Wofford College

College Ambassador: Stan Zagrodnik

Species

Bass: From Herring Lakes just, a couple of hours away, or the neighborhood pond right down the road, Spotted Bass, Largemouth, and even stripers are accessible year-round.

Panfish: Sunfish, bream, bluegill, and even the occasional crappie can be targeted in a creek or stream with in-line spinners.

Trout: The mountains are a short weekend drive. Rainbows and browns can be caught on conventional setups or fly setups depending on where you’re at and what you like.
 
Accessibility
 
Lake Lanier, Hartwell, Murray: All very well-known bass fisheries and herring lakes where you can go after magnum spots and stripers on the same day, these 3 lakes are all very manageable driving distances for a weekend trip. Lake Hartwell is the shortest at just over an hour, Lake Murray right at an hour and a half, and Lake Lanier right over 2 hours away.

Ponds: In some shape or form, every angler knows what it’s like to pond hop with their friends as a young kid, with one rod, and a bike. Hopping on Google Maps in Spartanburg will allow you to find lots of ponds and small public lakes with accessibility to fish right off the banks. Toss on a jig, chatter bait, spinner bait, or Senko, and be tight in minutes.

Trout Streams of North Carolina: Boone, Blowing Rock, and Morganton are all highly accessible fisheries with numerous amounts of trout streams to explore. Large rainbows and browns grow here, while the giants come out to play when that water temperature drops, and it starts to get cold out.
 
Community

Being a small school with under 2,000 undergrads, Wofford’s fishing community is naturally small. I have run into some guys who are mates on big charter boats at home in Charleston and guys who planted mangroves in Honduras and fly-fished the flats. Many people are willing to pond hop with you but rarely any want to make the weekend trip to catch them in further destinations. Wofford does offer a unique Interim class for seasoned anglers in January. During J-term at Wofford, there is a class offered that is strictly about fly fishing. This year in 2024, the interim class went to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico from January 20th-27th targeting bonefish, permit, and tarpon.
 
Shops

D and D’s Live Bait and Tackle Shop: If you’re into live bait fishing for catfish or crappie, you can pop in and find live bait here, they also have a small selection of bass lures, lines, etc. If you want a larger selection or are looking for something specific, then your best bet is to go to Academy.