Guide To Panfish Fishing In South Carolina
All about fishing for sunfish in SC lakes and ponds.

Throughout the state of South Carolina you can find waters with populations of sunfish, including bluegill, flier sunfish, pumpkinseed sunfish, redbreast sunfish, redear sunfish, warmouth, white bass, white perch and yellow perch. Panfish waters are everywhere in SC. Lakes, rivers, ponds and parks have one or more species of sunfish.
The major SC lakes, including Clarks Hill Lake, Lake Blalock, Lake Bowen, Lake Greenwood, Lake Hartwell, Lake Jocassee, Lake Keowee, Lake Marion, Lake Monticello, Lake Moultrie, Lake Murray, Lake Wylie, Parr Reservoir, Lake Russell and Wateree Lake all have sunfish.
Top Producing Panfish Lures & Bait
Check out the top producing lures and bait for bluegill, redear sunfish, rock bass and warmouth, as well as other smaller sunfish. Click here for the best lures for white bass, yellow bass, white perch and yellow perch.
In-state panfish, sunfish and perch
Bluegill
World record: 4 lbs 12 oz
State Record: 3 lbs 4 oz
Flier sunfish
World record: 1 lbs 4 oz
State Record: 1 lbs 4 oz
Pumpkinseed sunfish
World record: 2 lbs 4 oz
State Record: 2 lbs 4 oz
Redbreast sunfish
World record: 2 lbs 0 oz*
State Record: 2 lbs 0 oz*
Shellcracker sunfish
World record: 5.4 lbs
State Record: 5 lbs 7 oz
Warmouth
World record: 2.4 lbs
State Record: 2 lbs 2.5 oz
White Bass
World record: 6.8 lbs
State Record: 5 lbs 4.8 oz
White perch
World record: 4.6 lbs
State Record: 1 lbs 15 oz
Yellow perch
World record: 4 lbs 3 oz
State Record: 3 lbs 4 oz
Click the images and links above for species details.
South Carolina State Record Sunfish
The state record bluegill was caught from a pond in Lancaster County.
The state record flier sunfish came from a pond in Hemingway.
The state record pumpkinseed sunfish came from the North Saluda River.
The state record redbreast sunfish came out of the Lumber River.
The state record redear sunfish came out of the Diversion Canal.
The state record warmouth came out of a pond in Clarendon County.
The state record white bass came from Lake Murray.
Two state record white perch (tie) one caught out of Lake Wylie, the other from Lake Marion.
The state record yellow perch was caught from Lake Keowee.
The term "panfish" comprises many species, each called by a variety of names. The bluegill tops the list and is the most common.

One or more species of sunfish populate virtually all warm water streams, ponds and lakes throughout South Carolina, and around the world for that matter. They can survive in waters that provide their natural food source of minnows, insects, crustaceans and worms. Their competitive nature amongst themselves, for food, makes them relatively easy to catch.
Bluegill Fishing Basics Video
The core principles shown in this video will work for most sunfish, perch and other panfish.
Panfish are prolific spawners and repopulate the waters as fast as they are harvested. A common problem with panfish fishing is that the waters are under-fished causing panfish to overpopulate. As a result they tend to stay small in size due to lack of food source.
Sunfish information in other states.
Learn the lifecycle of a panfish
There is a host of panfish anglers can pursue. Visit the panfish fishing page for details on many of these sunfish you might encounter in South Carolina fishing waters.
SOUTH CAROLINA

