Smallmouth Bass: In South Carolina?

Destination Broad River

I lived down in South Carolina for a few years after serving in the military and honestly to most of the people I met back then fishing for Smallies was foreign. Growing up and coming from Virginia it was a grind having to chase the green fish on Santee Cooper every weekend but in the end it made me appreciate smallmouth fishing even more.

But of course Smallmouth are not a native specie to South Carolina. And just about everyone I met and his brother fished for largemouth bass and why not right? South Carolina has some of the best largemouth fishing destinations and a few are routinely scheduled by the professional bass organizations like Lake Hartwell, Lake Murray and of course Santee Cooper.

That being said, Smallmouth were introduced in the 80’s and about twenty years later the record Smallmouth was caught at Lake Jocassee (Salem), where a 9-pound, 7-ounce SC Smallie was caught in 2001. The lake is only accessible via the Devils Fork State Park about an hour and half from Greenville, SC

Let’s face it. South Carolina is not really known much for its smallmouth but if you venture further west in the state you can find them. In many instances the local lore is smallmouth were illegally introduced in many places by anglers back thirty or so years. When you spoke with people back when I lived down there is was really mostly only about lakes like Monticello or Jocassee for smallmouth.

The best river seemingly for smallies remains the Broad River. I did not have the opportunity to explore this river until years later and it reminded me of some of the rivers and creeks I had grown up on winding through Virginia farmland and rural towns. Much of it is scenic and undeveloped even today.

The Broad is a trib of the Congaree River and flows about a hundred a fifty miles originating in the Blue Ridge Mountains moving from North Carolina into South Carolina and is littered with dams along its journey in both states. I would always see the river crossing it many times when going from Charleston to Columbia and the University of South Carolina to go to football games but no one I knew back then had ever really explored it because when compared to some of the other massive largemouth fisheries in the state they had little reason to.

Columbia basically divides the Congaree and Saluda Rivers as the rivers enter the city. West of Columbia more or less you have Lake Murray with 650 miles of shoreline. Lake Murray is a place I know well and have fished repeatedly since the 1990’s and in the last decade or so has really elevated its profile especially with professional bass organizations like Bass Elite Series which will be visiting Murray in May 2024.

Lake Murray is interesting fishery because it really sets up to the strengths of all anglers in terms of the different areas of this 50,000 reservoir/impoundment of the Saluda River. Murray offers many in our region to set up very similar to a Lake Anna or a Smith Mountain Lake because it has all the features; grass, docks, structure offshore, creeks and river fishing.

Kayak Bass Fishing (KBF) will be hosting an event in its Trail Stop Series on Lake Murray the weekend of March 2-3, 2024. We will break down Lake Murray coming up in a few weeks.

Saluda itself flows down from upstate much like the Broad River does before Broad enters the Congaree in Columbia near the Piedmont Falls Line. The Lower Saluda Section lies between Lake Murray and Columbia. This ten mile or so stretch is also a State Scenic River known more for trout fishing. The distinct feature is this stretch typically remains a cold water fishery due to the fact the water is pulled from Lake Murray which also can make this stretch a dangerous one.

Float from Saluda Shoals Park ramp to Gardendale is an easier float though to entertain. Its a little over three miles long so takes about two hours typically and Corely Island is a feature on this route.

So in Columbia you basically have the Broad River, Congaree River and Saluda River converging. From the Parr Shoals Reservoir in Newberry County down to confluence with Congaree/Saluda the Broad is about 22 miles long and offers some really solid smallmouth fishing. There is limited public access in this section of lower Broad which could be why over the years the river has built a reputation of having a significant population density of larger smallmouth. Access can be found though along Rt 213 or Highway 213 below the Parr Reservoir as well as kayak/canoe launch at Harrison State Forest.

Shiners are abundant along with minnows in the Broad River of the watershed along with chubs like the Thicklip (photo above; perks_mike), Bluehead joining Jumprocks. The Shiner population is a combination of Spottail, Sandbar, Yellowfin, Greenfin and Whitefin varieties along with the traditional Threadfin Shad and Gizzard Shad specie. Darters are also in the Broad and varieties like the Piedmont Darter (photo below) and Seagreen Darter and Tallesellated Darter have been found in sections of the lower Broad River.

The Broad River was once the boundary geographically between the Catawba and Cherokee Indian tribes and flows through about seven different counties in South Carolina before making its way to the mouths of the Congaree and Saluda Rivers in Columbia. A few decades ago the state designated a 15 miles stretch of the Upper Broad as a state scenic scenic river from the 99 Islands Dam to the Pacolet River. The Broad has many tribs along its path to Columbia and many are less familiar names to those outside the state but the Tyger, Enoree, Pacolet are just a few.

While,the Broad has some of widest areas of any of the rivers in that sections of the state, I found most sections to be very similar to Virginia rivers like the Rivanna and Rapidan in terms of flow and scenery as well as quality smallmouth bass fishing.

A few popular river floats on the Broad River are as follows:

Broad River Landing (Union) to Neal Shoals Dam Acces (Carlisle) - 3 miles or 1.5 to 2 hours (Class 1)

Cherokee Recreation Area (Gaffney)to Pick Hill River Access (Blacksburg)- 5 miles or 3-3.5 hours with I,II (portaging req.)

99 Islands Access to Worth Mountain (WMA)- about 8 miles or 4 hours

Worth Mountain WMA to Lockhart- 12.5 miles 6-7 hours with portage. The Pacolet River confluences on this float about seven miles into the float with the Broad and take out down river (Lochhart Dam)

Neal Shoals Dam (Carlisle) to Sandy River Access(Carlisle)- 7.5 miles or 3.5-4 hours Class I—- Sandy River confluence with Broad River

Sandy River Access (Carlisle) to Shelton Ferry Landing(Whitmire) 6.2 miles or 3-3.5 hours Calss I,II —- Tyger River enters Broad along this float.

Shelton Ferry Landing (Whitmire) to Strother Landing (Blair)- 7+ miles or 3.5+ On this float the Enoree confleunces with Broad River as well as has the large island known as Henderson Island stretching for over a mile long.

Most of these floats are about an hour to maybe hour and half at most in terms of shuttle between put in and take outs along the Broad River so be sure to plan accordingly.

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