Learn more about Lake Keowee below
March 16
Lake Keowee is at 98.6% of full pool and clarity is normal. Morning surface water temperatures have fallen 1-2 degrees to around 60 over most of the lake. Around the power plant temperatures are in the mid-60s, while near the Jocassee dam they are in the upper 50s.
March 9
Lake Keowee is at 97.6% of full pool and clarity is normal. Morning surface water temperatures are in the low to mid-60s over most of the lake.
March 2
Lake Keowee is at 98.3% of full pool and clarity is normal. Around the nuclear station water temperatures are in the mid-60s, with most areas of the lake now in the low 60s.
February 23
Lake Keowee is at 98.1% of full pool and clarity is normal. The lake has warmed to about 60 degrees on the north and south ends, with the mid-lake rising to the mid-60s over the last couple of days.
February 16
Lake Keowee is at 97.5% of full pool and clarity is normal. Water temperatures continue to rise on the lake with the mid-lake now in the mid-60s and the upper 50s at the north and south ends.
Read more fishing reports from Lake Keowee and other popular places at the AHQ Report!
Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Clemson, South Carolina, construction of Lake Keowee was completed in 1973. The lake was created to serve the needs of Duke Energy, and lake water cools three nuclear reactors at the Oconee Nuclear Generating Station. The northern end of the lake backs up to Lake Jocassee, the power plant is in the mid-lake section, and at the lower end outflows from the two dams (Keowee Dam and Little River Dam) combine to form the Seneca River and feed one of the major arms of Lake Hartwell. A beautiful, generally clear lake, it is about 25 miles long and oriented north/ south, covers approximately 18,500 acres, and has around 300 acres of shoreline. At the widest it is about 3 miles wide, and the lake averages 50 feet deep.
Unlike many South Carolina lakes, Lake Keowee does not have striped bass stocked by the Department of Natural Resources – nor significant numbers of blueback herring – nor does it have stocked trout. It does have largemouth bass, with some large fish caught each year, but the numbers are dwindling and DNR has launched a habitat restoration project aiming to re-grow native vegetation. The lake still has some big white crappie as well as a very few black crappie, but this population has also dwindled. There are bream and giant catfish in Lake Keowee, with an 89-pound blue catfish caught in the spring of 2020 – and there is little doubt that there are still larger fish swimming. But Lake Keowee is best known for its massive population of non-native spotted bass that feast on the main forage base of threadfin shad.
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