Upcountry Kayak and Wading Excursion

Asher and I had a big time exploring waters in the South Carolina's Upcountry not too long ago. We fished mostly from the kayaks, but also spent part of a day wading the Chattooga National Wild & Scenic River.

The kayak element was extra fun because it represented somewhat of a test run. It was the first time I had loaded up both Vapor 10 Anglers for an outing to nearby waters since I brought the second one home from Old Town. We hit three different lakes by kayak, meaning 13-year-old Asher and I loaded and unloaded both boats multiple times in a couple of days, and doing so was every bit as quick and simple as I had hoped. Of course, I knew both kayaks would suit my needs well on the water because the new one is the same model as the I already had -- just a different color.

We spent time in the kayaks fishing Tugaloo Lake, Lake Jocassee and Lake Oolenoy, all tucked in the mountains and beautiful, but each distinctive in character. All three yielded some fish to go along with great paddling opportunities. 

We began on Tugaloo, which straddles the South Carolina/Georgia border and is fed by the Chattooga River and by the Tallulah River at the extreme lower end of Tallulah Gorge. We launched on the South Carolina side and spent the morning hitting pockets off the Chattooga River arm. We didn't end up traveling far because we began catching bass and bluegills almost immediately and never had need to do much searching. That said, I want to return some time soon with a whole day available to paddle down Chattooga and all the way up the Tallulah arm to fish inside the gorge section.

Next we visited Lake Jocassee, which is arguably the most scenic lake in the Southern Appalachia. Located at the edge of the Blue Ridge Escarpment, Jocassee is crazily rugged, steep, clear and deep. Most tributaries enter the lake as waterfalls, and it's nothing to be sitting over 200 feet with the boat a cast's distance from the shore. 

Our Jocassee exploration was greatly aided by Jocassee Lake Tours. Owner Brooks Wade welcomed kayaks, Asher and me onto one of the company's pontoons and took us to a few select areas of the lake that he knew would be extra cool to explore, would lend themselves to great photo opportunities and might produce a few fish. Jocassee Lake Tours

doesn't do guided fishing trips, and ultra-clear lakes can be challenging in mid-summer, so he made no promises on the fishing part. That said, we managed to catch several bluegills while paddling in some seriously beautiful areas. 

The third kayaks stop, Lake Oolenoy, is in Table Rock State Park, and the park's namesake rocky-faced mountain provides a spectacular backdrop to many parts of the lake. Only electric motors are permitted on Lake Oolenoy, and the lake is a nice size for a day of kayak fishing. It's small enough to fish your way around in a modest day, but large enough that there is room to explore and for several anglers to fish it at the same times. The bass bite was good at Oolenoy. We didn't catch big fish, but we caught quite a few bass. Making a good thing even better, the bass were coming up and blasting Pop-Rs on the surface!

We capped off our summer Upcountry tour by wading the Chattooga in a few different areas and catching both redeye bass and trout. Little is more fun in my mind than wet wading a cool mountain stream on a hot day and throwing little lures like Rebel Crawfish on ultralight gear for a mixed catch, so doing just that made for a fine trip finale.