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Lake Greenwood Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The Saluda's small striper lake: big-fish surprises above Murray.

1/5
Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.
Lake level
438.91 ft -0.09 vs pool
Air / High
98 / 98 F
Wind
E 3 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 02166500, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

1/5Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Lake Greenwood locks in another hot, bright day: the fish know the drill and so should you. The gauge reads 438.91 ft, 0.09 ft below pool, easing 0.15 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 3 mph, rising pressure near 1014 hPa and a high of 98. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassFair

Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel)Fair

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassSlow

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 103 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from LAKE GREENWOOD NEAR CHAPPELLS, SC.

Water level, last 30 days

USGS gauge 02166500. Conservation pool is 439 ft.

438.89439.08439.26pool 439438.91 ft08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp98 F
High / Low98 / 73 F
WindE 3-6 mph
Pressure1013.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain13% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:03 / 19:50
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Partly cloudy, 98/73 F, wind 6 mph, rain 0%

Fair or better. Calm and stable: plan around the solunar majors at dawn and dusk.

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Greenwood: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall

The reservoir heavyweight. Follows shad and herring schools in open water year-round. Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

When to come: the Lake Greenwood calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Greenwood today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 99 F, wind to 7 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 100 F, wind to 6 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 98 F, wind to 4 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

South Carolina requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Striper 21-inch/5 (seasonal rules); crappie 8-inch/20. Confirm with SCDNR.

Access

Greenwood State Park and county ramps; bank piers at the park.

About this water

11,400 acres on the Saluda/Reedy, Greenwood/Laurens counties, SC: Murray's upstream cousin.

Fishing Lake Greenwood: the full guide

Upstream sleeper

Greenwood pools the Saluda and Reedy above Lake Murray: a compact 11,400 acres with stripers that run bigger than visitors expect, crappie culture on every planted brush pile, and largemouth around the grass that state biologists keep improving. It is Murray's quiet cousin: same genes, fewer boats.

Stripers above the fall line

Greenwood's stripers hold in the river channels and dam basin: freelined herring in the creeks each winter-spring, downlines over the channel come summer. Fish to 30 pounds surprise visitors annually: the Saluda feeds bigger genetics than the lake's size implies.

Crappie brush culture

Locals plant brush like gardens: bridge corridors and creek bends hold marked piles, and the spring spider-riggers work them in rotation. SCDNR's habitat maps (public) shortcut a decade of graph time.

The Saluda's quiet producer

Greenwood works two rivers into one fishery: the stained Saluda arm fishes shallow and forgiving (spinnerbaits on wood, spring crappie in the bushes) while the clearer Reedy side rewards finesse on points and brush piles. The lake's white perch explosion turned into a bonus: schools on the channel humps eat small spoons all summer, filling coolers between bass bites. Fall turns the dam end into a shad rodeo with largemouth and hybrids mixed under the birds.

Common questions

Do Greenwood stripers reproduce?

No: stocked annually like most inland fisheries. The Saluda's cool inflow keeps summer survival high: the reason quality outpaces expectation.

Are white perch good to keep at Greenwood?

Yes, and encouraged: no limit, sweet fillets, and harvesting helps the balance. Drop small spoons or minnows on the 15-25-ft humps and you can fill a cooler in an afternoon.

Is fishing good at Lake Greenwood right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Tough. Pick your battles. Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Nearby waters

Lake Murray39 miLake Russell39 miBroad River40 miThurmond Lake42 miClarks Hill Lake47 miSaluda River56 mi
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