold front had just come through and I guess everything was just shut down a bit.

[Pferox]

Hey Bud, have you seen shrimp up that far?  Might want to add a shrimp imitation to your arsenal if they do.

[Bud Kennedy]

Hey Bud, have you seen shrimp up that far?  Might want to add a shrimp imitation to your arsenal if they do.

No shrimp this far up river.  Would have to travel downriver about 25 miles to Georgetown before that would be likely. 

[merc1997]

some nice looking water, and i am sure the tide changes will factor into the what, when, how and why the bass are doing during the rise and fall.  i do not have any experience with tides, but it would have to be a combination of rising and falling water, and current, all in the same day.  nothing like on the water time to help sort through things.

bo

[Bud Kennedy]

Unfortunately yesterday I was fishing the incoming tide.  The timing was just not right for me.  Sometimes you just have to fish when you want to and not worry about the tide.  I have had my better luck on the last couple hours of outgoing tide and that seems to be the standard traditional circumstance that is best in all tidal water.  Total tide change in this part of the river is about 3ft.  In addition the drought conditions up north in the feeder rivers is not providing a lot of flow so this means fish are not waiting at the confluence points waiting to ambush bait.

[31airborne]

Sets up a lot like the James River (also tidal) - shallow water cover w/ deep water channel break nearby.  Last bit of the outgoing is always best on tidal water.