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.
December 19
Lake Jocassee is at 99.0% of full pool and water conditions are normal. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are still around 62 degrees.
It’s been a while since we could say this, but Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) can finally report that trout have been caught on Lake Jocassee! The fact that it coincides with the first stocking of the year will not a be a surprise to regular readers, and instead of water temperature being the main explanation it does seem hard to argue after this year that something about thousands of trout being introduced into the lake gets the fish chomping. It seems like months since we have heard of trout being caught, and temperatures really haven’t changed very much. Last week’s stocking seems to be the change.
Regardless, a fish over three pounds won the tournament this past week, and several more fish were weighed in. They came on a mix of Sutton spoons and minnows in 35-60 feet.
There also continue to be a ton of black bass caught, and in 30-60 feet of water trolling spoons and plugs has been very productive. The quarry wall area at the dam is still very productive.
Next week there will be no new fishing reports with the Christmas holiday, but regular reports will resume after the New Year. And we hope to get back on track with more regular bass reports once there is more fishing activity.
December 12
Lake Jocassee is at 98.0% of full pool and water conditions are normal. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are around 62 degrees.
There are some pretty significant changes with the black bass this week on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that the bait and bass have stacked up on the quarry wall at the dam this week. They are in 40-60 feet of water, and catching doubles, triples and quads while trolling spoons and plugs has been the norm. It’s like the bait and fish have all found each other and gotten into the same area the last few days, and the bass are chewing like crazy.
We notice our trout guides still aren’t talking about trout, except to say word is that they will be doing a stocking soon. It will be very interesting to see if larger holdover fish magically start to show up at the same time. Of course, it’s impossible to say that some of the fish they are marking aren’t trout – but nothing they are catching is.
From electronics it looks like no fish are deeper than about 50-60 feet right now.
December 4
Lake Jocassee is at 98.6% of full pool and water conditions are normal. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are around 62-63 degrees.
It’s a familiar tale of woe with the trout fishing on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that besides a big trout netted by DNR during a sample he hasn’t heard of any trout “caught” recently. They are still keeping clients happy and lines tight targeting black bass. Mostly they are catching spots but also some smallmouth, and they are fishing back in the rivers trolling spoons and plugs.
The bulk of the spotted bass have come about 55 feet down on downriggers, while the smallmouth are usually higher in the water column and more often caught on flatlines fished about 15 feet below the surface.
As for conventional bass fishing techniques, veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs reports that there have been some impressive fish caught recently. A recent tournament featured a 23-pound bag and an 8-pound largemouth, and reports are that fish are being caught fishing jigs on long points in the dam area as well as humps that are 15-25 feet deep.
There is also a group of fish that has gone into the creeks and rivers, particularly the Whitewater River near the Bad Creek Reservoir. Fish are feeding on baitfish and anglers are catching them casting soft plastic swimbaits at the fish.
November 20
Lake Jocassee is at 98.0% of full pool and water conditions are normal. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are around 67 degrees.
It says everything you need to know about the trout fishing on Lake Jocassee that the trout guides aren’t fishing for trout right now, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that in the interests of trying to keep clients happy and put fish in the boat they are targeting black bass. Mostly they are catching spots but also some smallmouth, and they are fishing back in the rivers trolling spoons and plugs.
The bulk of the spotted bass have come about 55 feet down on downriggers, while the last smallmouth came on a flatline fished about 15 feet below the surface.
More bass information to follow from veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs once it is available.
November 13
Lake Jocassee is at 98.5% of full pool and water conditions are normal. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are still around 69 degrees.
There’s still nothing good to say about the trout fishing on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that the mystery is why they aren’t catching any holdover fish. Even if last winter’s stocking didn’t take, it doesn’t make sense that they aren’t catching any trout from previous stockings. They wonder if the incredible abundance of bait is part of the answer.
Accordingly it’s pretty much impossible to know how deep the trout are holding, and even though they mark fish at about 100 feet there’s no way to know what they are. Of course they could be black bass, or catfish (they are picking up a few shallower), because none of them are biting.
It is the spotted bass that are getting them through it, and they are catching fish trolling around trees in 15-35 or 45-50 feet. Fish will come up out of the trees to follow the spoons or other lures, and sometimes they will hit and other times they will not.
Sam notes that at times there is lots of surface activity.
More bass information to follow once we have hit, and once again here’s the link to the Devil’s Fork Webcam.
October 30
Lake Jocassee is at 97.3% of full pool and water conditions are fairly normal. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are around 69 degrees.
There are no big surprises with the trout fishing on Lake Jocassee this week, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that they continue to mark a ton of fish, even streaking after their baits, but very little is biting. They are lucky to pick up a few black bass on each trip, always spots.
Of course it’s hard to be certain what you are seeing when you aren’t catching fish, but there are still a good number of fish in 100 or more feet that are likely trout. Then there is another good concentration of fish in 30-50 feet that could be bass or trout. And catfish are probably mixed in there somewhere.
Neither live bait nor spoons are working, and they just hope that the winter stocking is a success this year.
But the bass specialists are faring better, and in a recent tournament veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs reports there were a number of good fish (largemouth, smallmouth and spots) caught including a 6-pounder. The predominant pattern seemed to be fishing using forward-facing sonar on the lower lake around the dam, throwing topwater baits, swimbaits, and jerkbaits
October 16
Lake Jocassee is at 97.0% of full pool and water conditions are about back to normal. Morning surface water temperatures on the main lake are around 73 degrees.
The trout fishing on Lake Jocassee is still pretty non-existent, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that not only are not many people going but the ones who are aren’t catching much. On their last trip out they caught one spotted bass. Sam notes that wind has kept them from fishing the dam area some days, but even when they are they aren’t marking as many fish in the 100-foot range. Now most of them are in 60-80 feet.
There’s also very little bass fishing activity, which can be confirmed on the Devil’s Fork Webcam, but the good news is that veteran angler Chip Cranford of Boiling Springs reports that he has heard the state park will be opening again on Friday. One ranger he spoke with who had previously worked on the coast said they had never seen devastation like this after a hurricane, with close to 1,000 trees down. In one place the trees were stacked so high they were having to climb 15 feet up to begin chain-sawing!
Bass reports to follow once we have them.
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.