Trolling for Lake Trout
You will hear a lot about fishing for Rainbow and Brown Trout on Lake Jocassee. Why do you say, well here in South Carolina in the Foothill mountains, we have a great fishery that allows us to do so. This lake was created by Duke Power Energy and also teamed up with SCDNR (South Carolina Department Of Natural Resources) to not only have a beautiful lake for boating, but a great fishery as well. The lake currently holds a few state records that I know of. (Rainbow& Brown Trout, Small mouth Bass, and Spotted Bass)
SCDNR set the lake up to be a "put and take" (the state funds a stocking program every year) and restocks the lake with any where from 20,000 to 50,000 trout a year. Not sure what the break down is for each species, but they do a good job restocking and maintaining the fishery. Some of us would like to see more fisherman use catch and release techniques and put some of these trout back to see another bait go by, but we also respect the original design of the fishery. As a matter of fact, we have started a club that is design to help keep this lake what it should be, beautiful and a place for us to always bring our children. Jocassee Trout Club
Well how we fish this lake is a fat mans ideal situation, trolling. When I first got started fishing for these trout, we would drag crank baits, spoons, anything to get a lake trout to bite. Over the years though, we have learned that these type lake trout do not act other types of trout around the world. These fish are very temperamental to the weather and to the bait hatch. I guess you could say most fish are, but there is something very unusual about these trout. The lake is so deep and large that there are a few different worlds down deep. Sometimes the conditions can be perfect for a bite and you get nothing. Than the day that it rains and is miserably cold, you will catch fish. We have all talked about this fishery until we are blue in the face. I really feel that no one really understands the patterns, we just try to adapt and keep fishing. If you drap a bait by a fihs 1000 times, will he bite? That is what keeps most of us going on this lake.
I have mentioned before about some of us that are hardware fisherman, and others that are bait fisherman. My fishing partner and I love that live bait. There is nothing like it as far as I am concerned. I even sold my boat and Lee bought a different type just for us to be better at the bait fishing. But technology has also helped our type of fishing. An example would be the new type of trolling motors and depth sounders on the market today. We fish with a Minn Kota autopilot series trolling motor that helps us stay on fish longer. I have said to my fishing friends, when they come up with a new trolling motor with GPS (Global Positioning System) interface, than thats when fishing will get interesting. We also fish with the Lowrance x17 and the Lowrance Global Map 3000 series. I believe that they have replaced a lot of these units like the X17 with up to date ones, maybe even color. I know the color graph on the pontoon boat is the greatest investment for electronics that I have made. I know when we replace our electronics on "Moon Pie" (Lee’s Boat) we will get color all the way. More to come on trolling for lake Trout.
To get the complete history of our beautiful lake, please check out History of Lake Jocassee.
