November 11

Lake Jocassee is at 93.8% of full pool and the lake is even clearer than usual. Morning surface water temperatures are around 67-68 degrees. 

The trout bite on Lake Jocassee has slowed a little bit more, and Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056) reports that fishing is typical for November with only occasional bites. With several warm days this week surface temperatures have held steady and fish are still super deep in the 100-120 foot range of the big water.  Sam is marking fish at Whitewater and near the dam, but due to time of year and perhaps with contribution from an over-abundance of bait they just won’t eat very often. Spoons, plugs and minnows are all working about the same. 

Fortunately Lake Jocassee also has bass, and tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that they are starting to suspend and feed up in the river channels, at the mouths of rivers like the Toxaway and occasionally off the end of main lake points. Targeting them is about locating schools of baitfish on your electronics, or with the help of birds, and then counting down baits to the right depth.  Fish could be 20 feet down over 120 feet of water.  

The Alabama rig can be a good way to cover water, and counting down swimbaits is also effective.   

At times fish will also be caught on a jig offshore, and with a limited numbers of points that reach out into the lake you can narrow down the places to fish it.

Finally, Sam notes that some bass are being caught burning a fluke just under the surface way up the rivers. 

November 5

Lake Jocassee is at 93.3% of full pool and the lake is very clear. Morning surface water temperatures are around 67-68 degrees. 

The trout bite on Lake Jocassee continues to be slow, which Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056) reports is par for the course in November. Many years ago they stopped doing a trout tournament in November because so few keepers were weighed in. Even though surface temperatures are dropping fish are still super deep in the 100-120 foot range of the big water, and they are only picking up a fish here-and-there. A combination of time of year and the over-abundance of bait is probably weakening the bite. Sam is marking the most fish around Whitewater, although there are still fish at the dam too. Fish still aren’t showing much preference between Sutton and Apex spoons and live bait isn’t working any better.

While they are still picking up a few bass trolling for trout in very deep water, or while pulling lures back up to the surface, the deep bass bite is slower than last month. 

Full bass report to follow from tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley.

October 21

Lake Jocassee is at 94.6% of full pool and they are pulling so much water through the lake that water clarity is unusually high despite all the rain, even in areas that are not usually clear.  Morning surface water temperatures are around 74 degrees. 

There aren’t many surprises in the fall trout bite on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056) reports that the fish are doing almost exactly what he expects for this time of year. Fish are still super deep in the 100-120 foot range of the big water, and they are picking up a fish here-and-there but not great numbers. It usually isn’t until water temperatures drop in December and they stock more fish that the bite really gets hot again, although the full moon isn’t helping since so many fish feed at night.  

For now the fish aren’t showing much preference between Sutton and Apex spoons, and they are willing to eat bigger and more normal-sized spoons again. There is an incredible amount of bait in the water and no one is really fishing live bait right now. Surprisingly the catch has been almost all rainbows recently while the browns have been absent.

While they are still picking up a few bass trolling for trout in very deep water, or while pulling lures back up to the surface, the deep bass bite has slowed down a little since all the rain.

Full bass report to follow from tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley.

October 8

Lake Jocassee is at 95.9% of full pool and clarity has been unusually high – although the rains are beginning to reduce it. Morning surface water temperatures are still around 76-77 degrees. 

Despite pouring rain that kept him off the water, tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that it still took 19 pounds to win the Thursday night bass tournament last night on Lake Jocassee, with the big bags coming shallow. The winning team had a sack of largemouth that came just going down the bank and throwing topwater lures. This is not unusual in the fall when it gets close to the turnover, and Joe says that at that time fish customarily go shallow or very deep. 

That is exactly consistent with the report from Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056), who says it has been a little tricky to get the trout to bite but luckily spotted bass have stepped in to provide the action and some good eating.  All of a sudden a lot of bass have showed up in the 80-120 foot range where they are still marking the trout in the big water near the dam or at the mouth of the Whitewater.  Bigger Sutton spoons have been best for both trout and bass right now.

September 30

Lake Jocassee is around 95.4% of full pool and clarity is extremely high. Morning surface water temperatures are around 77 degrees. 

Water temperatures have not cooled off enough for the trout to move shallower, and Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056) reports that the fish they are catching are still coming in 100 plus feet of water by the dam or in the main body of water where the Whitewater River comes in. There have been some bigger ones but most of the fish are in the 3-4 pound range, and they are also catching a good number of spotted bass deep right now. For some reason big Sutton spoons are working the best at the moment. 

New bass fishing report to follow from tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley.

September 17

Lake Jocassee is up to 95.4% of full pool and clarity is normal. Morning surface water temperatures are around 80-82 degrees. 

Last night makes 5 out of 6 Thursday night bass tournaments on Lake Jocassee that tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley has won in a row, with the off-week being last week when another team landed a monster 9.77 pound largemouth to go with some other impressive fish. The bite was a little slower last night and Joe only had about thirteen pounds, with the second place team just under 11. 

While there are still some fish being caught out deep in 40-45 feet on a jig, from what Joe is seeing it looks like the fish are moving shallower again and the offshore bite is slowing down as some of the shad appear to be transitioning away from the depths. His main weapon in the evenings has been a jerkbait, while if he were fishing in the mornings he would probably spend more time with a buzzbait in low light conditions. It gets dark so fast now that the low light window is really short in the p.m. Flukes are also working well. 

There’s not a lot of change in the trout fishing, and Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056) reports that they are catching a few big ones but overall the bite has been pretty slow.  It’s about right for the season.  All of the fish that they are catching are still in 100 plus feet of water, either by the dam or in the main body of water where the Whitewater River comes in.  Sutton and Apex spoons both seem to be working about the same.

September 3

Lake Jocassee is at 94.2% of full pool and morning surface water temperatures are in the lower 80s on the main lake.    

Last night makes three straight first place finishes for tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley in the Thursday night bass tournaments on Lake Jocassee, and he reports that fish are being caught on a combination of shallow and deep patterns. Last night he caught a monster 7.86 pound largemouth on a buzzbait in two feet of water, and lots of other anglers are also fishing topwater lures around the banks. 

However, what seems to be separating the top bags is that they are comprised of fish caught both shallow and deep. Last week Joe’s bag was anchored by a monster spotted bass (his personal best) weighing 6.88 pounds, and these fish are coming suspended offshore in schools in up to 90 feet of water. The huge spot came almost 70 feet down, and like most of the offshore fish it was in a big group of 30 or so others. Often they are over timber, and you pretty much have to mark them on your electronics to target them. From there it’s a matter of counting a spy bait or swimbait down to the right depth, and usually the bass will take it on the fall. 

Joe has found the best action at the mouths of the rivers. 

Usually at this time of year the trout fishing slows down on Lake Jocassee until it really cools off, but Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056) reports that typically if you put the hours in you can catch a big fish. That hasn’t been the case for the last couple of weeks, but after 20 years of guiding on the lake Sam isn’t worried. Sam knows there are plenty of big ones swimming around and they could turn on at any point.

All of the fish that they are catching have been in 100 plus feet of water, either by the dam or in the main body of water where the Whitewater River comes in. Sutton and Apex spoons both seem to be working about the same. 

August 20

Lake Jocassee is at 96.4% of full pool and, while the main lake is still clear, recent rains and run-off have dirtied up the banks. Morning surface water temperatures are in the lower 80s in the creeks.  

Fresh off 16 pounds and first place in last night’s bass event, tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that he and his tournament partner Greg Glouse have discovered that bait seems to be starting to make an early push back into the creeks for fall.  

The shallow bite is off right now since the water is colored, and Jocassee bass are so used to high visibility that they don’t like it when it gets dirty. Joe and Greg found the best action deep in 40-70 feet of water on the upper end of the lake. They caught everything they weighed on a Ledge Buster spinnerbait and a ½ ounce Megabass Spark Shad swimbait. 

New trout report to follow from Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056).

August 6

Lake Jocassee remains very high at 98.6% of full pool and, while the main lake is still clear, particularly in the evenings when there is a lot of boat traffic the creeks are milky or just dirty. Morning surface water temperatures are still about 79-80 degrees.

The trout fishing was a little down on Lake Jocassee this week, and Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056) reports that the effects of the hot weather may be kicking in. While surface temperatures are basically unchanged, the warm temperatures are moving down the water column and he now has to drop a probe down to 100 feet to find 60-degree water!

Unsurprisingly, that means the fish they are catching are all in 100 plus feet of water, with 100-120 feet of water in the main pool and at the mouth of the Whitewater River in the channel the most productive.  Even though his boat is still putting out shallower rods at 60-80 feet they are mainly getting bass, small catfish, and the occasional big carp on those.  

They are marking a ton of fish in deep water, but the trick at this time of year is getting them to eat and avoiding short strikes. When you fish this deep it’s hard to avoid getting some slack in your line when it pulls out of the downrigger. Sutton and Apex spoons have been working the best, and even though Sam is not sure how much color matters at 110 feet watermelon color is seems to be the best. 

There continues to be no magic period when the fish are biting the best, and instead bites are still coming in flurries.

Night fishing has slowed a bit this week too, but they can still be caught. Fish will come up as shallow as 30-40 feet to feet on bait over lights, although the bigger fish may prefer to feed further under the bait schools. 

At night you can also put out cut bait over some of the anchored spots and catch catfish when the trout are biting intermittently.

 

The night bass fishing tournament results continue to be a little spotty, and tournament  angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that the winning bags continue to feature one or two big fish but that overall the catches of solid bass are a little off. Last night Joe had about 9 pounds with his big fish barely a 3-pounder, while the first place team had 16 plus pounds that included nearly a 7-pounder. 

While there may be some offshore action going on, from what Joe is seeing – particularly in low light conditions - it’s still all about fishing near the banks with a Whopper Plopper, buzzbait or spinnerbait. The fish seem to want to relate to big rock formations right now, perhaps because those areas are a little cleaner. 

Joe has a daytime tournament tomorrow and hopes to find some deeper patterns to fish when the sun is high. 

July 30

Lake Jocassee is very high at 99% of full pool, and, while the main lake is still clear, particularly in the evenings when there is a lot of boat traffic the creeks are milky or just dirty. Morning surface water temperatures are about 79-80 degrees. 

It’s been a really good week for trout fishing on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056) reports that even though the fish have moved very deep they are biting well.  This week they have caught a bunch of fat 4-5 pound rainbow trout. 

The last three trips everything has come in 100-120 feet of water in the big water and at the mouth of the Whitewater River in the channel, and even though his boat is still putting out shallower rods at 60-80 feet they are mainly getting bass, small catfish, and the occasional big carp on those. The shallowest trout in the last two weeks came at 90 feet.

They are marking a ton of fish in deep water, but the trick at this time of year is getting them to eat and avoiding short strikes. When you fish this deep it’s hard to avoid getting some slack in your line when it pulls out of the downrigger. Sutton and Apex spoons have been working the best, and even though Sam is not sure how much color matters at 113 feet watermelon color is working very well. 

There continues to be no magic period when the fish are biting the best, and instead bites are still coming in flurries.

Night fishing has been pretty good recently, but like fishing during daylight hours the trout bite is off-and-on. Fish will come up as shallow as 30-40 feet to feet on bait over lights, although the bigger fish may prefer to feed further under the bait schools. 

At night you can also put out cut bait over some of the anchored spots and catch catfish when the trout are biting intermittently. 

In the Friday night bass fishing tournament last week tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley won with an impressive 16 pounds including the two brutes shown below, but then last night it only took 10 pounds to win and Joe had just 9. Overall the weights are not as consistent this year as last summer, when several teams were regularly catching 16-20 pounds every time they went out. 

Last Friday almost everything came on a buzzbait and the fish would only eat topwater, while last night the fish wanted a Carolina rig. There was so much boat traffic yesterday evening that it seemed as if the diminished water clarity hurt the shallow bite and fish seemed to be biting better offshore.  The best action for Joe came in 20-50 feet last night.

One factor hurting the bite, or at least fishermen, may be high water levels, and with the lake so high fish are not set up on their normal places. 

July 23

Lake Jocassee is up to 98.9% of full pool after all this rain. While the main lake is still clear the creeks are very dirty by Jocassee standards. Morning surface water temperatures on the big water are 78-80 degrees. 

It’s no surprise that the trout have gone deep on Lake Jocassee, and Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056) reports that the best action is now in 90-110 feet. The fishing has also slowed down a bit, and while they are getting plenty of bites less trout are coming to the surface than earlier in the summer. Carp, catfish and occasional spotted bass are all pulling rods down right now.    

The best fishing has been at the dam or in the big water at the mouth of the Whitewater River. Spoons are still out-fishing live bait, and if you put on minnows it usually just means that you pick up more little cats.
It’s hard to pinpoint a peak time of the day, and bites usually come in small flurries throughout the day. 

Last night on Lake Jocassee tournament bass angler Joe Anders of Easley showed that you can’t win them all, but Mother Nature may have had something to do with it. Joe and his partner only had 8 pounds, but the bite was pretty good before a storm blew up at 7:45 and basically shut everyone down. The winning bag of 11 pounds included a 6-pounder and the winner only had 4 fish. 

Still the bite in the rivers does seem to be a little off, and Joe wonders if the colored water is a factor in that. The lake has big ones but it is not full of bass, and Jocassee bass are visual feeders who will usually come a long way to take a bait.  Right now it’s harder to do that.

They are still catching some fish on topwater lures including a black Whopper Plopper around flatter, shallow banks, but the best bites are coming on a flipping jig fished around red clay banks or fresh wood that still has leaves in it. 

While there should be a decent offshore bite on spy baits, swimbaits, or orange and green football jigs, conditions have not been great for it recently with a lot of wind.  That bite is also usually better mid-morning rather than in the evening when Joe has been fishing more.

Interestingly, Joe has not seen any good smallmouth recently – unlike last year. 

July 9

Lake Jocassee is at 97.9% of full pool and the lake is very clear. Morning surface water temperatures on the big water are 75-78 degrees, while in the backs they are about 80. 

Even though surface temperatures have not changed a whole lot on Lake Jocassee, Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056) reports that water temperatures throughout the water column are generally rising and you now have to drop a temperature probe to about 100 feet to find 55 degree water.  As a result of all this the trout are going deeper, and the depth range where fish are eating is now about 60-90 feet. The big fish pictured below came in 93 feet, but in general the most productive range has been 70-80 feet.  

The bite has been particularly strong for rainbow trout, and they are almost exclusively pulling spoons in the big water near the dam. Time of day does not seem to make much difference but the fish are definitely feeding in small spurts. 

In addition to good numbers of trout they have picked up a few catfish including a 13-pound channel!  

Fresh off another night tournament win on Lake Jocassee, tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley is definitely the man to talk to about how the bass are biting on Lake Jocassee. In this tournament he had 16 pounds, but instead of a big largemouth putting the bag over the top Joe had a monster 5-12 spot!

Typical for summer night fishing, Joe ran a bunch of different patterns. He caught some of his fish on a jig about 30 feet deep off points, and then he caught a few on a spybait offshore. There was also a shallow pattern, and in lowlight conditions right after dark he caught several on a buzzbait and a Whopper Plopper. This is also a good pattern first thing. 

Joe alternated between the main lake and up the Toxaway River, and notes that the water was extremely clear (before this rain) even in the very backs. 

June 25

Lake Jocassee is up to 97.6% of full pool and morning surface water temperatures have dipped back to a mild 76 degrees. 

In last night’s bass fishing tournament on Jocassee tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley and his partner Greg Glouse won with 16 pounds and found a good bite. Fish were split between shallow and deep, and their bag was anchored by a big 5.92 pound largemouth that took a prop bait. The rest of their fish were spotted bass, and the largemouth plus a couple of chunky spots that weighed were caught from the bank out to about 15 yards off it in less than 20 feet of water.  Shallow fish were willing to eat Texas rigs and a jig as well as topwaters.  

There was also a decent offshore bite, and they found a lot of hungry spotted bass suspended in the tops of timber that were willing to come up to take a spybait.  A couple came up to the surface and slapped at a topwater lure but they wouldn’t take it. You can also find fish off deep points, sitting in about 40 feet of water and fishing towards the banks with something slow moving on the bottom.

We are getting into the period where the water temperatures can be a little lower up the rivers, but with the main lake still relatively cool there is not much differential right now.

A few big brown trout have been caught recently on Lake Jocassee, but Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056) reports that there has been a really good bite for 17-19 inch rainbows that were likely stocked last winter on the lake. The fish are fat and healthy from feeding on the good population of bait that Jocassee currently has. 

Overall the fish have been in 60-90 feet of water, with the majority of the fish coming around 80 feet right now. The best action has generally come in the big water near the dam, but when conditions are too windy Sam’s boat has found some success heading into the Whitewater. The Toxaway has been slow. 

Spoons are still out-fishing live bait and Apex spoons are working better than Sutton spoons.

June 11

Lake Jocassee is at 95.7% of full pool and the lake is very clear. Morning surface water temperatures have risen fast to about 75 degrees on the big water. 

At the begging of the the week it looked like the Lake Jocassee trout fishing was starting to slow down, but as the week progressed Guide Sam Jones (864-280-9056) reports that they have been getting really good numbers of fish again, always with the chance of a really big one. The trout continue to move deeper, and by this point the most productive depth range is 45-75 feet.  The best fishing has been in the big water near the dam.  Time of day has not made much of a difference, and the fish are generally biting pretty steadily all day. Spoons are out-fishing live bait and Apex spoons are working better than Sutton spoons.

Fresh off second place with just over 13 pounds in last night’s bass fishing tournament on Jocassee, tournament angler Joe Anders of Easley reports that the bite is a lot tougher than he expected.  While there may be a few rogue fish still spawning it’s certainly not enough to pattern around, and the ones they caught last night seemed to be in areas where the shad spawn had earlier been going on and perhaps still is. Except for one fish they caught on a jerkbait everything came on topwater, including a nearly 6-pound largemouth that anchored their bag. Yesterday the fish would swipe at a Whopper Plopper but they would eat a chrome Gunfish.

They started off fishing deep but never found a deep bite, and everything they caught was super shallow. Overall the bite seemed spotty, and they could only find flurries of fish with large dead areas in between where nothing was going on. They spent the whole night on the main lake and never went up the rivers.