9.5 oz. You will need a valid SC fishing license. Fed by Appalachian streams, Lake Jocassee is not very fertile, and its vertical banks and extremely deep water eliminate a lot of the lake's open waters as bass habitat. Lake Jocassee is steep-sided, rocky and bounded by mountains. 13 talking about this. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources does not have much information on the black bass population makeup or size structures in Lake Jocassee because the lake's bass are difficult to survey. Redeyes resemble smallmouth bass, but they have redder fins than other black bass species and have dark spots on the belly area, which smallmo. Preston's fish easily bests the 4-pound-test line-class world-record spot of 5 pounds, 8 ounces, but it is not recognized in the current world record book. Lake Jocassee fishing guides do the bulk of their fishing with live bait, whether they are targeting trout or bass. The lake is commonly known for the clean and cold Appalachian mountain rivers that feed the lake to keep its waters cool and clear year-round. Southern-Style Fried Shellcrackers Recipe, Mud Hole MHX Rod Building Kits: Field-Tested, Baitfish for Bass: Search, Suspend or Sink Crankbaits, Amazing Kayak Power and Control: Hobie's MirageDrive 360 Propulsion System, The South's Best Waters for Trophy Catfish, 10 Secret Catfish Baits You Didn't Know About, Good Deeds: Bass-Fishing Santas Raise $15K in Toys for Kids, Take Epic West Fishing Adventure Right Now, Hobie MirageDrive 360 Kayak Propulsion: Amazing Control and Power, Action and Power Ratings- How to Choose the Right Bass Rod, Hunting Elk with the Ruger Hawkeye Long Range Hunter in 6.5 PRC, Catch More Bass on a Jerkbait in the Cooler Months. The lake is very clear in the big water, but dingy up the rivers. Lake Jocassee Fishing Guide Trips. With four black bass species, all of which grow to big sizes, anglers never know what might strike when they cast out into Lake Jocassee. When you purchase our Lake Maps App, you get all the great marine chart app features like fishing spots, along with Lake Jocassee lake depth map. Terry Dodson's 9-pound, 7-ounce smallmouth, also caught in 2001, established a new line-class world record for 14-pound-test. Maintained By: USACE, Owned By: SCPRT Very early in the spring, however, more baitfish will start moving up the river arms, and a lot of bass will follow them. We are Your Guide to Adventure! The park is at the end of the road. Maintained By: Duke Energy, Owned By: Oconee County PRT Smallmouths and redeyes, which are similar in appearance and in behavior, probably number the highest in the lake. Zillow has 37 homes for sale in Salem SC matching Lake Jocassee. Long, wispy rods are used to cast the awkward rigs, which suspend a bait in the strike zone. The upper end splits into narrower creek and river arms. All public boating access to Lake Jocassee is from Devils Fork State Park. In some places just casting distance off the bank you are in 300' of water. Jul 31, 2018 - Lake Jocassee. However, minimum standards may not have been met in some of the older sites. This 1,534-acre reservoir functions as a focal point for Spartanburg County and is popular among boaters and anglers. With standard packages to fully customizable trips, Jocassee Quest is here for all of your lake needs. Hoyett's also offers guide service. Jocassee is hands down the best trout fishery in the SE. Electro-shocking, which is the primary method used for sampling bass populations, is most effective in relatively shallow water. Most fishermen target smallmouths, which are larger, and catch redeyes as a by-catch. Both species favor cool waters and are forced to spend much of the year very deep to find temperatures that suit their preferences. webmaster@dnr.sc.gov, Friendship Recreation Area Bank (PDF 1.1MB), Lawrence Bridge Recreation Area Bank (PDF 1MB), Oconee Station State Historic Site Bank (PDF 1.2MB), Oconee Station State Historic Site (Pond) Bank. Lake Jocassee fishing: Trophy trout can be caught using various methods including trolling, drifting and night fishing. While the redeye bass are native to the Keowee River watershed, most fishermen are far more familiar with the non-native smallmouths, and many redeyes probably are not ever identified as such. Fishing at Lake Jocassee, South Carolina Lake Jocassee holds state records for 5 species of fish, including three in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae). To find Lake Jocassee enter the 34.960098 latitude, and -82.919312 longitude coordinates into your GPS device or smart phone. Most anglers' understanding of the fishery, therefore, is based on casual observations through days on the water and conversations with other anglers. This trip is for the trout angler looking to put a giant on their wall. Largemouth Bass with a buzzbait. Lake Jocassee Trout Fishing. |   The land around 7,565-acre Lake Jocassee remains mostly undeveloped and the only public access point to the lake is through Devils Fork. Maintained By: Oconee County PRT, Owned By: SCPRT And the undeveloped land surrounding the lake makes it a paradise for those looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The mountain spring-fed Lake Jocassee encompassed by the Jocassee Gorges, waterfalls accessible only by boat and some of the best South Carolina trout fishing are all part of the allure of Devils Fork State Park. = Handicap accessible where indicated. southcarolinaparks.com, or call 1-888-88-PARKS. For details on fishing at Lake Jocassee, or to get set up with a guide and the latest trout tournament dates, call (864) 944-9016 or go to www.hoyetts.com. Maintained By: Oconee County PRT, Owned By: USACE It's not unusual to be a cast's length from the shore and have 75 feet or more of water beneath the boat. 35 in. 5 oz and brown trout at 19 lbs. "I like fishing there because of the big-fish potential," Preston said. Lake Tours. Couch also pointed toward waters up the rivers as being good for bass early in the year. I could see fish darting around at 10 feet and got really lucky and caught about a 20-inch smallmouth off the bank. Photo by Jeff Samsel. They probably got into Jocassee via fishermen moving them from Georgia lakes. BEFORE YOU GO Anglers fishing up Lake Jocassee's river arms need to be aware that the far upper ends of the Horsepasture and Toxaway arms are in North Carolina, and there is no reciprocal license between the two states. Shad and herring ball up in the winter and smallmouths and their cousins suspend among them. Fishermen have essentially had to relearn the lake, and many fishermen will have to start again when the lake finally does get back up to its proper level. Aug, 02, 2018 Thomas Readett 0. Start times vary with seasonal patterns. Its rocky banks and open-water humps do provide fine living conditions in areas for the three cool-water black bass species, however, and all the lake's bass grow fat on blueback herring, threadfin shad and crawfish. Largemouths are relatively few in number, but they grow to big sizes, which seems to be the pattern on a lot of Southern Appalachian reservoirs. Through the heart of winter, most of the baitfish are apt to be in the lower lake. The redeye bass record, set in 2001 by Randy Dixon of Westminster, also established an all-tackle world record for the species at 5 pounds, 2.5 ounces. A few of the state records the lake holds are a 17.9 pound brown trout, 11.5 rainbow trout and a 2 pound 12 oz brook caught in 2010. Humps that rise to 15 to 30 feet from much deeper water also provide great habitat, and they get far less pressure than structures that are extensions of visible shoreline features. The 7,565 acre Lake Jocassee is mountain spring-fed and provides exceptionally clear water. The best place to get bait, tackle and up-to-date fishing information is at Hoyett's Grocery and Tackle, which is located on the road to the Devils Fork. Anglers alternate jiggles and pauses to move the bait slowly along. If you need fishing tackle, or are looking for a fishing guide or fishing charter please visit Tackle, Guides, Charters 2 oz. Any relatively flat point is a potential gold mine on Jocassee, Couch pointed out, because most points drop so quickly into really deep water that they provide minimal decent structure for black bass. Jocassee Reports is where you can post your fishing reports, photos and ask for tips on fishing Lake Jocassee. Lake Jocassee, surrounded by pristine mountains with beautiful forest, cascading waterfalls, sheer rock cliffs, white sand beaches and crystal clear water, is the most scenic lake in South Carolina. Curtis Fry/Flickr. It is a super deep Lake. Largemouth, smallmouth, spots and redeye bass are all available at this lake. Improvements have been made and continue to be made to these sites to allow for easier handicap access. Hoyett's is on the right, about a mile from the highway. Lake Jocassee guide James Couch compares two bass caught on the same Jocassee fishing trip. Jocassee has little shallow water, and three of its four bass species don't spend much time in it. Home. The record spotted bass was actually so dark when he landed it that Preston thought it was a smallmouth until he took it to Hoyett's Grocery and Tackle to have it weighed. Many anglers who have sampled Jocassee's deep waters a time or two would contend that the lake has no fish in it. The fishing maps app include HD lake depth contours, along with advanced features found in Fish Finder / Gps Chart … Nice Jocassee bass! As your fishing or lake tour guide, I will work to provide your ideal day (or night) on the water. I can't speak to the small mouth fishing because I didn't focus on it when I was there. The state-record smallmouth bass, spotted bass and redeye bass all came from Jocassee (not to mention a couple species of trout), and the fish that all of those replaced in the record books all came from the same waters. schedule now. A lot of local bass fishermen spend time up the Toxaway and Horsepasture rivers early in the year. Because the water is so deep and clear and because the most abundant species behave differently than largemouth bass, many fishermen find Jocassee extremely difficult to figure out. While Lake Jocassee yields trophy bass and offers fabulous variety, it is not known for producing tremendous catch rates. Email Me. Jocassee is also somewhat complex because of pumpback operations at both ends of the lake. Preston had already released a 5-pound, 10-ounce smallmouth, plus a couple of big trout on the day he caught his record smallmouth, and a month earlier he had caught a 7-pound smallmouth. It may be 125 years old, but the .30-30 Winchester retains its status thanks to modern loads. In this video, outdoor writer and tackle specialist Shane Beilue breaks down the difference between a rod blank’s action and power and discusses what the various ratings of each mean. We discovered that Sam (owner/operator of Jocassee Charters) only takes up to 6 people and there is a fixed price for the boat, not per seat. 23 talking about this. Rates & Contact. Rembert C. Dennis Building, 1000 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC 29201 Four mountain streams and several waterfalls feed into the lake, making it cooler than others and a great South Carolina trout fishing spot. Lake Jocassee fishing guides do the bulk of their fishing with live bait, whether they are targeting trout or bass. Most redeyes weigh a pound or less. "The lure just hangs there in front of their faces and they can't stand it.". The shad run up all of Jocassee's major tributaries during the spring, and the bass follow the shad up the rivers, he said. This one simple trick will trigger more bass strikes on a jerkbait during the fall months. Spotted bass, like smallmouths, are not native to the Keowee River, and they have never been stocked. View listing photos, review sales history, and use our detailed real estate filters to find the perfect place. At Southern Outlaw Adventures we offer exclusive private boat tours on Lake Jocassee as well as Fly Fishing on some of the best rivers and streams in the Western Carolina's! Couch does a lot of his fishing in the area around the dam, and will often drift with live bait from the rock wall, where the rock for the dam was quarried, to the opposite end of the dam. There is a lot of debris floating due to rain and high water levels. Maintained By: USACE, Owned By: SCPRT Call or Text 864-280-9056. Consequently, perceptions vary depending on how, when and where various anglers fish. Other major tributaries include the Thompson River, which feeds the Whitewater; the Horsepasture River; and Laurel Creek, which feeds the Toxaway. Caught this 11.78 pounder on Lake Jocassee in South Carolina Jocassee Charters is open and available for fishing trips . Who needs live bait when the big 'gills are so eager to strike these lures? Lake Jocassee (/ dʒ ə ˈ k æ s i /, / dʒ oʊ ˈ k æ s i /) is a 7,500-acre (30 km 2), 300-foot (91 m) deep reservoir located in northwest South Carolina created by the state in partnership with Duke Power in 1973. The combined effect, from a fisherman's perspective, is that currents can push either direction, both around the dam and up the Whitewater River arm, where the Bad Creek facility is located. The state-record smallmouth likewise made the pages of the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame record book. If those times won’t work for you, 12:00AM to 12:00AM looks promising. "You may not catch much, if anything, during a trip, but what you do catch is usually pretty big.". The float-and-fly involves fishing a small jig underneath a cork, usually 8 to 12 feet beneath the surface, on 4- or 6-pound-test line. Atop points and flats that stretch toward the river channel and over the tops of humps, fishermen rely heavily on Carolina rigs. 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