Well I did my diligence before posting because I couldn't believe a fisher in South Carolina
I checked the weather forecast to be sure there was snow on the ground that would match the pictures.
Weather forecast showed snow in the area 1/22-1/23 2025.
I checked that the customer had bought lure, verified the name date & location.
Everything fit except the fisher.

Well in a bizarre coincidence
Two people with the same exact name William Elder Jr. Bought lure
The lure was delivered right before the historic snow fall in the south on 1/22/25.
One of the William Elder Jr. was in Greenville S.C. one was in New York.
I think the odds of them both buying lure at the same time are even less likely than catching a Fisher in South Carolina. I want to keep everything factual in my advertisement through catch of the day. That is why I posted the original post here because I was looking for confirmation on that Fishers location. Well this morning I found out why my doubts were there. William Elder Jr. did catch a Fisher on Fool's Gold but he was the William Elder Jr. In New York not in South Carolina. Haha.

Original Post ( it can't be deleted )

Is anyone well versed on Fisher populations in the south east region of the country?

I'm orginally from the area, and oddly enough my grandmother to this day tells stories of trapping Fisher which she calls a pole cat back in the 1940's. Deep south eastern Kentucky on the Tennessee border in coal country.

Friday 1/31/25 a customer sent me 3 pictures of a Fisher he had caught and carefully released in Greenville South Carolina. By all accounts on the internet that animal should not exist there.

I'm asking for expert and personal opinions.
So by all means put your 2 cents in.
Your thoughts on the subject please.

I've had Fool's Gold catch Fisher in Maine, New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia as well so I wasn't too surprised to see a Fisher in a foothold until it dawned on me the location. Which I always verify and post up on Catch of the Day for my Alaska Proof Lures Page.

As a lure maker I take a different approach to "sales"
I keep in touch with my customers whenever possible and they mostly become friends.

Again on Friday I got some feedback from a customer in South Carolina that raised my eyebrows.
He sent me 3 pictures of a Fisher he had caught on Fool's Gold.
Being from south eastern Kentucky and still owning property there I am familiar with the reintroduction of Fisher to Tennessee, and from what I've read they have also been released in North Carolina.
I cannot find any information on actual populations of Fisher in these areas. Best I can tell from everything I've read they should not exist in South Carolina. However with that being said, the location of the trapper that caught and released this fisher is right on the northern most border of South Carolina. The town of Greenville S.C. to be exact. Situated right between North Carolina and Tennessee making the Fisher and absolute possibility.

I would like to know the first hand experiences you might have with Fishers in Appalachia.

I don't get to trap much myself anymore and so by sending each bottle of lure out it's kinda like going with on the trapline, not only myself but the spirit of my late mentor Irv Schirmer as well ( 2009 FTA Hall of Fame )

Any input will be greatly appreciated.
Not much information online regarding current fisher populations.
I know there is a wealth of knowledge on this site.

I'm fairly new to this platform, I've only used it a couple times.

Again
I'm asking for expert and personal opinions.
Real world experiences.
So by all means put your 2 cents in.
Your thoughts on the subject please.

I trapped In SC for 15 years and I doubt you will catch a fisher. In all those years I only caught a few rats and I never ever saw a mink track.
Now If you want to catch otter and beaver that would be the place to stack up big numbers.

They stocked them in Va.,may have there also no season.

There’s a corner there near the smoky mountains that is definitely fisher habitat. When we think of South Carolina we think of myrtle beach but there coming into Cowpens is mountain country.
They haven’t stocked fisher here in Kentucky but they did in Tennessee about a hundred miles south. I saw a fisher here and have seen tracks in the snow a couple times,

They were restocked in WVa in '68, I think.
I've travelled 200 miles north to catch them in Western MD, tight to WVa border.

But APPARENTLY one was caught south of me, towards mouth of Potomac River, about 15 years ago, then same guy, I believe, caught one next county up, again close to Potomac River.

Being same guy, causes questions in my mind...

But do see them coming south along river, but SC???

I dont know a thing about fisher never saw one. I do know both fishers and otters are mustelids. When Missouri released otters it was only a very short time before they started showing up here. Now we have a very trappable population. Apparently otter are travelers. I suspect fishers could be also.

Fisher are very adaptable and can live in many terrains from forests to farm lands.That is a fisher.

Its always possible to have transients. Happens with nearly every spiecies. I would bet all of them were male. They certainly would have plenty of food to catch as they wandered their way south.

The fisher was native to PA but had not existed there for a number of years In the THE1970 thruthe1990's and maybe even into the 2000's W VA NewYork had a natural expanding populations Part of that was changing habitat Also a lack of trapping pressure because the fur was not in demand at the time And also it was at the time that PA reintroduced fisher into their forested areas And by any measure that program has exceeded the expectations of what they where hoping for It has grown to a point that there is a limited trapping season and they have been expanding into areas that where not considered to be typical fisher territory While it is a predator to the porky pine it is also and egg eater And it is seeming having an impact on the turkey I am just a trapper and hunter with no scientific proof But it makes sense that a growing population will continue to grow as long as food and shelter conditions are to be found And in general a small population can grow rapidly at the start when
an expansion is prime to happen So if the source is credible than my thought is most likely what they say it is

We have a good fisher population in SW Pa. I see tracks frequently in the snow covered months out crossing open fields, pastures and grain/corn fields. They seem to be expanding in their range and numbers from what I see when I cover large areas of ground locally.

I have heard of them being caught in Maryland and West Virgina for 20+ years. So the possiblity of them expanding to the more southern states is a real good IMO.

They have adapted very well from my observations. We aren't able to trap and keep them in my area yet but they are open season for trapping within reasonable driving distance.

The other day, I was putting firewood in the furnace and looked down and there was a fisher track 3 feet from the furnace. I have rabbits under my wood racks, I'm sure that was his mission.

Thank you all for your input.
I was skeptical yet hopeful on the catch.
It would be special to me seeing a fisher caught there
Because I've heard firsthand stories of Fisher in the Appalachian mountains myself.
Turns out two different trappers with the same exact name including a suffix of Jr.
Had bought lure around the same time. It was coincidence. All be it a strange one.

I believe the people that have told of seeing Fishers in the area.
Had it not snowed 1/22/25 like it did I probably could have caught this mix up.
Because I did post it with skepticism seeing the location but the weather matched as well.

Dang that's a really interesting coincidence.