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Lake Oconee
Lake Oconee is an excellent fishing lake located in central Georgia on the Oconee River near Greensboro, the real Buckhead and Eatonton. Oconee is known for very good bass fishing, great crappie fishing for huge slabs, and very good fishing for linesides and catfish. The lake was created in 1979 when Georgia Power completed the construction of the Wallace Dam on the Oconee River. Lake Oconee runs through Georgia's Morgan, Greene, and Putnam counties and is separated from its sister lake, Sinclair, by Wallace Dam. Lake Oconee is home to a number of golf communities, including Reynolds Plantation, Cuscawilla, and Harbor Club.
Lake Oconee Resources
I was able to get back to Lake Oconee twice this week and was happy to discover the pollen is gone and crappie are moving back to brushpiles and trees for the summer. I love this time of year because initially the biggest crappie move back to the wood first. I was able to catch 26 crappie in a fog-shortened morning on Tuesday, April 23, and I caught 41 crappie yesterday morning, April 25. Every fish but one was over 10 inches, and I caught some up to 15 inches long. Livescoping is by far the most efficient way to catch these Lake Oconee crappie. Go to your favorite trees and brushpiles and look for fish from 6 to 12 feet deep. The fewer fish there, the bigger they seem to be. I am seeing some evidence that the crappie are reacting negatively to the Livescope transducer. I set my…
Read MoreLake Oconee Articles
Ever thought about why crappie gravitate to the shallows in the springtime? To spawn, you say? Well, yeah… but why do they do that? Let that swim around for a bit… Let’s get you in those shallows— specifically on Lake Oconee—and looking for crappie in April as they do their thing around brush and rocks…
Start your new year right pitching jigs around docks to catch some quality largemouth on Lake Oconee. The 14-inch limit at Oconee means there are many 2-lb. bass to give you a good fight in the cold water, and there are many bigger bass, too. Lake Oconee’s 19,900 acres formed by the Apalachee and Oconee…
The Georgia Chapter of Safari Club International (SCI) and Glasslined Technologies, Inc. hosted 14 Purple Heart recipients during its inaugural Wounded Veterans ‘Cast and Blast’ event at the beautiful Lake Oconee from Sept. 18-20. This inaugural event provided veterans—including their family members or guests, an all-expenses-paid retreat—allowing them to rest, relax and experience Lake Oconee,…
Head to Lake Oconee this month if you are tired of dredging the depths for summertime bass. There is always a good shallow bite at Oconee, especially for quality bass. Target grassbeds, seawalls and rocks to catch them. However, if you like probing the depths, you can catch Oconee bass that way, too. Lake Oconee…
Ellaville native Justin Barnes emerged as the winner at the Lake Eufaula ABA-AFT Top 150 tournament after a remarkable turnaround on the second day, June 3. Competing against 117 other anglers, Barnes secured first place with a total weight of 38.16 pounds, earning a prize of $16,400. On the first day of the tournament, Barnes…
Lake Oconee Record Fish
| Largemouth Bass | 12-lbs., 14-ozs. | Bill Brantley | 05/14/12 |
| Hybrid Bass | 14-lbs., 4-ozs. | Jan Allen Ward | 04/03/91 |
| Striped Bass | 29-lbs., 14.9-ozs. | Fred Worthy | 05/10/96 |
| Black Crappie | 3-lbs., 12-ozs. | Edward Rhodes | 02/10/97 |
| Channel Catfish | 34-lbs., 8-ozs. | Jonathan Clifton | 05/31/98 |
| Blue Catfish | 70-lbs., 2-ozs. | Koob Moua | 03/22/23 |
| Flathead Catfish | 62-lbs., 10.4-ozs. | Rob Allgood | 03/11/23 |
| White Bass | 3-lbs., 6-ozs. | Tony Couch | 04/02/93 |
| Longnose Gar | 20-lbs., 13-ozs. | Dustin Turk | 10/05/19 |
| Chain Pickerel | 1-lb., 2-ozs. | Terry Brice | 03/05/17 |
| Spotted Bass | 5-lbs., 3.2-ozs. | Austin Skinner | 03/19/22 |
| Shellcracker | 1-lb., 14.56-ozs. | Randy Smith | 04/23/22 |
| Yellow Perch | 11-ozs. | John Moore | 02/16/23 |