Lake Oconee Fishing Report – December 2006

Oconee: Level: Full pool. Temp: 59 degrees. Clarity: Light stain except at Richland Creek and near the dam.

Bass: Fair. There are still bass shallow in the pockets and on wood structure on the banks, but they are beginning to be more scattered. There are bass on the deep drops, but for now the backs of the pockets are still your best bet. Use a Rat-L-Trap, shallow-running crankbait or a spinnerbait, and concentrate on pockets that are loaded with bait. As the water temperatures hit the low 50s, more fish will be deeper and can be caught on jigging spoons. To find the bass, look for big schools of bait around the mouths of creeks and along main-lake channel edges.

Hybrids: Good. Some regular linesides anglers finally found some good fish last month in the 4- to 5-lb. range and were catching them regularly. The hybrids were in the pockets and creeks that had big wads of baitfish, mostly from just south of the Hwy 44 bridge to just south of the pipeline. They haven’t been hitting topwater, but trolling jigs or crankbaits will produce. Live shad on downlines and flatlines are the best bet. It has also been good for small white bass on wind-blown points on the main lake or near the mouths of the major creeks. Try a 1/4-oz. Rat-L-Trap or a white Rooster Tail.