There are so many ways to catch Thurmond Lake's fish, but one of my favorite ones is to cast into surface-schooling hybrids and striped bass.

The fish have begun schooling; that is, chasing schools of bait fish to the surface and then just annihilating them, in Lake Springs, Clark Hill Park and Bass Alley. Most of the action is taking place during the early morning hours.

Some largemouth bass are joining their striped brethren. Best lures include The Thing Popper on a 3-foot leader beneath a weighted popping float, the soft plastic Gotcha Shad on a quarter-ounce jig head, and the Lucky Craft Gunfish with a bucktail on the tail hook.

Once a school of fish is spotted, use your electric trolling motor to get within casting range. If the depth of water beneath the school is 40 feet or less, keep your eye on the depthfinder. If you mark fish in those depths, drop down a three-quarter-ounce Hopkins, CC or Berry's Flex-It spoon. "Yo-yo" it -- that is, raise your fishing rod tip sharply, then quickly lower it, letting the spoon free-fall toward the bottom. Watch where the fishing line enters the water. If it stops, strike and hang on.

- Jerry Adams, of Augusta, caught a world record hybrid of 22 pounds, 6 ounces, from the Savannah River several years ago. I have the negative and a photo of the fish and ask that he either call or write, giving the address to which they can be sent. There is no charge. The phone number at The Augusta Chronicle is (706) 724-0851. Ask for sports and leave a message. The current world record is 35 pounds, caught in the Tennessee River in 2004.

THURMOND LAKE

David Willard, U.S. Coast Guard-licensed full-time professional fishing guide specializing in hybrids and stripers and trophy largemouth bass. (Boat phone: (706) 214-0236. (803) 637-6379 (crockett rocket@bellsouth.net) -- Todd Dickson brought his three sons, Corbin, Curtis and Clark, with John Close of Auburn, Ala., and Ronny Dew, of Evans, coming along. They caught a cooler full of nice hybrids and stripers. Julio and Cindy Navarro, of Brooklet, Ga., caught limits of stripers and hybrids up to 10 pounds. The famous fishing Sapp family of Richie, Caroline, Ashley and Buck, with friends Wayne and Dallas Dasher, all of Savannah, smoked the fish, catching more than 40. John, Bobby, J.D. and Joshua Paugh, from Hephzibah, also had a great morning. They ended up with a cooler full of slab hybrids and 6-to-7-pound stripers.

Billy Murphy, professional guide, (706) 733-0124 (Web site doubletroublefishingguides.com with twins Brad and Jim) -- Huel Mosely and his 7-year-old grandson, Ben Norris, and 14-year-old grandson, Drew Norris, all of Evans, fished with me Thursday morning. We pulled Capt. Mack's umbrella rigs and caught 21 stripers and hybrids from 2 to 6 pounds. Ben caught the 6-pounder, and Drew caught most of the fish. Last Friday, Larry Freeman, of Evans, and O.G. Penner, of Grovetown, joined me in pulling umbrella rigs. We limited out (30 fish) on hybrids and striped bass, and two largemouth bass, too. O.G., Ted Boileau and I braved 20-knot winds last Monday and caught 15 fish weighing from 2 to 7 pounds. O.G., Larry and I fished together again on Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. Our three limits of fish weighed between 2 and 6 pounds, with most of them chunky fish between 4 and 5 pounds each. John and Sabrina Rose and their 15-year-old son, Cody, fished with me Thursday morning. Larry Freeman came along as first mate. We caught 40 stripers and hybrids from 2 to 8 pounds. John caught the morning's big fish, while Cody caught the most. We are pulling umbrella rigs with nine bucktails over humps 20 to 40 feet deep off the main Savannah River channel.

Mark Crawford, U.S. Coast Guard-licensed professional guide specializing in hybrid and striped bass. www.teamsaveonemore.com (706) 373-8347 -- John Braden, of Lincolnton, Ga.; his father, Richard, of Edgewater, Fla.; and Chuck Courtenay, of Lincolnton, caught limits of hybrids and stripers in just a few hours. Roy McSwain and his son, Connor, of North Charleston, S.C.; Mike Holmes and his son, Bryce, of St. George, S.C.; David Dumas of Port Wentworth, Ga.; and Cody Rahn had a great time catching some quality fish. Mike Lowery, of Louisville, Ga.; William Cooper, of Augusta; S/Sgt. Dedric Garner, of Hephzibah; "Hollywood," of Augusta; and Derrick White, of Waynesboro, Ga.; loaded the boat with good fish. Jimmy and Donna Perkins and Nick Sharp, of Jesup, Ga., and Bruce Grant, of Appling, caught limits of hybrids and stripers. Dennis and Tracey Cameron, of Travelers Rest, S.C., and Herman Coggins, of Marietta, Ga., caught limits of fish, fishing live blueback herring 30 to 40 feet below the boat.

William Sasser, U.S. Coast Guard-licensed professional guide specializing in crappies, hybrids and striped bass. (706) 589-5468 -- As the temperature gets hotter, so does the fish bite. Jimmy Lacy, of Madison, Ga., brought his two sons, Jim and John, back this year for Round 2 between the boys. I think those kids could catch fish in a bucket! This rime, they limited on 3- to 5-pound fish. Donna and I took our kids, Bradd Sasser and his fiancÃe, Megan Counts, and Autumn Sasser and Austin Hopson. Megan had never been fishing, but began reeling them in faster than I could re-bait the hook, but flatly refused to touch any part of the fish. Autumn and Austin caught nearly twin largemouths of 6 and 7 pounds. Most of the fish are coming on live herring 40 to 50 feet down in 50 to 70 feet of water. My VHF radio handle is Crappie Master and I can be reached on the lake on Channel 68. Check out my Web site at www.williamsasserfishing.com.

Capt. Tommy Dudley, U.S. Coast Guard-licensed professional guide specializing in stripers and hybrids. (706) 833-4807 -- Most of my week has been rigging up my new 23-foot offshore Sea Mark boat. We fished four people Thursday and it works really well. Joe Melton, Todd McIntire, David Owens and Wayman Bryan, all of Augusta, quickly limited out on hybrids and stripers. Fishing was so fast that I had to stop them from catching fish so I could count the catch. Good thing I did. They'd nearly reached their 10-fish limits. David and Diane Redd, of North Augusta, had an outstanding morning, catching and releasing fish until the bait was gone.

My VHF radio handle is Boat Racer and I can be reached on Channel 68. My Web site is www.fishlake thurmond.com.

Albert Moody, Clark Hill Herring Hut, Clarks Hill, S.C. (864) 333-2000 -- Gilbert Shepard of Evans, Ga., the self-proclaimed Eel King, has been catching huge eels with cut herring in the Savannah River. Don Cleghorn, of North Augusta, caught a 12-pound hybrid. Albert Dillard and I fished live bait for hybrids and caught 2 to 5-pound hybrids until we ran out of bait. We caught the fish in the Monkey Island and Chigoe Creek areas. Jimmy Eubanks, of North Augusta, caught a 2-pound, 14-ounce shellcracker in the river below the dam.

SAVANNAH RIVER

NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK & DAM

Lock and Dam Bait and Tackle (Bob Baurle), (706) 793-8053 -- Lots of bass are being caught up the river on plastic worms and jointed Rapalas. Redbreasts are hitting inside the lock and next to the dam during the early morning. You can watch striped bass chase bait fish late in the afternoon around the gravel island below the dam. Mullet are still biting. Mike Grover caught some mudfish, carp and bream on a trip up the river.

MERRY LAND BRICKYARD PONDS

Harrison Sears (706) 722-8263 (www.brickyardponds.com) -- Chris Kelly won the big fish contest and $50 with a 5.58-pound bass last month. Marty Pearson and Paul Grubbs caught 5.19 pounds and the big fish of 2.37 pounds. Kelly was second with 3.57 pounds. Billy Gilbert won the Sunday tournament and the big fish prize with just one fish, weighing 2.31 pounds. Sixteen boats in the field. Our bass tournaments are in progress on Fridays and Sundays. The Friday tournament runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The Sunday event runs from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. A fishing license is not required to fish in our ponds.

ATLANTIC OCEAN

BEAUFORT, S.C. & VICINITY

Ralph Goodison, Fripp Island, (843) 838-2530 -- The redfish bite has been strong, with whiting and flounder fair. Cobia fishing has slowed, but Spanish mackerel fishing is good. The Gulf Stream is producing good catches of wahoo, bull dolphin, black fin tuna and king mackerel. Check out the tournament schedule and prepare for the Fripp Island Fireworks Fishing Tournament on July 11-12. A captain's meeting and lowcountry boil will be held July 11, at 7 p.m., at Fripp Island Marina. The tournament runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on July 12. For information, call (843) 838-1517.