LAKE JOCASSEESTORIESSwitch Lake
Lake Jocassee Stories
Source-backed catches, championships and memorable fishing moments tied directly to Lake Jocassee.
Fishing history worth knowing
A 17-pound, 9.5-ounce brown trout put Jocassee in the record book
SCDNRSCDNR's current freshwater record list credits Larry Edwards with a 17-pound, 9.5-ounce brown trout from Lake Jocassee in 1987, still the South Carolina state record.
Jocassee also owns South Carolina's rainbow trout record
SCDNRScott Coggins caught an 11-pound, 5-ounce rainbow trout from Lake Jocassee in 1993. SCDNR continues to list the fish as South Carolina's rainbow trout record.
Terry Dodson's 9-pound, 7-ounce smallmouth came after dark
SCDNROn May 3, 2001, Terry Dodson caught a 9-pound, 7-ounce smallmouth bass from Lake Jocassee. SCDNR's original report says the fish measured 24.5 inches and came on a crankbait worked off rock during a night-fishing trip.
The current South Carolina spotted-bass record also came from Jocassee
SCDNRSCDNR currently lists David Preston's 8-pound, 5-ounce Lake Jocassee fish from 2001 as the South Carolina spotted-bass record.
A 5-pound, 2.5-ounce Jocassee fish became a famous Redeye Bass record
SCDNRRandy Dickson's 5-pound, 2.5-ounce Lake Jocassee catch from 2001 remains listed by SCDNR under the historical Redeye Bass record category. The upper-Savannah Bartram's Bass was formally separated taxonomically in 2025, and hybridization makes retrospective identification of this historical fish uncertain.
Jocassee's trophy-brown story is still alive in 2026
SCDNR Angler Recognition ProgramSCDNR's 2026 Angler Recognition Program includes multiple Lake Jocassee brown trout in the 5- to 8.5-pound range, including an 8-pound, 6-ounce fish caught in February and several 6-pound-class fish later in spring and summer.
The Keowee-Toxaway project earned national engineering recognition
Duke EnergyDuke Energy notes that the Keowee-Toxaway Project, which included Lake Jocassee and its pumped-storage station, received major American Society of Civil Engineers recognition in 1975.