October 10
Lake Jocassee is at 97.6% of full pool and overall the lake is clear but way back in the creeks or up the rivers there is some debris you have to dodge. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are around 75 degrees.
Unsurprisingly (if you’ve been following the last few months) the trout fishing has still been a bust since the storm, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that they appear to be marking a bunch of trout at 100-110 feet but they aren’t showing any interest in eating. They surmise that they are trout mainly because they are seeing fish following their spoons and live baits in 60-90 feet, and without exception when they bite these have been bass and catfish recently. Casey Jones does think he had one good trout on recently but they have been very, very rare.
At this point Sam is just hoping that colder weather will move the some of the fish into the rivers where they will bite better.
Bass report to follow from veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs once he is back on the water after the storm.
October 2
Lake Jocassee is at 98.7% of full pool.
Unsurprisingly, deep and ringed by mountains Lake Jocassee rose perhaps faster than any other lake in the state between Friday and Saturday, starting around 92% of full and finishing at 96%. Given the devastation in the area its unsurprising that we don’t have fishing reports, and we are told that Devil’s Fork State Park is likely to be closed for weeks. However, as of now you can still get to the main landing ramp.
With trips scheduled for Friday and Saturday, even though he doesn’t have power yet Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) will be reporting back on conditions after that.
Our prayers are obviously with the entire region after the devastation, including loss of life and property, they have encountered.
September 26
Lake Jocassee is at 91.2% of full pool but sure to rise with the storm, and clarity is typically high but sure to fall. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake were about 78 degrees yesterday.
For some time the trout fishing has been tough on Lake Jocassee, but veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs was very surprised to find an extremely slow bass bite on his last trip out. He fished shallow and deep, points and blowdowns, crankbaits and soft plastics, but only managed one small keeper bass on a topwater lure. As the water has continued to drop (until this morning) the fish have seemed more and more hesitant to bite, and rising water temperatures don’t seem to have helped either. Chip is hopeful that rain will fill the lake back up and that cooler fall temperatures will get the fish feeding again.
The trout fishermen still aren’t having much success on Lake Jocassee, either, but Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that they are picking up a few spotted bass offshore. They are also getting the occasional trout, but they certainly don’t count on getting one every trip. The key depth range is still about 70-80 feet, and they are putting spoons out as deep as 100 feet. The bass are often coming on flat lines (no down-riggers) in the 20-60 foot range with plugs and spoons.
September 18
Lake Jocassee is down to 91.9% of full pool and water clarity is normal despite about an inch of rain in the storm earlier this week. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are about 77 degrees.
Even though September is typically a very tough month the trout report is a little better this week on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that they have picked up a few nice 3-pounders. Some have been browns and some have been rainbows, and they are seeing the most fish in 70-80 feet although they have caught them as deep as 100 feet. Below that they are only marking a few fish. The key to catching fish, as is often the case in the fall, is fishing in the tree tops. It’s not clear why because there is plenty of bait in open water, but all the fish are coming around trees.
In addition to picking up trout they have also caught some bass and catfish on spoons on down-riggers in the deep water, and they continue to get some bass on flat lines with plugs or spoons running between 20 and 60 feet.
More information on the bass to follow from veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs.
September 5
Lake Jocassee is down to 92.4% of full pool and water clarity is high. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are about 81 degrees.
So far there are no new trout catches this week on Lake Jocassee, although Guide Sam Jones of Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that they have caught a decent number of spotted bass and some better catfish to keep things interesting. They continue to run four rods on downriggers around the 100-foot range, fishing both the dam and the Whitewater area, and they are also running flat lines at 20-60 feet where about half of the bass are coming.
It's unclear what dropping water levels will do to the shallower water bass fishing, but veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs will let us know as soon as he gets up there again.
August 28
Lake Jocassee is at 96.2% of full pool and morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are down to about 80 degrees.
It’s still glum news with the trout on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones of Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that they are still targeting trout but it’s bass that are keeping lines tight and clients happy. They continue to run four rods on downriggers around the 100-foot range, fishing both the dam and the Whitewater area, but in the last ten days everything they have caught has been a bass or catfish. Today they picked up spotted bass at 90 and 110 feet on spoons, but they are also running lines at 30-60 feet where they have caught some nice largemouth pulling spoons and plugs.
At the same time the shallower water bass fishing has been a mixed bag recently, perhaps as more fish have spread out, and veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs reports that some days he has found really good surface activity while days like yesterday have been slower. It seems that the cool snap really helped the bite, but as water temperatures have rebounded things have slowed down again. The lack of rain has also been a detriment, and up the rivers Chip is seeing water temperatures in the mid-80s again without much inflow. River levels also aren’t quite high enough for the best bite. Overall fish seem to be up in the water column, and at times they are busting shad in the pockets. Usually flukes are working better than baits on the bottom, and Chip has caught a mixed bag of smallmouth, largemouth and spots near the surface. At the same time he has still caught a few fish on Carolina rigs around laydowns.
August 16
Lake Jocassee is at 97.8% of full pool and morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are about 83 degrees.
We sign out this week with – finally – a good trout catch on Lake Jocassee. Guide Sam Jones of Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that today they managed a fat rainbow over three pounds. It was caught on a Sutton spoon trolled 125 feet deep at the dam.
Certainly the catch doesn’t yet mean the fishing has turned around, but it’s good to know there are some trout still swimming and eating in this mountain lake!
August 13
Lake Jocassee is at 97.3% of full pool and there is still some dingy water coming into the creeks. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are about 82 degrees but a couple of degrees cooler up the rivers.
Bad news first – the trout fishing on Lake Jocassee is still terrible, and Guide Sam Jones of Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that it’s hard to find anyone who has caught a trout recently. They are still marking fish in 80-100 feet, but they aren’t eating spoons or live bait. The only catch is small catfish and the occasional bass.
It’s hard to escape the conclusion that the population is way down.
But again the bass fishing is very good, and veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs reports that he had one of his best mornings in a long time yesterday on Jocassee – catching over 20 fish. The water is still up but not as high as it was a few weeks ago, and fishing up the Toxaway River he found some fish where there was dingy water flowing in. In the shallow dirty water he found a good bite on a three-bladed spinnerbait, but the best action actually came back down the river fishing around trees, stumps and brush in about 10-18 feet off the channel on a Carolina rig. A crankbait running 10-12 feet also got bites. Some anglers reported catching fish on topwater lures, but Chip could not get a bite that way.
Overall he thinks the current is really helping and he notes that fish were spitting up shad in his livewell.
Finally, last Saturday tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that he and his partner Greg Glouse won a tournament with 17 pounds. In the morning they fished up the rivers and around waterfalls with big trout glide baits, but then after the sun got up they moved out to the main lake in 20-60 feet of water and fished deep points, humps, and drops with swimbaits and jigs.
August 1
Lake Jocassee is up to 98.8% of full pool and the backs of rivers are downright muddy. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are about 82 degrees but 5-10 degrees cooler in the backs of some rivers.
We were hoping to have some better news with the trout fishing on Lake Jocassee this week, but Guide Sam Jones of Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that the fishing remains brutally tough. They are marking fish in 80-100 feet, but getting them to follow a bait or much less commit has been next to impossible. Even targeting the treetops at the spillway to the right of the dam and in the Whitewater River has not been productive, and live bait has had no better results than spoons. About all they can catch is small catfish, and not even the bass are feeding well in the big water.
It may be a problem of competition, and with so much bait around (and a seemingly very poor survival rate for this year’s trout stocking) the fish that are there just don’t seem to need to compete as much.
But that doesn’t mean the largemouth bass bite isn’t good up the rivers, and veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs reports that even though the water isn’t coming in as fast as it was it is even higher with good current. In 3-5 feet of water there is still a very good spinnerbait bite, but Chip has also investigated the main channel bite and once again is having success on Carolina rigs in 15-18 feet. They are related to the main part of the channel and not cover right now.
July 26
Lake Jocassee is up to 97.6% of full pool and the backs of rivers are downright muddy. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are about 82 degrees but 71-73 in the backs!
After torrential rain this week rivers like the Toxaway are flooding, and veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs reports that the bass bite is outstanding right now. In one morning of fishing by himself he caught about 25 bass, with everything coming in just 3-5 feet of water. The fish are eating whatever gets flushed into the lake, and a soft plastic crawfish will definitely get bites. However, the action on a spinnerbait has been so good in the muddy, turbulent water that Chip is barely throwing anything else.
The fish are positioning themselves facing into the current, especially around rock, and so throwing a ½ to ¾ ounce Hawg Caller with triple willow blades and working it with the current has been the ticket. Anything lighter will just get blown out.
Chip notes that the last day he fished the current was so strong he had to run his trolling motor on 9!
July 19
Lake Jocassee has dropped to 95.8% of full pool and water clarity is very high. Morning surface water temperatures range from about 80-84 degrees.
Fortunately the bass fishing is better than the trout fishing, and in a unique Lake Jocassee dynamic (because of the inflow of cool mountain streams as well as natural springs) veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs reports that the water in the rivers is cooler than the water in the main lake – as usual. So while there are definitely some bass in the main lake around bait, he continues to target the rivers.
The fish are related to the river channels and they are following bait up and down the channel. He is finding the best action in about 5-15 feet, and they are finding fish in the channel, on flats adjacent to it, rocky ridges or humps off the channels where the bass can push the bait, and occasionally in laydowns. Most of the time the most consistent bait has been a Carolina-rigged worm or lizard, but in low light conditions (or cloudy days like yesterday morning) a pearl white fluke can also be effective.
Overall they still aren’t catching a ton of big fish, but numbers have been very good.
July 18
Lake Jocassee is at 97.2% of full pool and water clarity is very high. Morning surface water temperatures are around 80-81 degrees on the big water and as high as the upper 80s in the backs.
Unfortunately there has been a dramatic slowdown with the trout fishing on Lake Jocassee in the last few days, and Guide Sam Jones of Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that the couple of week spell they had of catching rainbows has died down (as it often does after about the same duration). They are marking fish as deep as 100 feet, and the most numbers seem to be in 80 feet, but they just aren’t feeding very well. Even targeting the treetops at the spillway to the right of the dam and in the Whitewater River has not been productive.
Interestingly, they aren’t seeing a ton of bait right now and what bait they are seeing is much higher in the water column – it has a very different temperature tolerance than trout.
More to follow.
July 11
Lake Jocassee is at 97.5% of full pool and water clarity is very high. Morning surface water temperatures have shot up to 81 degrees on the big water and as high as the upper 80s in the backs. Luckily there has been a good breeze to make angling comfortable.
The trout are still biting on Lake Jocassee, even though Guide Sam Jones of Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that they are mainly getting rainbows and haven’t seen any monster browns in some time. But the rainbow trout are fat 16-18 inch fish that are shaped like footballs and fight hard!
The oddest thing is that the fish are basically in a fall pattern, and instead of being able to troll for them in open water they are having to fish over treetops at the spillway to the right of the dam and in the Whitewater River. One angler caught three fish but lost three spoons on a recent trip! It’s as if the water got so hot so fast that the fish skipped forward into late summer/ fall patterns. Everything is being caught in about 70-110 feet of water.
Along the same lines, Sam tried to catch bass in the deeper places he usually catches them in the summer today with no luck.
That’s entirely consistent with the report from veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs, who reports that they had a good day yesterday on the lake – fishing the rivers. They started out way up a river where there was some current early and caught three solid keepers on a spinnerbait, but after that early bite died down they moved a little down the river and caught everything in 10-15 feet of water dragging a Carolina rig. Fish continue to hold around blowdowns. Chip notes that he had zero bites deep cranking, and the fish just don’t seem to be active.
That makes sense considering the temperatures he marked, as high as 90 degrees, and the only thing that seems to be very active on the lake is the summer tourists!