South Carolina has established a catch-and-release-only zone for brown and rainbow trout on the lower Saluda River near Columbia to protect spawning trout.
Anglers have long enjoyed a “put-and-take” trout fishery in the lower Saluda river below the Lake Murray Dam. This was thanks to cold-water releases from the bottom of the dam that support hatchery-reared rainbow and brown trout. From the 1960s until the mid-2000s, anglers enjoyed catching stocked trout during the fall and winter and into the spring. During hot summer and early fall, those uncaught stocked trout would die due to decreased oxygen levels in the river.
In the late 2000s, after the South Carolina DNR and other conservation groups negotiated with dam operator SCE&G for a more regular minimum flow through the dam, trout anglers and South Carolina fisheries biologists began to notice something interesting. With the new water flows and new equipment designed to increase oxygen levels, some stocked trout were surviving. Some were also growing to trophy size. During 2014, they discovered that these “holdover” fish had begun reproducing. The young-of-the-year had been surviving in a section of the river between Saluda Shoals Park and Riverbanks Zoo.
The SCDNR held a series of public meetings in February to discuss the possibility of creating a “catch-and-release-only” zone. This would then facilitate the reproduction now occurring in the river. Encouraged by positive angler and other stakeholder feedback, legislators drafted a bill sponsored by Lexington Senator Katrina Shealy.
“The establishment of the catch and release zone between I-20 and Stacey’s ledge on the Lower Saluda will provide an opportunity for anglers to experience a very good trout fishery in a very unique location,” said SCDNR Fisheries Chief Ross Self. “This area should have very good access and is the best area for anglers to wade and fish of any location along Lower Saluda.”
The law was passed by the legislature in May and signed by Gov. Henry McMaster on May 17, 2018.
Saluda River Trout Catch and Release
Effective July 1, “the lower reach of the Saluda River, from the eastbound I-20 bridge downstream to Stacey’s Ledge, is year-round catch-and-release fishing only for all species of coldwater trout.”
The bill also mandates “the Department of Natural Resources shall make a study of the lower Saluda River trout fishery. They would then need to make recommendations on any needed modifications to the fishery by Nov. 1, 2023.”
For more information, go to www.scdnr.gov.