Fishihg Trip Planned, help please....

[blb1968]

Hey guys, not looking for anyones secrets; but..
Originally from Trinity, NC; dad still lives in Archdale. Now that I at least pursue Bass, not real great at it, but absolutely love it.....

I live in Walhalla SC and call Lake Hartwell and Lake Keowee my home waters, but right now the fishing is real tough. From what I see thru research you can actually catch fish in the summer on Lake Jordan and Falls Lake.

Planning a trip with a buddy from my work and going to take my dad for at least one day (he will be 80 in Nov.). Planning on Fri, Sat, Sun trip. Want to do one day at Jordan, one day at Falls, and one day at Randleman.

Please throw me a bone. What generically should I be doing to catch fish? More than happy to return the favor for anyone coming to Savanah River system in SC. No expert, but love it and know what should work down here in SC. Just right now truly in dog days of summer and just flat out tough! Pretty savy, just looking for what general area of each lake and and general technique. Based upon reports I have read for Jordan and Falls, essentially ledge/point fishing with Crig. cbait, jig, etc.

I have never been on any of those lakes. Should I be concerned about navigation as well? Don't want to tear up my boat. For Jordan and Falls plan on accessing lake closest to 85 or 64.

Thanks ahead of time.
Brian

[Neilslure]

Jordan and Falls arent real bad to get around with a map and common sense. Both lakes do have some standing timber in places. The upper end of Falls heading up towards the Cheek Rd had alot of shallow water and unmarked hazards. Other than that, the rest of the lake is pretty tame and well marked. Falls does draw a pretty good crowd of wake boats and jetskis on the weekends, might be best to hit it on Friday.

[blb1968]

Thanks for the information. Plan on putting in at Vista Point and Hickory Hill accordingly. Those are the closest to my dads best I can figure (High Point area). Anyone see issues with my plan? Anyone who can throw me a bone I would appreciate it, otherwise will go wing it. Been looking at maps etc, but 10000 acres plus still large amount of water. Most likely will go fish shallow with frog/buzzbait early then pick some points/humps close to deep water and fish plastics and Crank baits.

thanks.
Brian
PS: Offer still stands about savannah river lakes in SC.

[imbatman]

Thanks for the information. Plan on putting in at Vista Point and Hickory Hill accordingly. Those are the closest to my dads best I can figure (High Point area). Anyone see issues with my plan? Anyone who can throw me a bone I would appreciate it, otherwise will go wing it. Been looking at maps etc, but 10000 acres plus still large amount of water. Most likely will go fish shallow with frog/buzzbait early then pick some points/humps close to deep water and fish plastics and Crank baits.

thanks.
Brian
PS: Offer still stands about savannah river lakes in SC.

I would not put in at Hickory Hill on Falls, Ledge Rock is the next closet ramp and much safer. Hickory Hill dumps you into the shallowest and stumpiest part of the lake. If the lake is down much that is not the place for the first trip. Falls is about a 1/2 foot low right now. Any other place on that lake is very safe but to me that is the wrong place to put in.

This was during a drought but when full the water up here is 3-5 feet or less in spots. That is the Hickory Hill Ramp and some of what is between there and the main lake.

[Badfish.rb]

Batman tells all.

[dwmgg17]

Looks like to me he has some very informative pics and knowledge.

[Neilslure]

Vista point at Jordan doesnt open until 8AM, Ebenezer is about mid lake and ramp is open 24 hours, Farrington is also 24 hours. They might add 5-10 minutes to your drive.

[blb1968]

Thanks for the info. Ebenezer and LedgeRock it is. I had also heard that the fishing in/around the Ledgerock area can be good as well. Thanks. again.

[howard47]

I would not put in at Hickory Hill on Falls, Ledge Rock is the next closet ramp and much safer. Hickory Hill dumps you into the shallowest and stumpiest part of the lake. If the lake is down much that is not the place for the first trip. Falls is about a 1/2 foot low right now. Any other place on that lake is very safe but to me that is the wrong place to put in.

This was during a drought but when full the water up here is 3-5 feet or less in spots. That is the Hickory Hill Ramp and some of what is between there and the main lake.

I was zooming in to see which stump had the chunks taken out of it from my prop years ago.

[jimb175nc]

Yep. I broke a trolling motor there when the water was at normal level. When normal you can't see those stumps.

[Jamie]

I would not put in at Hickory Hill on Falls, Ledge Rock is the next closet ramp and much safer. Hickory Hill dumps you into the shallowest and stumpiest part of the lake. If the lake is down much that is not the place for the first trip. Falls is about a 1/2 foot low right now. Any other place on that lake is very safe but to me that is the wrong place to put in.

This was during a drought but when full the water up here is 3-5 feet or less in spots. That is the Hickory Hill Ramp and some of what is between there and the main lake.

Come on guys when a boat is on plane at 70mph you are only using about 8 inches of water. Looks pretty safe for me to run thru all of that.

[berudd]

Thanks for the info. Ebenezer and LedgeRock it is. I had also heard that the fishing in/around the Ledgerock area can be good as well. Thanks. again.

No fee to use Ebenezer before the park opens. Ledge Rock never has a fee.

[Badfish.rb]

No fee to use Ebenezer before the park opens. Ledge Rock never has a fee.

No fees at ledge rock just buzzards and theifs on occasions lol

[1bluemcm]

Glad I just happened to be looking through the NC boards today and saw this. Hickory seemed like a good place to put in from looking at the maps and satellite. Not so much with some good first hand knowledge.

In your photo of the ramp you can see the chanel pretty well. Is the area with the stumps anywhere in this screen shot from Navionics? If you were to follow the channel as they have laid out in this chart would you be safe, or is this not all that accurate? Just out of curiosity, still doesn't seem like an ideal place to put in considering the options.

[imbatman]

Glad I just happened to be looking through the NC boards today and saw this. Hickory seemed like a good place to put in from looking at the maps and satellite. Not so much with some good first hand knowledge.

In your photo of the ramp you can see the chanel pretty well. Is the area with the stumps anywhere in this screen shot from Navionics? If you were to follow the channel as they have laid out in this chart would you be safe, or is this not all that accurate? Just out of curiosity, still doesn't seem like an ideal place to put in considering the options.

That stump field is basically everywhere between the I85 bridge to the north and the Cheek Road bridge to the south, there are some sparce spots but nothing you can really pattern and run around. All the stuff in that pic with no contours is stumps and even around the channel in the pic. That area was just a big flat before the lake was flooded with the river channel running kinda where it wanted.

You can run in the channel up there but no way you would be able to run hard safely. I don't even run on plane up there. The good is that it is stumps and not rock so bumping a few will not be a catastrophe (check you prop nut and cotter pin before).

Here is an old topo map that shows the entire channel and an aerial of the area with no water.

[imbatman]

Here is the hwy bridge at I85 (the bridge north of Hick Hill). You can tell they do not expect much water under it because that is a short bridge for an interstate.

[1bluemcm]

Those photos and topo are great. Kind of have a thing for cartography and what not. The Navionics charts, at least the ones you can view on the website, sure leave a lot of ambiguity about that area. Sheesh, am I glad to have happened upon this thread and your help. I mean, you look at the charts, and the area north of I-85, at first glance, seems like a cool place to explore.

Drought photos are a huge help. When was it that low? A local lake to us got way, way low several years ago but that seems to have been more a result of poor decisions with water management, and it's no where near as big as Falls.

Really appreciate the input, sir.

[imbatman]

Yeah, north of I85 is tricky for sure. I have been thru there once with a guy in a Ranger Z21... We bent a prop shaft on the way back thru.

These pics were 2007-2008. Falls was still very fishable even very low on the other end. Falls is an odd lake. Up near Hickory Hill and even Ledge Rock it is a shallow lake. Once you pass thru that area and get from mid-lake to the dam it is a deeper lake, not 100's of feet but steeper banks and less shallow water unless you get in a creek. There are good humps, points, and road beds on the main lake. There is some ledge fishing along the old river channel at times.

Falls is drinking water supply for parts of the Ral/Dur area.

[1bluemcm]

So in other words, going above I85 would be best in a tin boat or a paddle boat. Greatly appreciate the freely give info, I'm sure you have saved me some headache or worse.