October 2

Lake Jocassee is down to 93.6% of full pool and water clarity remains very high. Morning surface water temperatures are down to about 75 degrees on the main lake.

The trout are in a pretty typical fall pattern on Lake Jocassee, which is to say it’s a struggle to catch fish. On his last trip Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that the catch was just black bass (spots), with fish coming from 20-90 feet. The trip before that they did catch one good rainbow trout – for some reason the browns have been absent this fall, while it’s usually the rainbows that disappear after the spring and summer – that came in 100 feet of water by the dam on a spoon. Sam has also been trying to fish the trees, and marking a lot of fish, but he’s not sure if they are bass or trout.

They have not been able to try live bait because the only minnows locally available have been too small.

Our apologies for the sporadic fishing reports in recent weeks.  We will do everything we can to get back on track with weekly updates, but one of our children is getting through a significant health challenge which has occupied a great deal of our time and kept us out of work.   

September 24

Lake Jocassee is down to 94.6% of full pool and with very little rain water clarity is extremely high even far up the rivers. Morning surface water temperatures are still about 77-78 degrees on the main water.

The trout are in a pretty typical fall pattern on Lake Jocassee, but Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that they are still managing to pick up a few decent fish. They are still deep, and the last good rainbow they caught came 120 feet down! In general everything is at least 80 plus feet deep. While they have been trying some live bait spoons continue to work better and the dam area has been most productive.

When they are looking for faster action with clients they are targeting black bass, and going up the rivers into 30-50 feet of water the fish are pretty stacked up. While they have offered them minnows they are also biting better on trolled spoons. You could likely jig spoons as well, and there continue to be some good reports on jigs. 

 

September 12

Lake Jocassee is at 97.9% of full pool and water clarity is above average with no recent rain. Morning surface water temperatures are down to about 77 degrees.

This week’s report unfortunately confirms that the trout bite seems to be slowing down for the fall on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that catches have been minimal recently. They thoughtthey were marking a ton of trout in 80-100 feet of water, and they may be, but when they caught a black bass (spot) at that depth they had to question what they were really seeing. Interestingly there is less activity in the vicinity of the dam now and they are seeing more fish at the mouth of the Whitewater River.  But there’s no productive trout pattern known at this time.

While there are likely decent numbers of bass in deep water at the mouth of the rivers, the numbers appear to get even better the further back you go.  In about 50 feet Sam has been marking bass stacked up, and there are very strong reports fishing a jig in 10-20 feet.

August 28

Lake Jocassee is at 98.0% of full pool and water clarity is normal on the main lake. Morning surface water temperatures are down to about 80 degrees.

Unfortunately the trout bite seems to be entering a seasonal slow-down on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that they are still marking fish in the big water in 80-100 feet but they just aren’t catching as many while trolling spoons. That’s typical for early fall, and Sam expects that before long they will have to start fishing in the trees to get any trout bites when the fish become increasingly structure-oriented (as they do each year).

But the good news is that the black bass are biting better, and even fishing in 80-100 feet they are picking up a few more bass.   However, trolling 60-70 foot humps with spoons 30-50 feet down they are seeing some nice groups of spotted bass up to about 2 ½ pounds. They are eating small shad in the 1 ½ inch range, and by downsizing to smaller spoons they have been able to pick up more bass. 

August 21

Lake Jocassee is at 98.4% of full pool and water clarity is normal on the main lake. Morning surface water temperatures range from about 80-82 degrees.

The trout bite on Lake Jocassee remains pretty strong, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that the best fishing is still in 90-100 feet, where the trout should stay for about another month. They are still being caught on spoons, and the dam has area has been far more effective than anywhere else. 

Right now they are still not picking up many black bass. 

August 13

Lake Jocassee is at 97.8% of full pool and water clarity is normal on the main lake. Morning surface water temperatures are down to about 80 degrees. 

There are less summer vacationers on the water pursuing them but the trout bite on Lake Jocassee remains pretty strong, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that today his son and guide partner Casey caught three 4-pound fish. They all came in roughly 90-100 feet, where they should stay for a month or more longer. The cooler weather does not seem to have had much effect on the bite, which is unsurprising considering how deep the fish are living and so how little changes in surface temperatures of three degrees affect them. 

The best action is coming at the dam, and right now they are not picking up many black bass. 

July 31

Lake Jocassee is at 96.8% of full pool and water clarity is typically high. Morning surface water temperatures are up to about 83 degrees on the main lake, but they have seen temperatures as high as 88 up the Toxaway River – very hot for this mountain lake!  

The summer trout bite has slowed in the extreme heat on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that his son Casey did have one trip where they caught three trout but picking up one or two has been more common. Most of the trout are around 100 feet deep, and they are basically trolling in the 90-110 foot range. When they have put spoons down to 125 they don’t get any action – which makes sense because it appears that the thermocline starts at about 90 feet (but can be tens of feet wide). The best area has been the big water near the dam.

But while the trout have slowed, they are picking up far more black bass than earlier in the summer. In addition to spots once again they picked up a very deep largemouth, this time a 3-pounder at 100 feet! They have not been catching many catfish except for small fish, often “hitchhikers” it takes a while to even realize are on the line. 

Our family is travelling next week for the last week of the summer before our children go back to school, but we will resume weekly fishing reports the following week. Hopefully some cooler weather will give us some exciting changes to relay – although it will still be August in South Carolina!     

July 22

Lake Jocassee is at 96.1% of full pool and water clarity is typically high. Morning surface water temperatures are up to about 82 degrees on the main lake.

The summer trout bite continues to be very good on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that in addition to good numbers they are still picking up some very fat rainbows as well as some big holdover brown trout like the 6-pound, 23-inch fish pictured below. It came 95 feet deep, and generally they are catching most of the fish at 70-115 feet. Fish are mostly holding at least 80 feet deep but they will still run up shallower to take a bait. On a typical trip Sam will run a flat-line with a crankbait at about 25 feet, a downrigger shallow at 60 feet, and three more at about 90, 105 and 110 feet. In general the catfish and occasional black bass come on the shallower lines, although they did catch one largemouth at 90 feet! 

Overall the dam area has been the most productive, but they are picking up a few fish trolling from the dam area over to the Whitewater River. 

We apologize that these reports are running a few days behind – the author had some unexpected issues in his other job arise. 

July 9

Lake Jocassee is at 95.7% of full pool and water clarity is typically high. Morning surface water temperatures are holding at around 80 degrees on the main lake.

While they stayed off the water for a few days around the Fourth, Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) reports that as they have started fishing again it’s clear the trout patterns have not changed very much. Overall the fish are still mostly coming in 80-110 feet of water, and by far the best action has been at the dam. Trolling up to the Whitewater River to try something different has mostly still been unproductive. Right now the fish are taking Sutton spoons so well there’s no reason to fish anything else. 

They are still picking up one or two catfish most trips but no black bass. 

July 2

Lake Jocassee is at 97.1% of full pool and water clarity is typically high. Morning surface water temperatures are holding at around 80 degrees on the main lake.

After the slow year for trout that was much of 2024 this year has been a tremendous improvement, and Guide Sam Jones with Jocassee Charters (864-280-9056) feels particularly grateful to say that today was a slower today where they onlycaught four trout. Most of last year that would have been a banner day. Monday both Sam and his guiding partner and son Casey had short three-hour trips (before customers wanted to cool off swimming) where they caught seven trout and two good catfish each, and so it really has been an incredible turnaround. 

Overall the fish are still mostly coming in 80-110 feet of water, and by far the best action has been at the dam. Trolling up to the Whitewater River to try something different has mostly been unproductive. Right now the fish are taking Sutton spoons so well there’s no reason to fish anything else.