Kentucky bass flourish at Lake Jocassee.
Lake Jocassee has long been a desirable destination for big fish of several species; now anglers can add spotted bass to the list.
Need evidence? Jocassee bass fishing regular Terry Dodson reeled in 30 spotted bass between five and seven pounds last year.
“They’re getting to be really big,” Dodson said. “The only thing that concerns me is that a lot of lakes that have had good smallmouth bass, the smallmouth have suffered when the spotted bass became prolific. I hope that doesn’t happen at Jocassee.”
The prospect concerns biologist Dan Rankin as well. Rankin has seen burgeoning spotted bass populations at nearby Lake Keowee and Lake Russell negatively impact everything from black crappie to smallmouth and largemouth bass.
“It’s definitely another mouth to feed in what is already a nutrient-deficient system,” said Rankin. “Spotted bass tend to over-populate.”
Increased numbers of spots at Jocassee also could hasten the demise of the unique redeye bass. Recent SCDNR testing indicates that roughly 40 percent of the redeye bass in Jocassee have cross-bred with spotted bass, further diluting the species.
Unlike the situation at Keowee, where spotted bass were illegally introduced by anglers nearly 20 years ago, Jocassee likely got its spots via pumpback operations at the Jocassee Dam.
“It seems to have been a slower process at Jocassee,” Rankin said. “We’ve never heard anecdotal reports of angler introductions at Jocassee, and they first began appearing near the dam and spreading out from there, so it all makes sense.”
In the meantime, Dodson is doing his part to help keep Jocassee’s spots in check.
“I release all largemouth and smallmouth I catch,” Dodson said. “But I keep the spots that I catch. That way I feel like I’m doing a little something to help control things.”
Editor’s note: This article is part of the A midsummer night’s dream feature in the July issue of South Carolina Sportsman, which is now on newsstands. Digital editions also can be downloaded right to your computer or smartphone.
Be sure to subscribe to ensure you don’t miss a single information-packed issue of South Carolina Sportsman.
Be the first to comment