Congaree River Fishing Guides and Conditions, South Carolina

About the Congaree River

The Congaree begins in downtown Columbia where the Broad River and the Saluda River join, and it runs about fifty miles southeast to meet the Wateree and form the Santee. Below the city it is a wide, shallow river of rock shoals, sand bars and long sweeping bends, bordered for much of its length by the old-growth bottomland hardwood forest of Congaree National Park. Within a mile of the confluence you go from an urban riverfront to a river that looks essentially wild.

Striped bass are the signature fish and Columbia is one of the few cities where you can catch them in sight of downtown. They hold in the cool water below the Saluda confluence through the summer, which is unusual this far south and is a direct result of the cold releases from Lake Murray. Largemouth bass work the shoals and the woody cover, redbreast sunfish are excellent in the shoal water, and catfish are the other headline: channel, flathead and increasingly large blue catfish all use the deeper bends. Bowfin and gar round out a genuinely diverse warmwater fishery.

The Columbia gauge is the reference. Moderate readings expose the shoals, make the rock fishable and give good wading and kayak conditions in the reach below the city. High water after a heavy Midlands rain or a big release upstream covers the shoals, colors the river and moves fish to the banks. Very low water makes the shoals a navigation problem for anything with a propeller and turns the upper reach into a wading and paddling fishery.

Columbia covers everything, with the Three Rivers Greenway on the bank. Downstream, Congaree National Park and the Bates Bridge area give access to the wild reaches.

Access

Columbia riverfront and the Three Rivers Greenway: urban access at the confluence.
West Columbia and the Congaree shoals: wading and kayak water below the city.
Rosewood and Cayce landings: city-area ramps.
Congaree National Park and Cedar Creek: paddling access into the bottomland forest.
Bates Bridge: the main lower-river ramp.
Wateree confluence: the bottom end where the Santee forms.
Saluda and Broad rivers: the two cold and warm feeders at the top.

Seasons

Spring: striped bass at their most active and high, colored water.
Summer: cool releases from Lake Murray hold stripers below the confluence; shoal fishing at dawn.
Fall: falling water, excellent catfish and bass fishing, comfortable weather.
Winter: low clear water, big blue catfish and very little pressure.