Red Eye Bass

By Scott Keepfer
OUTDOORS WRITER
S. Carolina

When fishing Lake Jocassee, one never knows what one might catch.
"It's such an exciting lake for that reason," Martin Schmaltz said.
Excitement was at a high level last Thursday for Schmaltz and his fishing partner. They caught eight trout -- a mix of browns and rainbows between 2 and 6 pounds -- then capped the day with a 4.6-pound redeye bass and a beautiful 14-pound channel catfish. It was Schmaltz's day for big fish, as he reeled in a 6-pound brown, the big redeye and the catfish.

"We took turns (at the reel), but it was just my day," Schmaltz said.

The redeye bass was just a half-pound off the current state and world record for the species.

"We were close to the bank when we hooked the big redeye on a Rapala on the surface," Schmaltz said. "It fought really well. It had our attention for a good five minutes. We thought it was a largemouth, but when we got him in we could see the lateral line and scales were different.

"We fished for another four or five hours and probably lost some weight (in the livewell), but after having him weighed we released him and it swam off in really good shape."
Schmaltz capped the day with the big channel cat.

"It was as pretty a catfish as I've ever seen," Schmaltz said.

Schmaltz, 49, moved to Lake Keowee from Hawaii nine months ago, and has quickly embraced the local fishing.

"I can be on the water at Jocassee in 20 minutes," he said. "We totally avoid the weekends. We like fishing up there when we're just about the only boat on the water."