Lake Jocassee trout still deep, hitting live bait, but cooler water is needed

SCDNR will begin stocking when water cools

Trout on Lake Jocassee seem to be in a holding pattern, waiting for the water to turn colder. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t catch them.

According to Capt. Steve Pietrykowski of Fishki Business, the trout fishing is a little slow, but it’s definitely going to pick up sometime soo.

“Typically this time of year, they slow down a little bit,” said Pietrykowski (864-353-3438). “I’d … fish deep; 70-80 feet at least. Even though the water is cooling down, they’re still not shallow yet.”

The last couple months of the year are typically the hardest for trout fishing, Pietrykowski said, because the water doesn’t get cold enough to force them to feed. But as the water temperature drops, the fish will be deep.

“Once the lake turns over, the deep water is going to be more consistent than anything,” Pietrykowski said. “I’d definitely fish on a slow troll, between 1 and 2 miles per hour (on the main lake).”

For bait, Pietrykowski suggests the usual: spoons and live shiners.

Once the water temperature reaches a consistent 65 degrees, Pietrykowski said the SCDNR usually stocks the lake with trout, which means great fishing, even from the bank with light tackle.

“Within 2 to 3 weeks the DNR will probably start stocking,” he said. “When they do that, it sparks things up a bit with all the fresh, new fish. Once they stock, you can go to shorelines and cast Roostertails and spoons and catch fish. It’s a great time to take the kids fishing, and I don’t think we’re going to be too far from that. Seems we’re about a week or week-and-a-half ahead of normal, and the water temperature right now is between 68 and 70.”

And once December rolls around, Pietrykowski said the fishing will get even better and more consistent.