Trout fishing is surprisingly good despite the hot weather we've been having. They're still hanging around 10 to 15 feet of depth between sunrise and sunset and then rising toward the surface from sunset on. The full moon has pushed the morning bite later into the day, so no need to wake up in the dark. Hit the water for a couple of hours around 10:00am or wait until the evening bite starts after 6:00pm. Slip bobbers are a good bet from both the shore and boats. Leadcore trolling is always a good idea, too. Either way, with current water temps you'll need to stay down near the dam.

The bass seem to sense fall is approaching, so they're feeding up pretty well. Drop shots and other finesse techniques worked through good rock structure are bringing in solid numbers of smallmouth. Don't be surprised if a channel cat eats your lure, too!

Speaking of catfish, they're still taking big chunks of cut bait floated up off the bottom on Santee rigs, but they're also making their seasonal shift into deeper water. Try fishing somewhere between the observatory and windy point.