Striped and hybrid bass have started moving up Thurmond Lake's tributaries, and live-bait fishermen are enjoying first-rate fishing in the Raysville area of Little River.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has extended two of the Amity ramp's three lanes, and fishermen report no problems putting in or taking out.

Anglers unfamiliar with that area of upper Little River, Rousseau, Lloyds, Germany and Big Hart creeks are urged to be cautious because of the many treetops revealed by falling lake levels. The problem isn't with visible trees; it's the invisible ones lurking just below the surface that can cause catastrophic damage to boats and outboard motors.

Those of us who prefer fishing artificial lures have been finding tough fishing conditions, with few signs of schooling fish. We need help, such as what we get by the appearance of sea gulls, which can spot schooling fish from up high. By diving toward and fluttering over a school of fish, they alert fishermen to their presence.

THURMOND LAKE

Raysville Marina (Leon Buffington and Doug Pentecost), (706) 595-5582 -- Mike Arrington, of Lincolnton, Ga., limited out on crappies, using minnows.

David Willard, U.S. Coast Guard-licensed full-time professional fishing guide specializing in hybrids, stripers and trophy largemouth bass. Boat phone: (706) 214-0236, (803) 637-6379 (crockettrocket@bellsouth.net) -- Water temperature is 62 degrees and very clear. Despite high winds and early morning fog, fishing has been really good all week, with my parties catching limits every day. Ben Corbitt, of Atlanta, fished with a group of his co-workers and caught limits of nice stripers and hybrids. The Rev. Buddy Meyers brought a group of anglers, who tried their luck. It was the first boat trip for a few of them, who had caught some nice stripers from the bank during the spring. It was cold and foggy on Monday morning, but they ended up catching 33 and losing a few at the boat.

Ralph Barbee Jr., professional guide, (706) 860-7373 -- Danny Sheehan and I fished the lake on Tuesday. I caught two bass, and so did he. Most of the fish came on the Sexy Shad Rat-L-Trap.

My new show features catching huge striped bass on the Savannah River. This is Part 2 with Daniel Jackson and Enon Hopkins. It airs Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Stations are Comcast-Ch. 21, Knology-Ch. 7, Atlantic Broadband, Ch. 7 (Aiken), Northland-Ch. 9 (Statesboro-Swainsboro) and Ft. Gordon-Ch. 9. You must have a special box from Comcast to view my show. The box is free.

Billy Murphy, professional guide, (706) 733-0124 (Web site doubletroublefishingguides.com) with twins Brad and Jim -- I took out Charles Bradley, of Asheville, N.C., and pulled planer boards during the early morning in upper Little River near Raysville. We then started downlining the herring and wound up with 18 nice fish. The fish are starting to move into the tributaries and into shallow water. We fished 15 to 18 feet down in 20 to 25 feet of water. Larry Freeman, of Evans, caught a 10-pound striper among his five fish. He said the Corps of Engineers contractors are extending yet another Amity boat ramp, and he had no problems getting in and out.

William Sasser, U.S. Coast Guard-licensed professional guide specializing in crappies, hybrids and striped bass. (706) 589-5468 -- Mike Bishop and Priscilla and Angie Bishop, all from Comer, Ga., Robert Bishop, of Athens, Ga., and Jack Bishop, of Hull, Ga., fished with me from Mistletoe State Park to Ridge Road. We fished live herring on the bottom in 30 to 40 feet of water. Angie caught the biggest striper, a 12-pounder, among the 50 fish caught. 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 -- Fishing has been real good, although the bite hasn't been as fast as it was a few weeks ago. We are finally catching some bigger fish. Most are being caught on live herring fished on downlines 20-30 feet over deeper ditches of 40 feet. Dan Troutman, Paul Cundy, Weinges Sanders and Lou Stelvar, all of Augusta, enjoyed a beautiful fall morning and limited out on hybrids and stripers. Fred and Kathy Rosenblum, of Augusta, had perfect weather for an afternoon trip. They caught limits of slab hybrids in the 7- to 10-pound range. Libby Harling and Amy Dalton came from Greenwood, S.C., to take Amy's dad, Warren, visiting from North Carolina. They battled a cold windy morning, but managed to catch 26 nice fish. Ray Domyslawski, of Evans, and cousin Mel Laskey, visiting from Pennsylvania, had to have patience before catching their limits of hybrids and stripers. I helped Buddy Edge with a corporate group out of Hickory Knob, along with Richard Butler and Jay Leatherman. We had a great morning, catching 147 fish between four boatloads.

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. -- Tom Randal, Karl Moore and I fished the river below Thurmond Dam. We kept 59 of the biggest fish and probably caught 120 fish in 31/2 hours. We used curly-tailed grubs, hybrid pinks, toughie minnows and Hildebrand spinners. They all caught fish. We had slab crappies, huge bream, redbreasts and shellcrackers. Gilbert Sheppard, of Augusta, caught a limit of shellcrackers on jumbo reds, also fishing below the dam.

SAVANNAH RIVER

New Savannah Bluff Lock & Dam

Lock and Dam Bait and Tackle (Bob Baurle), (706) 793-8053 -- Bream, redbellies, catfish, crappies and a few yellow perch continue to provide the action for fishermen. Some stripers are being caught off the dam during early morning and late afternoon hours.

MERRY LAND BRICKYARD PONDS

Harrison Sears (706) 722-8263 (www.brickyard ponds.com) -- Billy Gilbert caught three bass totaling 8.91 pounds on plastic worms in the King Pond. The Ditch has been producing a bunch of good catches. Honey Sears caught nine catfish on chicken liver and six crappies on minnows; Kitty Nunn caught seven crappies on minnows; Ben Powell caught three catfish and three crappies on minnows; and James Gilbert caught 12 crappies on minnows. Billy Gilbert caught 14 bass in the King Pond and kept the best six that weighed a total of 21.37 pounds. Billy currently leads the big fish of the month with a 5.78-pounder caught on a top-water popper in the Expressway Pond. A fishing license is not required to fish in our ponds.

ATLANTIC OCEAN

BEAUFORT, S.C., & VICINITY

Ralph Goodison, Fripp Island, S.C., (843) 838-2530 -- Stovall Walker, of Augusta, and Stuart Mitchell, of Fripp Island, S.C., brought in the largest redfish, at 5.06 pounds, in the Owen Perry Memorial Inshore Fishing Tournament last weekend.

The event raised $900 to be donated to Camp Rainbow for kids with cancer and rare blood diseases. Winner of the redfish sporting the most spots contest were Hamp Manning and his sons from Augusta. Their fish had 13 spots.

The redfish bite is on, and lots of spotted sea trout are being caught, too. Grey trout are being caught near the shore, while blues are occasionally being caught. The larger redfish are to be found around reefs and breakers. Two boats made it offshore out of Fripp and caught a few bull dolphins and king mackerel.