April 10

Lake Jocassee is at 95.4% of full pool and main lake water conditions are very clear. Morning surface water temperatures are up to 61-62 degrees on the main lake. 

What a difference a month (and a good winter’s stocking) makes! Recently Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters(864-280-9056) expressed the hope that the spring trout fishing was just running a few weeks behind, and now that seems to have been exactly the case. It also helps that the fish stocked last winter have now mostly hit 14-16 inches, and on his last trip out they caught 6 trout with three of them browns big enough to keep. They also picked up a couple of black bass trolling spoons. 

The key depth range is still about 30-55 feet, and spoons are out-fishing live bait right now. The color of the spoon doesn’t seem to make a difference, and they caught fish on five of the seven different spoons they pulled. 

One interesting note is that, even though they continue to catch fish in the rivers, the bait appears to be starting to move and they are marking less bait in the backs. And the loons have moved out to the big water, either preparing to leave or following bait. 

With water temperatures inching up a few more degrees the pre-spawn and spawn bass bites are getting better on Jocassee, with more fish getting shallower and on beds. About the best way to target fish right now is to fish a shaky head in wood cover just off the banks at the first depth gradient. This could still be in 10-15 plus feet of water, but fish move into these areas and feed aggressively before the spawn – and some undoubtedly spawn that deep.  

Our family is travelling for our children’s spring break next week, but we will resume weekly fishing reports after the Easter holiday. 

April 3

Lake Jocassee is at 95.7% of full pool and water conditions are very clear. Morning surface water temperatures are up to 58 degrees on the main lake. 

The water temperatures on Lake Jocassee are still well behind those on most other South Carolina lakes, but veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs reports that in recent tournaments anglers have noted a few early black bass on beds or close to bedding. Still, the consensus is that most fish are not there yet.

As a result it continues to be almost exclusively a pre-spawn bite, and with the quality of fish on Lake Jocassee there are monsters being caught all the time. Swimbaits and crankbaits are both working, and of course a lot of people are looking at staging fish on forward-facing sonar and casting to them with minnow-type baits on jigheads. 

The trout bite hasn’t changed much on Lake Jocassee this week, but Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that with stocked fish big enough to keep it continues to make things more interesting.  To his knowledge there have not been any big holdover fish caught again this week, but at least they are catching trout that can be eaten.

The best action is coming in 30-45 feet of water trolling spoons, and minnows haven’t really produced anything for Sam or his guide partner. The dam area is pretty desolate of bait and fish, and the best fishing has been coming at the mouth of the rivers over deep water or up the rivers. The bait is still definitely concentrated up the river arms.

March 27

Lake Jocassee is at 97.0% of full pool and water conditions are very clear. Morning surface water temperatures are up to 56 degrees on the main lake. 

The quality of the trout bite hasn’t changed much on Lake Jocassee, but Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that this week some of the winter’s stocked fish have finally gotten big enough to keep and so they are actually able to send some fish home with clients! To his knowledge there have not been any big holdover fish caught this week, and there isn’t a ton of action, but at least they are catching trout that can be eaten.

The best action is coming in 30-45 feet of water trolling spoons, and minnows haven’t really produced anything for Sam or his guide partner. The dam area is pretty desolate of bait and fish, and the best fishing has been coming at the mouth of the rivers over deep water or up the rivers. The bait is definitely concentrated up the rivers. As is typical for spring they are catching more rainbows than browns, and black bass have been trickling in but no big numbers or giants.  

One thing keeping a lot of anglers off the water is that the smoke from the wildfires at Table Rock can make conditions miserable. It’s odd seeing scooper planes getting water from Jocassee to fight the fire.

Full black bass report to follow when we can get it. 

March 19

Lake Jocassee is at 98.2% of full pool and water conditions are normal with some minor stain in the very backs of creeks. Morning surface water temperatures are up to 53-56 degrees. 

Water temperatures on Jocassee lag behind most other South Carolina lakes, and a result fish are not as far along in the spawn. Some of the best black bass catches continue to come offshore, and veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs reports LiveScoping with minnow-type baits on a jighead for suspended fish in the rivers is a prominent pattern.  You can also cast jigs in deeper blowdowns and catch fish. Chip has also caught bass on a crankbait in 8-10 feet of water, but at this point the better fish still seem to be out deeper. 

It’s about the same with the trout on Jocassee, although Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) does report that apparently a large 8-pound brown trout was caught in the March Jocassee Outdoor Center. However, a reliable source told him it was the only fish brought to the scales. 

They are still catching plenty of 14-inch stockers, which will soon be keepers, mostly trolling spoons in 30-45 feet of water in the rivers. The dam area continues to be pretty quiet. 

March 13

Lake Jocassee is at 97.0% of full pool and water conditions are normal with some minor stain in the very backs of creeks. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are stillaround 52-53 degrees.

The good news with the trout is that they continue to catch fish stocked this winter, and  Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that at about 14 inches pretty soon they will be thinking of these as keepers and not just stockers. Sam’s son and guiding partner Casey caught five yesterday, all trolling Sutton spoons in 30-45 feet of water around trees. He was in the back of one of the rivers and was surprised not to catch any black bass. When he has looked at the dam he has not even marked any fish at all (of any species). Today on Casey’s guide trip he will be starting in the rivers for trout again. 

We will bring you fresh bass reports as soon as we can get them!

March 6

Lake Jocassee is at 98.1% of full pool and water conditions are normal with some minor stain in the very backs of creeks. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are around 52-53 degrees.

Still no good news on the trout on Lake Jocassee, and  Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports he has not heard of a single legal trout caught in the last week despite a fair number of fishing boats being out there. The good news is that they are still catching a fair number of stocked fish just below the legal limit. These fish are about 14 inches, will soon hit the legal limit of 15 inches, and then on June 1 there won’t be a size limit anyway. The fish stocked this winter do seem to have survived, but once again it seems (after a brief flurry when the stocked fish were introduced) there are very few holdover fish from a year and a half ago.  

Again, beyond small trout it’s the black bass that continue to keep things interesting. Anglers are catching bass trolling, jigging vertically, on live bait, and fishing soft plastics on drop shot rigs. For now bass are still in fairly deep water but they will move shallower as temperatures rise. 

Check out these fish caught Live-Scoping this week!

February 26

Lake Jocassee is at 98.3% of full pool and water conditions are normal with some minor stain in the very backs of creeks. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are around 53 degrees.

It’s been yet another tough week for trout on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that the catch is still mainly consisting of stocked fish just below the legal limit. The good news, though, is that they are catching plenty of stockers and so it appears they survived this winter, and with some already approaching 14 inches it won’t be long until they are legal. And as Sam suspected he didn’t hear anything about weights from the last tournament because no trout were brought to the scales!

Trolling in about 65 feet of water for trout they have picked up some good catfish, but it’s the black bass that continue to keep things interesting. Anglers are catching bass trolling, jigging vertically, on live bait, and fishing soft plastics on drop shot rigs. For now bass are still in fairly deep water but they will move shallower as temperatures rise. 

February 19

Lake Jocassee is at 97.7% of full pool and water conditions are normal with some minor stain in the very backs of creeks. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are around 52 degrees.

It’s been another tough week for trout on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that no one even posted the results of the last trout tournament. That’s not a great sign. This week they have only caught some smaller stocked fish, and it’s seems that the cumulative effect of one front after another is hurting the fishing. They are marking very little bait and can only speculate that the fronts and pressure have it still well up the rivers.

The black bass continue to keep things interesting, and most of the fish they are catching are coming about 25-40 feet down in the river over trees. There has also been a very good smallmouth bite at times, and Sam’s guiding partner (and son) Casey Jones landed several fish including one almost 5 pounds around bait in about 20 feet of water. It’s not unusual for smallmouth to hold a little shallower than other bass species, especially when it’s cold. 

February 12

Lake Jocassee is at 97.1% of full pool and water conditions are normal. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are around 52 degrees.

About the only way to catch many trout on Lake Jocassee right now seems to be with live blueback herring, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that the combination of LiveScope and sitting on top of the fish with bluebacks is really effective right now. It’s also catching tons of black bass.  

But they are getting a few bites pulling Sutton spoons in about 40 feet of water in the rivers, although often the catch is stocked fish. They lost one good brown this week. 
Overall there seem to be a lot more fish in the rivers than at the dam, where they are only occasionally marking fish – although they are usually good ones. 

They do continue to pick up some bass trolling around tree tops and encouraging the bass to come out and take a spoon or plug. Most of these fish are being caught about 30-50 feet down. 

February 6

Lake Jocassee is at 98.1% of full pool and water conditions are normal. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are around 51 degrees. 

We wish we had more exciting news on Lake Jocassee, but Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that after some good times the previous week or two this week has been very slow. The catch has basically been some stocker trout and black bass. The trout are coming about 35 feet down, and the rivers seem to be producing most of the fish right now.  But again, no big ones have been caught in the last week to the writer’s knowledge. 

Besides undersized trout, black bass continue to provide most of the excitement. The pattern is basically fishing around tree tops and encouraging the bass to come up and take a spoon or plug. Most of the fish are being caught about 30-50 feet down. 

Hopefully with this warmer weather we will soon have some shallower bass fishing reports. 

January 28

Lake Jocassee is at 96.4% of full pool and water conditions are normal. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake have dropped to about 51 degrees. 

Around the snow the trout tournament fishing was pretty outstanding on Lake Jocassee, but Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that the fishing has slowed a little in the last few days. Nonetheless, they are thrilled with the number of big fish that are starting to show up again in the lake. Sam’s son and business partner Guide Casey Jones has landed a 7-pounder this week, and in the tournament an 8-pound fish was brought to the scales. These were respectively caught in the rivers and at the dam. 

The best depth seems to be about 35 feet, but Sam notes that the fish are temporarily not showing a ton of interest in spoons. They will barely come up out of the trees to look at them, and for the last couple of days they are mainly catching recently stocked fish and black bass. 

The one exception is that live herring appear to be working very well if you get on top of the fish and target them like you would striper.

As you can see from the Devil’s Fork Webcam there is very little conventional bass fishing activity on the lake in the last week or two, but we will provide a report as soon as we can. 

January 15

Lake Jocassee is at 98.7% of full pool and water conditions are normal. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake have dropped to about 53 degrees. 

There was a trout tournament on Saturday on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that predictably the weather was so bad that they had to postpone to this Saturday. (The best predictor of rain/ snow around the lake is whether there is a trout tournament.) It will be very interesting to see what is caught.

Weather has limited fishing activity, and boat issues have limited Sam, but in the snow Saturday one regular did manage a nice 4-pound brown trout. Hopefully there will be a lot more in coming weeks. 

There isn’t enough information right now to say where the best fishing can be found, but this is the time of year when fish can be anywhere on the lake. But typically the most consistent pattern has been trolling spoons in about 30-65 feet. 

While there has been very, very little conventional black bass fishing activity on Jocassee, Sam reports that anglers are still picking up a few bass trolling in open water for trout. However, when they move shallower in the rivers and run over the humps they are picking up a ton of spotted bass.

Finally, there are still some really nice yellow perch that are being caught up the Toxaway.  

January 2

Lake Jocassee is at 97.6% of full pool and water conditions are normal. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake have dropped to about 58 degrees. 

The trout fishing on Lake Jocassee continues to improve, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that in addition to hearing of multiple trout over the legal limit caught in the past two weeks his boat landed a nice 3-pounder. The numbers still aren’t what they should be for this time of year, but it’s good to see some fish start to show up – which basically started exactly when DNR did its first winter stocking in December. Again, the fish they are catching are bigger than the stocked fish, so it’s not the same ones – but something about the stocking seems to have turned them on almost immediately.  

With how weird the year has been it’s no surprise that the trout aren’t in their typical winter pattern, and some of the biggest trout that have been hooked recently have come in very, very deep water as far down as 130 feet. This is always the time of year when they can be caught at any depth, but it’s not normal for many to be that deep – usually winter means some will go very shallow. 

Still, in the last tournament, and on Sam’s boat, the most consistent pattern has been trolling spoons in about 30-65 feet. 

While there has been very, very little conventional black bass fishing activity on Jocassee, Sam reports that they are picking up a few bass trolling in open water for trout. However, when they move shallower in the rivers and run over the humps they are picking up a ton of spotted bass.

Finally, there are some really nice yellow perch that are being caught up the Toxaway.