The first thing to know about Lake Murray is that it’s a big lake. At 50,000 acres, it’s the third-largest lake that lies entirely within the state of South Carolina.
The second thing you need to know is that the fishing here is next-level. While its vast size can be intimidating to the uninitiated, Lake Murray rewards persistence with some of the best bass, catfish and crappie fishing in the Southeast.
The lake also offers easy and abundant access for boaters and shore-bound anglers alike. Of course, its location in the heart of the state’s Piedmont region, just minutes from Columbia, also means it gets a fair amount of pressure.
Bass tournaments are routine here, especially during spring and fall. In summer, recreational boat traffic can get heavy on the main lake. But there are countless secluded coves where you can beat the crowds.
Lake Murray is a true four-season fishing lake.
The lake was built in 1930 with the completion of the Dreher Shoals Dam—more commonly referred to as the Saluda Dam or the Lake Murray Dam—on the Saluda River. The Saluda and Little Saluda rivers form two large arms at Lake Murray’s upper end.
The lake also has a massive main basin, with dozens of smaller creek arms and a well-defined main river channel that maxes out at around 200 feet deep.
Deep structure like channel edges, humps, points and ledges allow the lake to support a wide variety of fish. At the same time, shallow cover like docks, pilings, riprap embankment, weed beds and banks lined with buck brush and water willow provide ample spawning habitat.
Largemouth Bass Fishing
Lake Murray has more than earned its place among America’s best bass lakes. And although the lake can occasionally kick out a largemouth over 10 pounds, it’s known not so much as a trophy lake but as a consistent producer of healthy 5- to 7-pound bass in incredible numbers.
This is also a lake where a lot of different approaches can lead to success. There’s plenty of easily identifiable shoreline cover to choose from, but many local anglers also swear by the deep open-water bite on Lake Murray, especially in summer.
It’s worth noting that virtually any part of the lake can be productive. From the dam to the river and any of the many creek arms that feed Lake Murray, anglers can find bass pretty much everywhere.
That being said, the upper third of the lake is favored by many, especially early in the year. The period from winter into spring offers some of the year’s biggest bass.
The upper end of Lake Murray, being a bit shallower and more turbid, warms up fastest and sets the spawn cycle in motion soonest.
Largemouths start spawning when water temperatures approach 65 degrees, usually in late March. April is a great month to be on the water, as bass are likely to be in various stages of pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn around the lake.
Look for springtime bass around shallow cover like docks, water willows and rocks. Some of the best lures are creature baits, plastic lizards and Senkos. Watermelon and Junebug are good colors.
The whole lake above Dreher Island State Park can be excellent, especially creeks like Buffalo, Spring, Hawley and Rocky. There’s also good fishing around the lake’s many islands.
Two main forage species, blueback herring and threadfin shad, also spawn in shallow water around the time that bass finish their own spawn cycle, so there can be phenomenal action on herring and shad imitations in April and May.
Herring imitations like Berkley’s Power Jerk Shad continue to be excellent in summer as blueback herring head to deeper water and bass follow. The numerous cane piles locals have placed on the bottom provide key areas where bass suspend in summer.
As the lake cools in fall, the best bite often shifts between shallow cover in the morning and evening to deeper areas at midday. Points that offer easy transitions between deep and shallow habitats are the best places to start this time of year.
One of the big fall patterns on Lake Murray is schooling bass feeding on herring over points and humps, especially on the lower part of the lake.
Any minnow imitation can get bites in fall, with bass increasingly chasing bait into the backs of creeks and coves as the season progresses.
Striper Fishing
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) stocks Lake Murray with striped bass fingerlings every year, and the reservoir has developed into one of the best landlocked striper fisheries in the Southeast. Catching them consistently, though, isn’t always easy.
Success often comes down to following stripers’ seasonal movements and striking that oh-so-delicate balance between coming to the lake with a solid game plan while being flexible enough to let the fish dictate your approach.
One important thing to remember is that striped bass move around a lot, and most of them follow reasonably predictable seasonal patterns. The bulk of Lake Murray’s stripers pursue forage into the upper end of Lake Murray in winter and then back down to the main lake in summer.
But not all of them. Some stripers move ahead of the pack, others behind, and some don’t follow this pattern at all, instead staying in open main-lake areas year-round.
If all of that sounds confusing, fair enough. The tried-and-true pattern—upper lake in winter, lower lake in summer—should serve you well more often than not.
Stick with the area above Dreher Island during the coldest part of the year, and either troll or drift live bait along the river channels. Around March, stripers tend to fan out and start hunting shad in various creeks around the lake, with Buffalo Creek and Rocky Creek being good bets.
The 20- to 30-foot flats that lead from the river channel into the creeks are great this time of year, and free-lining live gizzard shad can nab some feisty stripers averaging 5 or 6 pounds, but occasionally surpassing 20.
April into May is a time of transition. Stripers gradually make their way down the lake, with good bites around “the Gap” near Dreher Island State Park early on.
Eventually, the bulk of fish shift farther down to areas around Shull Island, Bomb Island and the Spence Islands. The ideal depth is 30 to 40 feet, give or take.
By August, they’ll be suspended right around the dam over water that’s 100-plus feet deep. Vertical fishing techniques work well this time of year until cooling waters in fall bring stripers back into the creeks again.
In any season, but especially spring and fall, keep an eye out for gulls feeding on baitfish at the surface. Where there are gulls above, there are likely stripers below.
Approach the area of activity slowly and quietly to avoid spooking the fish.
Topwaters will sometimes get bites, but swimbaits and jerkbaits fished just under the surface are the most effective approaches in this situation. Focus on the upper 5 feet of the water column.
Crappie Fishing
Lake Murray is an outstanding crappie lake for both numbers and size, with black crappies being the dominant species.
Early spring is when anglers catch the biggest crappies. It’s common to catch fish ranging from 1 to 2 pounds. Even a 3-pound crappie is possible.
The fishing starts in winter at the upper end of the lake. During February, you likely will do well in the Saluda River and Little Saluda River arms above SC-391.
Crappies stack up at the mouths of feeder creeks early in the spawn, usually within a few hundred yards of where the creek meets the main river channel. The bite can be nonstop if you find the right brush pile at the right depth.
Ideally, you’ll be looking for crappies to suspend 10 to 15 feet down in 20 to 25-foot depths, but they could be deeper.
Spider rigging with up to 10 rods is the method of choice, with multiple jigs of various colors at different depths.
1/16 to 1/8-ounce jig heads work well with any number of different soft plastic trailers. The ideal color is likely to change from day to day, so bring a selection. Generally, it’s best to give your jig minimal action early in the season, and speed things up as crappies become more active.
March is the month when the big transition into spawning mode happens. Start at the mouth of any of the small streams that feed the Saluda or Little Saluda arm, and work toward the back of the creek until you find fish.
By the end of March, the crappies will likely be in extremely shallow water, under docks and among shoreline buck brush and water willow.
You likely can catch your limit by casting jigs or “dipping” minnows into the brush with long poles.
By mid-April most years, the spawn is over, but it doesn’t all happen at once. Because the lower end of the lake is slower to warm, crappies often spawn later in lower creeks.
Summer crappie fishing can also be excellent, but crappies may not be as easy to find. They transition back to deep water after spawning but will still congregate around deeper brush where they can find it.
The stretch from Dreher Island up to around Rocky and Buffalo creeks is a good place to start, and the midsection of the lake is generally best in summer because it’s a little cooler than the river arms.
When Lake Murray stratifies, the ideal depth is usually wherever the thermocline happens to be.
Much like winter, the ideal depth range to start looking for summertime crappies is around 20 to 25 feet. If a brush pile is anchored 20 feet down, crappies are likely to be suspended above it, perhaps 12 feet below the surface.
Catfish Fishing
Anyone interested in catching catfish will find a lot to love about Lake Murray. Like many South Carolina lakes, it has long offered an excellent channel cat fishery, but has more recently developed into a monster flathead and blue catfish lake.
Channel cats weighing between 5 and 8 pounds are relatively routine here, and individuals over 10 pounds are common enough. Blues and flatheads get much bigger, and although Lake Murray isn’t quite the top trophy cat lake in South Carolina, it’s not uncommon to catch blues over 30 pounds.
Catfishing can be superb in any season, but arguably the best time to catch them is during the colder months. Winter isn’t necessarily the best season for numbers, but it’s the best season for big cats.
The cold weather bite usually starts in October and peaks in November and December. The key this time of year is to focus on creek channel edges.
Catfish typically spend their time moving between the creek channel and nearby flats, and anglers catch some of the biggest catfish of the year by drifting cut bait on Santee rigs. Catfish tend to move around a lot, so expect to do the same until you find the best spot.
Creeks off the Saluda and Little Saluda arms are some of the best, including Big, Little, Clouds and Beaverdam creeks. Some days, catfish will be along the ledge right at the creek mouth; other days, they’ll be farther back in the creek or nearby on the main lake.
Summer is also a great season for catfish. The best approach in summer is usually to anchor on a long, sloping point and let your baits rest on the bottom at various depths. The key depth range tends to be 10 to 15 feet, especially if there’s much deeper water nearby.
Points with mussel beds are especially attractive to catfish, and the best fishing in summer is almost always after dark.
Use live baitfish for flatheads, which bite best in the warmest months, or a combination of stink bait and/or cut bait for channels and blues.
Often overlooked, Lake Murray also has a good population of white catfish, including a state record weighing 12 pounds and 2.9 ounces caught here in 2014. Lake Murray is one of the best places to catch a catfish “grand slam” consisting of all four species.
White catfish favor the relatively deep, clear waters at the lower end of the lake, and are similar in appearance to channel cats. The surest ID trick is counting the rays on the anal fin; white cats have 19 to 23, fewer than channel or blue catfish.
Other Fish Species
Bluegill & Sunfish
Several sunfish species, collectively called “bream,” are abundant in Lake Murray. The reservoir produces a lot of nice, hand-sized bluegill, but it’s even better known for its chunky redear sunfish, more commonly known as shellcrackers.
Spring and early summer is the best time to target bream, as they head toward bays and creeks to spawn in vast numbers. Hollow Creek, Bear Creek and Crystal Lake are good areas, but most small, often unnamed coves off the main lake will produce sunfish.
Anglers catch some of the biggest panfish, weighing a pound or more, in slightly deeper water near shallow spawning beds.
Live worms and other natural baits do the trick nicely, and while bluegill are apt to take a bait high in the water column, shellcrackers prefer to feed on the bottom.
Catch More Bream
White Perch
White perch are very abundant in Lake Murray. Since the beginning of the 21st century, these fish have largely supplanted the bigger, closely related white bass that used to be common here.
Many anglers consider them a nuisance. There are also those who go out of their way to catch them.
White perch typically measure 6 to 8 inches, and they make excellent cut bait for catfish. Larger white perch weighing close to a pound also make good table fare.
White perch usually school up around 20-foot points and humps, particularly if there’s deeper water nearby. They readily strike ultralight jigs, and some anglers employ Sabiki rigs to catch multiple perch on a single cast.
Spotted Bass
When it comes to black bass, Lake Murray is a largemouth lake first and foremost. Spotted bass don’t typically play much of a role when bass tournaments come to town, but the lake does sustain a modest spot population.
Spotted bass are smaller than largemouths, with typical adults in Lake Murray weighing 1 to 3 pounds. They are known for being a bit more aggressive and eager to bite, and they also favor open water more than cover-oriented largemouths.
Lake Murray’s spotted bass mostly forage on blueback herring. You can catch them using suspended jerkbaits, spoons, swimbaits, spinnerbaits and other herring-imitating lures.
Look for spotted bass on main lake points and creek mouths, especially toward the lower end of the lake.
Planning Your Trip
Lake Murray is busiest between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and boat traffic is heaviest this time of year. But with excellent fishing opportunities year-round, there’s no bad time to visit the lake.
Proximity to the city of Columbia means there is no shortage of shopping, dining and lodging options nearby. Though the lower end of Lake Murray is generally more developed, the upper end also has plenty of amenities for anglers, including marinas, RV parks and campgrounds.
Getting to Lake Murray
From Columbia, it’s about a 20-minute drive to the lower end of Lake Murray, and between 45 minutes and an hour to the upper end of the lake.
US-76 runs roughly parallel to the lake’s north side, while US-378 crosses several major creeks on the south. SC-391 connects these two highways toward the upper end of the lake, crossing both the Saluda River Arm and the Little Saluda River Arm.
Bank & Boat Access
Lake Murray offers an abundance of bank and boat access. In addition to state properties managed by the SCDNR, Dominion Energy maintains many public facilities on the lake. Following are some of the best places to get on the water, listed here in counterclockwise order, starting at the dam:
- Lake Murray Public Park – Located at the south end of the dam, Lake Murray Public Park is a Dominion Energy facility that offers bank access, picnic areas, and a popular swimming beach with a $5 daily entrance fee. This park is open daily from April to September.
- Lake Murray Dam North – Sometimes referred to as the Dominion Energy North Recreational Area, this spot at the north end of the dam is a direct counterpart to the park at the south end of the dam. A boat launch is located here, along with a fishing dock. The park is open year-round, and a $5 entrance fee is charged from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
- Hilton Recreation Area – Located on Big Johns Creek on the north side of the lake, Hilton Recreation Area offers a free public two-lane boat ramp along with a fishing pier and lakeside picnic shelters.
- Rocky Point Recreation Area – A less-developed site on the Crystal Creek/Camping Creek arm of Lake Murray, Rocky Point Recreation Area features a single-lane launch ramp and a small gravel parking area. There is no launch fee.
- Billy Dreher Island State Park – Some of the best access to Lake Murray is available at Billy Dreher Island State Park, which spans several islands connected by bridges near the mouth of Camping Creek. The park offers ample fishing access, along with campgrounds and cabins, boat launch facilities, and a full-service marina.
- Sunset Recreation Area – Located on Buffalo Creek, Sunset Recreation Area (sometimes called Sunset Park) is a good spot for both launching and bank fishing. There is a free one-lane ramp, floating courtesy dock, fishing pier, and gravel parking area.
- Kempson Bridge Boat Ramp – A one-lane boat ramp, courtesy dock, fishing pier and a good stretch of riprap shoreline for bank fishing are available at the Kempson Bridge Boat Ramp. This free public ramp is located just off the SC-395 bridge crossing on the Saluda River arm.
- Higgins Bridge – A public access site is at Higgins Bridge on the Saluda River above Lake Murray. In addition to excellent bank access and a one-lane ramp, paddlers who start farther up the river often use this site as a take-out.
- Lake Murray Estates Boat Ramp – The primary public launch site on the Little Saluda River Arm is the Lake Murray Estates Ramp, located on Clouds Creek. This site features a single-lane ramp, fishing pier, picnic area, and gravel parking area.
- River Bend (SCE&G #4) – A popular spot at the upper end of Lake Murray’s south shore, the River Bend Boat Ramp (also known as SCE&G Recreation Area 4) offers a free one-lane ramp and fishing pier, with restrooms and a large parking area that can accommodate up to 75 vehicles and trailers.
- Lake Murray Shores (SCE&G #3) – Located on Rocky Creek off the south shore of the lake, the Lake Murray Shores Boat Ramp is a free single-lane ramp with a courtesy dock, restrooms and parking for 50 vehicles and trailers.
- Koon Landing / Shull Island – Alternately known as the Shull Island Ramp or the Larry Koon Boat Landing, this free public launch on Shull Island offers a single launch ramp, fishing pier, restrooms and ample parking.
- Bundrick Island – Technically a peninsula off the south shore of Lake Murray, Bundrick Island is a largely undeveloped tract of land crisscrossed by hiking trails. There is no parking or car access; the area is primarily used as a boat-in area for swimming and fishing.
In addition to the public sites listed above, Lake Murray also offers numerous privately owned boat landings that anglers can use for a modest fee, as well as several excellent marinas that provide launch facilities, boat rentals, fuel and docking.