It ain't over till the fat lady sings, and that was the case in the final minutes of the big trout tournament being held out of Hoyett's Grocery and Tackle store on Lake Jocassee last March.

Big trout ace Larry Essiks was the last to weigh in. Just about the time the crowd of anglers and onlookers were ready to call it a day, here comes Essiks around the bend in his boat. He casually ties off to the dock, reaches down and picks up one of the prettiest brown trout you have ever seen.

It was clear that he was the winner. Essiks laid the fat trout on the scales and Ken Sloan called out the weight at 7.34 pounds. That tourney was over and Essiks had caught the winning trout at the last minute on a live shiner.

"I don't normally fish live baits for trout," Essiks said. "But today the bite was real slow. It was tough to catch a single fish."

Jocassee is one of those lakes that has a great population of rainbow and brown trout, and it's a popular fishery for anglers in South and North Carolina.

Jocassee angler Larry Essiks with one of the reasons that he moved from fishing smallmouths to focusing on trout. Essiks fishes with lures such as trolled spoons most of the time, but will switch to baitfish if the bite is slow. (Photo by Robert Sloan)

At times, catches of trout on Jocassee are easy to come by. Conversely, they can be tough to figure out on some days. However, there are a few anglers on the lake that have definitely figured out how, when and where to catch big 'bows and browns.

Essiks, a retired builder, is one of the best big trout anglers on Jocassee. He first started fishing the lake in 1978.

"At that time I was into catching smallmouth bass," Essiks said. "But in 1985, I switched from smallmouths to trout. Since that time I've caught brown trout up to 12 pounds."

Essiks said that about 75 percent of the time he'll be fishing lures. As the water begins to warm during the spring, Jocassee's trout become more aggressive feeders. That's when they will tend to hit more lures.

Essiks said that when the water is in the lower 50s, herring are lethargic and easy for trout to feed on. But when the surface temperature hits 55 degrees, the herring become active and more difficult for trout to catch. That's when trolled lures come into play. And that's how some of the best fishermen on the lake catch more and bigger trout.

Essiks doesn't really have one or two favorite lures. However, Sutton spoons are very popular on Jocassee. Essiks said he likes to use the No. 31 and 71 Sutton spoons.

Another expert angler on Jocassee, guide Warren Page, is a noted spoon fisherman.

"I like the Sutton No. 44 and 31 spoons," Page said. "But I have used them on up to a No. 72, the largest. A Doctor spoon is also a good choice. The main thing you want to remember is that the blueback herring is the main forage fish for trout on Jocassee. There are also some threadfin shad, too. You want to use some sort of baitfish imitation. Spoons do a good job of that. You want to use a spoon that is close to the size of the baitfish trout are feeding on."

Guide Sam Jones agrees: Most of the time he'll be using a Sutton or Doctor spoon that's 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches long.