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Home › Waters › South Carolina › Wateree River Tailrace
Tailwater · Central South Carolina, Kershaw County, the Wateree River below Wateree Dam above Camden · South Carolina

Wateree River Tailrace Fishing Guides

The release below Wateree Dam above Camden, with four thousand seven hundred and forty square miles behind it and a gauge that reads temperature, oxygen, flow and stage on the same record.

Mist lifting off a river between wooded Appalachian ridges
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Wateree River Tailrace

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About the Wateree River Tailrace

The Wateree River below Wateree Dam carries the discharge of four thousand seven hundred and forty square miles of the Catawba and Wateree basin, water that has come down out of the North Carolina mountains through a long chain of reservoirs before reaching Kershaw County. The gauge above Camden reads water temperature, dissolved oxygen, discharge and two stage series, which is unusually complete instrumentation for a tailwater and exactly the set of numbers a hydropower release demands.

Generation is the governing fact of this water. The dam releases on demand, and the river below responds within the hour, rising fast and running hard when the units are on and dropping to a very different river when they are off. Both states fish, but they fish differently and they are not equally safe. A rise here is quick enough to strand a wading angler, and the stage reading should be checked before going in and watched while you are there. The dissolved oxygen series is worth a look as well, because summer releases from a stratified reservoir can come out low in oxygen and the fish respond to that.

Striped bass are the signature fish below the dam, holding in the fast water and the eddies below the release. Catfish are abundant and large, with blue, channel and flathead all present and the blues in particular running to serious weights. American and hickory shad run up to the dam in spring, which is the most concentrated fishing of the year. Largemouth bass, crappie, white perch, bluegill and redbreast sunfish fill out the list.

Below the tailrace the Wateree runs down toward its confluence with the Congaree through a broad wooded floodplain that is worth exploring by boat.

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Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

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5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

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Posting to Wateree River Tailrace.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Wateree River Tailrace cfs

Now: 5,290 cfs, read 5:15 pm CDT, Sun Oct 18, 2026 (USGS 02147801, LAKE WATEREE TAILRACE ABOVE CAMDEN, SC).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Camden - the Kershaw County seat just downstream, with fuel, food, lodging, tackle and guides.
Wateree Dam access - the public landing below the dam, the main put-in for the tailrace.
Lake Wateree - the reservoir above the dam, with its own state park and multiple ramps.
Lake Wateree State Park - developed camping, cabins and a boat ramp on the reservoir.
Wateree River landings - a series of public landings downstream toward the Congaree confluence.
Columbia - the state capital under an hour southwest, with full services and marine supply.
Congaree National Park - the floodplain forest downstream, worth a day on an extended trip.

Seasons

Spring: the shad run to the dam is the event of the year and striped bass follow it into the tailrace.
Summer: generation-dependent, with the best fishing on falling water and catfish steady through the heat.
Fall: striped bass concentrate below the dam as the water cools and the fishing is consistent.
Winter: cold and often high, with blue catfish the most reliable target and striped bass in the deeper eddies.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Wateree River Tailrace?

As of Oct 18, 5:15 pm, the USGS gauge LAKE WATEREE TAILRACE ABOVE CAMDEN, SC reads 5,290 cfs, with water temperature 73.6 F. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Wateree River Tailrace?

Anglers target American Shad, Black Crappie, Blue Catfish, Bluegill, Bowfin, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Hickory Shad, Largemouth Bass, Longnose Gar, Redbreast Sunfish, Striped Bass, White Crappie, White Perch on the Wateree River Tailrace in South Carolina.

Where can you access the Wateree River Tailrace?

Camden - the Kershaw County seat just downstream, with fuel, food, lodging, tackle and guides. Wateree Dam access - the public landing below the dam, the main put-in for the tailrace. Lake Wateree - the reservoir above the dam, with its own state park and multiple ramps. Lake Wateree State Park - developed camping, cabins and a boat ramp on the reservoir. Wateree River landings - a series of public landings downstream toward the Congaree confluence. Columbia - the state capital under an hour southwest, with full services and marine supply. Congaree National Park - the floodplain forest downstr...

When is the best time to fish the Wateree River Tailrace?

Spring: the shad run to the dam is the event of the year and striped bass follow it into the tailrace. Summer: generation-dependent, with the best fishing on falling water and catfish steady through the heat. Fall: striped bass concentrate below the dam as the water cools and the fishing is consistent. Winter: cold and often high, with blue catfish the most reliable target and striped bass in the deeper eddies.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Wateree River Tailrace?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the South Carolina agency site: https://www.dnr.sc.gov/regulations.html