Planning a trip to lake Yocassee!

[Tarpon4me]

I'm planning a trip to lake Yocassee sometime either in the spring or early summer. I've never been to this lake or part of SC. I was looking up Devils Fork State Park, and it looked pretty appealing.

Has anyone been to Devils Fork Park and is it located on a part of the lake that has good fishing?

Also, I intend on targeting Trout while i'm there. I was going to pull my 21' Center Console over there. Is my center console too big for that lake? I would love to get some tips on targeting the lake trout there, I have no idea how to get them. GPS numbers would be sweet too!

Thanks in advance![cool]

Bryan D.
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[Fishhound]

[black][size 3]I have not fished that lake before, but, I have fished for lake trout on other bodies of water. Look for them in really deep water - 60 to over 100 feet is common . They tend to hang out on deeper humps, but sometimes will cruise the deep flats too. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]During the spawn, they move up into the shallow areas and wait untill dark to go even more shallow for the spawning activities, at which time, you can actually see them right on the surface early in the morning or late in the evening. If it is legal there to fish the spawn, the Macs will take casted lures or flies.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Will you be trolling or jigging ?[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]For trolling, I would suggest you use wire instead of mono or lead core as you will want to get your offering down deep and wire is much more precise as far as depth control goes. Or, you could opt to use downriggers if you have them. Don't worry about the Macs being line shy, when they are deep, they don't seem to notice.[/size][/black]

[black][size 3]Your speed will need to be experimented with, but start out at around 2 mph and adjust as needed. Use standard trolling techniques, such as "S" turning and occasional stop and goes to change up your lure's action.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Use larger Rapalas or silver/chrome spoons in large sizes - blue is also a good color when they are deep.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]For verticle jigging, use your electronics to locate the fish, then drop large jigs (start with 1 oz and adjust according to conditions) tubes or marabou (start with white). Remember you want your presentation VERTICLE ! Boat control is paramount for jigging.[/size][/black]
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[size 3]Sorry I can't help with specific info as far as that specific lake goes.[/size]
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[Tarpon4me]

Thanks for the tips fishhound! I think you're right on with the depth, this is a big lake, and if i'm not mistaken it has depths right along those lines. It's a very beautiful lake, I was surprised when I looked it up.

I'm guessing the locals there on the lake would be able to fill me in on rather the fish are on the spawn or not. The thing about that is if they are, I wouldn't want my big boat, I'd want my bass boat for hitting the shallower water.

I was thinking about trolling. My big boat is set up for that, however, only have one downrigger. I don't think one line down will do much good, and there isn't a planer that will get me down that far, and if there was, you'd have to have 120 lb line and a super heavy stand up rod to use it. LOL I may need to try jigging.

What about anchoring off and jigging? Even though it's a lake, if there is just a tad of a breeze, it would more than likely be enough to keep me still. LOL, it'd be a long tug back up though. I could always anchor on the top side of a ledge, fish usually hold on the bottom side anyhow; that is if the wind cooperates. Do the trout hold on the ledges?

Is it possible that the trout might be just above the surface or in the thermocline? Maybe a diving minnow on like a #1 or #2 planer would get them there in that case.

And when you say a larger sized Rapala and spoon, how long? Like a 3 1/2" Drone spoon? 6" diving minnow? I've got tones of the larger Yo Zuri magnums I use for Wahoo, I wonder how they would work?
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[Fishhound]

[black][size 3]If you are trolling and only have one downrigger, you can run two rods on one downrigger and you can run a cheater off each of your rods so you can run 2 lures off one rod - thus effectively having 4 lures running at 4 different depths off your one downrigger. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Have you ever heard of a shuttle hawk (I think they are made by Shasta lure company out of California) ? It's a real handy device that you can use to add another line to your down rigger and it saves you from having to raise your weight to reset one of your lines after you've gotten a strike.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]As far as a planer board goes, you could have the planer board run off a boom or on a separate line (on a separate rod) and just your lure on your fishing rod. You just hook your fishing line to the planer with a downrigger release and when you get a hit, the release pops and you just fight the fish and your planer board stays out where you set it since it is attached to the boat on a seperate line.[/size][/black]
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[size 3]Again, if you wanted to troll, it would be a simple thing to use wire line to troll the depths you need to target Macs. And, wire is pretty precise even at those depths. If you have salt water rods already set up with roller guides then you are basically good to go. All you would need is a reel with wire on it and there you are.[/size]
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[black][size 3]If you are going to be jigging, yes you can anchor off and that will suffice as far as keeping you stationary so your presentation is completely verticle. Since you run an ocean going vessel, I assume you would have the sufficient scope on your anchor rode to accomplish that while on an inland freshwater lake - if it is not too windy, you could get away with far less scope than you would be accustomed to needing in a tidal area or in ocean currents. But in any case, you are right, if you have to manhandle your anchor manually, you would want to drop it in the shallowest spot you can find that is adjacent to the deep basin - or, invest in an anchor winch. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Otherwise, you could use a sea anchor or your trolling motor to maintain position(in effect you would be "heaving to") or achieve minimal drift while jigging - if the conditions are cooperative.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]The trout will hang on top of the humps or on the drop offs or at the bases of deeper submerged islands, but since their food is roaming baitfish, and those baitfish do drift down to the bottom when they are injured or dieing, there will always be some Macs on the bottom of the basins picking up what's left of the injured or dead forage. You will also find the Macs suspending somewhere in the vicinity of the baitfish schools, so when you locate the forage, you will find the trout as well - often just underneath the cloud. [/size][/black]
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