August 4

Lake Jocassee is at 98.3% of full pool and the lake is clear. Morning surface water temperatures are around 80-83 degrees. 

After an outstanding July the trout fishing is off to a great start again in August on Lake Jocassee, and Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that they hope an 8-pounder yesterday is a sign of more good things to come. The fish have moved even deeper into the 90-120 foot range, and some days the best bite has been coming around 107-110 feet. 

Most of the catches have been in the big water by the dam, although they have also caught some limits in the Whitewater River.  However, once you get into the rivers you are more likely to run into bass than trout. 

The best bite is still coming on Sutton spoons coated with Pautzke Fire Gel, and Guide Sam Jones points out that the biggest fish are often coming when there is some variation in the retrieve like slowing down, stopping briefly, or speeding up. 

Note that Devil’s Fork State Park is offering free admission this summer on Tuesdays.

July 22 (continued)

Last night on Lake Jocassee tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley did what Joe Anders often does on Lake Jocassee, and he and his tournament partner crushed the bass with a 23-pound bag. It included an 8 ½ and a 6 ½ pound largemouth! 

The fish seemed to be keying on shad in the middle to back of the creek arms where the water was a little awash from all the boat traffic, and they caught them around points that had bait on them. Most of the fish came deep cranking but they also caught some on a Pulse jig and Rooster Tail. 

July 22

Lake Jocassee is at 99.3% of full pool and the lake is clear. Morning surface water temperatures are around 78 to 81 degrees. 

They continue to catch big trout on Lake Jocassee, and Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that while they didn’t approach double digits this week they did have a 5 and a 7-pounder. They are also still getting plenty of 16-18 inch fish. Interestingly they are not getting any bass right now, as last year at this time they were getting a bunch. 

The fish have moved deeper, and while Guide Sam Jones did catch one fish at 60 feet this week most of them have been in the 80-95 foot range. They have also had several fish come out of 100 plus feet, and one as deep as 105. While there is water that is deep enough in other areas they are only fishing the dam area right now. 

The best bite is still coming on Sutton spoons coated with Pautzke Fire Gel, and Sam points out that the biggest fish are often coming when there is some variation in the retrieve like slowing down, stopping briefly, or speeding up. 

Note that Devil’s Fork State Park is offering free admission this summer on Tuesdays.

July 19

Lake Jocassee is up to 99.3% of full pool and the lake is pretty clear again. Morning surface water temperatures have risen to around 80 and by the afternoons they are hitting the mid-80s. 

It continues to be a deep bite for bass on Lake Jocassee, but the worse news is that the fishing has gotten tough. Tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that it has only been taking about ten pounds to win recent tournaments, and the fishing is way more difficult than is typical for July.

While you can catch some fish bumping a jig on the bottom off main lake points, the best pattern for Joe recently has been fishing topwater lures offshore on humps. The best humps are out on the main lake, and spy baits have also been pretty good. 

The fish they are catching out deep are a mix of spotted bass and largemouth, and a shallow pattern for largemouth has been pretty much impossible to come by. Smallmouth have also seemingly been in hiding this year. 

July 13

Lake Jocassee is up to 98.3% of full pool and, while the main lake is still clear, up some of the creeks the water is dingy. Morning surface water temperatures are still around 78 degrees on the main lake and in the low 80s in the backs. 

It’s been an incredible bite for big trout recently on Lake Jocassee, and Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that in the last week multiple fish in the 6-10 pound range have been caught on the lake. It’s not unusual for the big fish to turn on in the summer, and Sam has caught his two fish over ten pounds in the summer months, but this is a better bite than normal. They are also getting plenty of 16-18 inch fish, while the sub-15-inch fish that were showing up earlier in the season have disappeared. Apparently they had been washed down the rivers into the lake.

They are pulling baits in the 60-90 foot range, but 70-80 feet has generally been the most productive band.  The dam area has been producing the best. Surprisingly with the full moon the bite has been good all day – often when there is a full moon after the night feed they don’t bite again until mid-day. 

The best bite is still coming on Sutton spoons coated with Pautzke Fire Gel, and Sam points out that the biggest fish are often coming when there is some variation in the retrieve like slowing down, stopping briefly, or speeding up. 

Bass report to follow.

Note that Devil’s Fork State Park is offering free admission this summer on Tuesdays.

July 1

Lake Jocassee is up to 96.0% of full pool and the water is still clear. Morning surface water temperatures are around 78 degrees on the main lake and in the low 80s in the backs. 

As water temperatures heat up Lake Jocassee trout are doing what they always do, and Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that fish are continuing to move deeper. They are now catching most of their fish in the 50-75 foot range, but there are reports of fish as deep as about 85 feet.   

While the browns have slowed a little it’s been a really good rainbow bite, and Guide Sam Jones reports that he and his son Casey have caught a bunch of rainbows in the 3-4 pound range. The best bite is still coming on Sutton spoons coated with Pautzke Fire Gel and, while there are still some fish up major tributaries like the Whitewater River, the dam area is certainly fishing the best. 

While he’s not fishing for bass that deep, tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley is also noticing the bass headed that way. Last night they won the Thursday night tournament with 16 pounds, and while they were fishing way up the rivers last week now they have watched the bite transition out to 30 or more feet in bigger water. The fish are around humps and points that are holding bait, and the best action this week has been on the main lake. Last night they caught every fish they weighed by calling them up to the top with a Gunfish. 

June 24

Lake Jocassee is down to 95.6% of full pool and clarity is extremely high from the main lake to the rivers. Morning surface water temperatures are around 78 degrees on the main lake and in the low 80s in the backs. 

Even though surface temperatures are relatively stable on Lake Jocassee the depths are gradually heating up, and Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that accordingly fish are slowly moving deeper. Guide Sam Jones and his son Sam have both caught fish in the 77-78 foot range, and they are now pulling their spoons from 50-80 feet down. 

While they are catching fish every day the quality of the bite varies, but the action is generally better early before it gets very hot. On the last trip out Casey had 7 fish and Sam had 3, and even though they fished the same length of time it seemed to make a difference that Casey got on the water earlier. All the fish are keepers in the summer months starting June 1 since they are coming out of such deep water, but they are pretty much back to all being over 15 inches again anyway.  

The best bite is still coming on Sutton spoons coated with Pautzke Fire Gel and, while there are some fish up the Whitewater River, the dam area is certainly fishing the best. 

They are sporadically picking up spotted bass in the depths, and Sam says that they will continue to catch them out to 100 or more feet of water all summer. 

While that is certainly true, tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that they have been going after a completely different group of bass in recent tournaments, such as last night’s event where he and Josh Bryant finished second with 15 pounds. The shad are up the rivers where water flows into the lake, including major known waterfalls, and the largemouth are around the shad. The Horse Pasture River has been the best and fish are taking topwater lures. 

They are also spending some time focusing on the offshore fish, and a 3.8 swimbait or a spy bait has been the best way to target these fish.  They are off points in 15-60 feet of water.

June 17

Lake Jocassee is down to 96.6% of full pool and clarity is normal. Morning surface water temperatures are around 79 or 80 degrees on the main lake. 

Water temperatures are rising on Lake Jocassee, but for now Guides Sam and Casey Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) report that fish have not gone super deep and they are still catching trout in the 45-75 foot range. The deepest fish they have had recently came at 73 feet, although another angler apparently caught a 5 pounder at 82 feet. The best bite is still coming on Sutton spoons coated with Pautzke Fire Gel. 

While they are getting plenty of keepers, there have been a surprising number of small trout caught recently in the 10-13 inch range. They are too small to have been stocked last fall and so they are trying to figure out where those came from. 

There are small fish all over the lake, but in general most of the fish up the rivers are small while on the main lake near the dam there are large and small fish.

June 15

Lake Jocassee is up to 98.3% of full pool and clarity is normal. Morning surface water temperatures are in the upper 70s on the main lake, higher in the middle of the rivers, but can be cooler way up the rivers.

Last summer the bass fishing was incredible on Lake Jocassee, but tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that this summer it has been more difficult to catch fish. It has been taking about 11 or 12 pounds to win night tournaments, and even though a big 19-pound sack won the tournament last Saturday weights dropped off pretty steeply after that.   

The shallow bite has been particularly disappointing, and about the only place Joe and his tournament partner can get bit is around waterfalls and other places where water flows into the lake. There is still some shad spawn in these areas and largemouth are there feeding on them. In the morning topwater lures and particularly buzzbaits are working in these areas, and a jig has also been pretty good. 

The spotted bass have been deeper, and they are finding them off points in 15-60 feet of water. They have been aggressive, and swimbaits and spybaits are both working well. However, they haven’t been able to catch the huge spots they found last summer and a very nice 4-pounder is the biggest they have had this year. 

A few smallmouth have been seen in tournaments but overall numbers seem way down.

June 9

Lake Jocassee is at 95.6% of full pool and the lake is extremely clear. Morning surface water temperatures have dropped back slightly to 76-77 degrees on the main lake, while up the rivers they are warmer. 

The trout fishing has been pretty good this week on Lake Jocassee, but Guides Sam and Casey Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) report that for some reason there have been more short strikes and missed fish recently. Despite that they are getting action on all of their trips, even though bass and catfish have been leaving their spoons alone. As is typical in the early summer they are now getting more rainbows as they seem to turn on each year about this time.  The catch is overall a healthy mix of rainbows and browns. They did have a 5-pound brown this week, and the browns generally run a little bigger as they seem to grow faster.  

As expected the fish have moved a little deeper, and the 45-75 foot range is now most productive. The big water near the dam has been the best area.

Sutton spoons have been working very well, and they are still finding that adding Pautzke Fire Gel in herring or shad scents to their baits seems to generate more strikes. It goes on a like a chap stick and sticks to the bait, and it seems to preserve spoons as well by coating them. 

Bass report to follow.

May 24

Lake Jocassee is at 94.8% of full pool and the lake is extremely clear. Morning surface water temperatures have inched up a degree or two to about 73 degrees.

Summer weekend boat traffic is not helpful for the trout fishing, but on Friday Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that they had a three-man limit of 9 fish. Saturday and Sunday the bite was not quite that strong but still good.

Overall the big water is still producing more keeper fish than the rivers, perhaps because there is so much bait by the dam that they grow up faster, but they are catching a bunch of fish up rivers like the Toxaway. Occasionally a giant will also be caught in the rivers. 

While they have caught fish as shallow as 15 feet in the rivers, most of the fish have still been in the 30-60 foot range all over the lake and they not gone deep yet. But that should happen soon as heat lifts water temperatures.

Sutton spoons have been working very well, but recently they have started adding Pautzke Fire Gel in herring or shad scents to their baits and seemingly getting more strikes. It goes on a like a chap stick and sticks to the bait, and it seems to preserve the spoon as well by coating it. 

While the bass spawn will likely extend into June on Lake Jocassee, tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that it’s the shad spawn which is creating excitement for bass fishermen on the lake right now. Early in the morning the bass are around points feeding on shad, and they will take topwater lures, swimbaits, Alabama rigs, jerkbaits and most anything that looks like a baitfish. After the sun gets up the fishing gets a lot tougher, but Ned rigs, swimbaits and Alabama rigs will all work in 5 to 45 feet. A frog can also be really good in late May and June. 

May 19

Lake Jocassee is at 94.6% of full pool and the lake is extremely clear. Morning surface water temperatures are up to about 72 degrees on the main lake and around 74 in the rivers. 

With the bright full moon at night the morning bite has been a little off for trout this week, but Guides Sam and Casey Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) report that the afternoon bite has made up for it. The big water is still producing more keeper fish than the rivers, perhaps because there is so much bait by the dam that they grow up faster, but they are catching a bunch of fish up rivers like the Toxaway. There are certainly some giants up the rivers like the 9-pounder caught about three weeks ago, but they are still generally smaller. 

While they have caught fish as shallow as 15 feet in the rivers, most of the fish have still been in the 30-60 foot range all over the lake and they not gone deep yet. But that should happen soon between the heat and rising water temperatures.

Sutton spoons have been working very well, but recently they have started adding Pautzke Fire Gel in herring or shad scents to their baits and seemingly getting more strikes. It goes on a like a chap stick and sticks to the bait, and it seems to preserve the spoon as well by coating it. 

One of the coolest things recently has been playing around with LiveScope technology for trout, and Sam has been able to watch fish follow baits and then take them when he does something to change the trolling speed. 

The bass spawn should be winding down on Lake Jocassee, but tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that the fish are still shallow in the rivers out to about 30 feet of water. They have been catching them on topwater lures, Alabama rigs and glide baits. When there is wind spinnerbaits will work. 

Joe has had to rely on second-hand reports for the last week, but he is fishing a tournament on Jocassee this weekend and will have more information after that. 

May 13

Lake Jocassee is at 94.9% of full pool and the lake is extremely clear. Morning surface water temperatures are still running about 67 degrees on the main lake but you can find 70s in the backs.

It’s been a really good bite for keeper trout this week, and Guides Sam and Casey Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) report that – even though they haven’t had any monsters – they have caught plenty of fat rainbows and browns this week. The fish still have not gone deeper, and 28-53 feet has been the key depth range. They have been doing the best in the big water by the dam. 

Sutton spoons have been working very well, but recently they have started adding Pautzke Fire Gel in herring or shad scents to their baits and seemingly getting more strikes. It goes on a like a chap stick and sticks to the bait, and it seems to preserve the spoon as well by coating it. 

While it’s impossible to say whether the fish would have taken the spoon without added scent, the gel may also have been responsible for more than just good trout catches this week. The biggest excitement on Sam’s boat this week was a 16-pound catfish that bit one of his herring-flavored Suttons! Initially they weren’t sure if it was a blue or a channel, but review by various experts including a specialist at DNR indicated it was likely a white catfish. That’s a big deal because it weighed two pounds more than the current state record! While they filleted this fish before they knew it was a potential record, there’s little doubt there are more big ones swimming around in this basically untouched fishery. 

The bass spawn is still going on at Lake Jocassee, and will continue into June, but tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that throwing topwater lures is still his preferred pattern. 

The fish are shallow in the rivers out to about 30 feet of water in areas where waterfalls flow in, and in addition to catching them on topwater lures they are getting them on spinnerbaits when there is some wind. Alabama rigs and glide baits have also been picking up a few fish. 

May 4

Lake Jocassee is at 95.0% of full pool and the lake is extremely clear again. Morning surface water temperatures are now running about 67 degrees on the main lake and they are in the upper 60s in the backs. 

The bass spawn is still going on at Lake Jocassee, and will continue into June, but tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that fishing for spawning fish is not good enough to try to do that instead of throwing topwaters. And Joe is worth listening to – in his last four trips he and tournament partner Greg Glouse have had three 20 pound bags!

The fish are shallow in the rivers out to about 30 feet of water in areas where waterfalls flow in, and in addition to catching them on topwater lures they are getting them on spinnerbaits when there is some wind. Alabama rigs and glide baits have also been picking up a few fish. 

With temperatures starting to bump towards 70 degrees the trout should go deeper soon, but Guides Sam and Casey Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) report that for now the fish are still mostly in 30-60 feet of water. While fish can be caught in other areas, the big water has been the most productive.

In Saturday’s tournament which Sam put on there were a ton of 15-16 inch fish caught and the top weights were 4.5, 4.2 and 3.5 pounds.  That’s consistent with what Sam is seeing; the bite for the biggest fish has slowed, but they are still getting plenty of solid fish.  Spoons continue to fish as well or better than live bait but one of the bigger fish in the tournament was caught on a shiner.

April 20

Lake Jocassee is at 94.0% of full pool and the main lake is clear while some of the backs are a little dingy after recent rains. Morning surface water temperatures are now running about 58-60 degrees on the main lake while they are in the low to mid-60s in the backs.   

The bass spawn is well underway on Lake Jocassee, and tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that there will be another big wave of females to come up but they have already found a lot of post-spawn fish. Fishing this week he and his tournament partner had 21 ½ pounds with a 7 ½ pound big fish, and they caught most of their fish up the Toxaway River fishing around boulder rocks on shallow banks. Most of the fish came on a spinnerbait and a jig, but they also caught a couple on an Alabama rig and some smaller ones on a swimbait. This is the magical time of year when large numbers of fish are shallow on Jocassee and so for most people there’s really no reason to look out beyond the first depth break. 

To go along with a good bass bite there is also a red hot trout bite on Lake Jocassee, and Guides Sam and Casey Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) report that this week they have had outstanding numbers of fish (13 on one recent trip) as well as some monsters. They have had two over 8 pounds this week!

Most of the fish are coming in 30-60 feet of water, and the biggest fish have still been coming at the dam. However, on a recent windy day they went way up the Toxaway almost into North Carolina and found a large group of fish. While the fish are gorging on herring – a client found 10 in the belly of an 8 ½ pound fish! – trolling spoons is still working the best and not many people are fishing with live bait. 

April 8

Lake Jocassee is at 94.4% of full pool and the main lake is clear while the backs are dirty after recent rains. Morning surface water temperatures are now running about 58 degrees on the main lake while they have hit 60 in the backs. 

The trout fishing has been very good again this week on Jocassee, and Guides Sam and Casey Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) report that they are still catching good browns and now more rainbows. The prime depth range has been about 50-55 feet this week, but they are still trolling spoons from 30-60 feet and water temperatures are still such that fish can be caught anywhere. Most of the big fish have been caught at the dam but there are a few more good ones being caught in the rivers. 

It continues to be a good pre-spawn bass bite, and Joe Anders of Easley reports that the best fishing is in the creeks and rivers. Basically the pattern is to go down the banks and throw at any piece of shallow cover around the first break out from the shore. While soft plastics will also catch fish, right now the bass are willing to chase baits and so spinnerbaits, jigs, jerkbaits and swimbaits are all working. An Alabama rig has also been good if it is windy. 

April 1

Lake Jocassee is at 94.1% of full pool and the main lake is clear while the backs are pretty dingy (for Jocassee) between recent winds and rain. Morning surface water temperatures are now running about 54-55 degrees on the main lake while up the rivers temperatures are around 58.   

The trout fishing seems to be hitting a sweet spot this week on Joccassee, and Guides Sam and Casey Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) report that numerous 5-pound fish have been caught lately. The prime depth range has been about 50-55 feet this week, but they are still trolling spoons from 30-60 feet and water temperatures are still such that fish can be caught anywhere. Most of the big fish have been caught at the dam. 

Up the rivers the catch by trout fishermen has mostly been a mix of last winter’s stockers (many of which are now legal) and bass, which makes sense because tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that there is still an outstanding pre-spawn bite in the creeks and rivers. Basically the pattern is to go down the banks and throw at any piece of shallow cover around the first break out from the shore. While soft plastics will also catch fish, right now the bass are willing to chase baits and so spinnerbaits, jigs, jerkbaits and swimbaits are all working. An Alabama rig has also been good if it is windy. The spotted bass seem to have turned on first and there are lots of really fat ones being caught.