Lake Sinclair Fishing Report – January 2022

Sinclair: Level: 1.1 feet below 340 Temp: Mid to high 50s. Clarity: Rivers are staining up, along with the Oconee River.

Bass: Tournament angler Karl Pingry reports, “The bass can’t decide if it’s spring or winter! Ed at Lakeside Chevron had a club tournament yesterday that took 19 pounds to win and 18 was second. The 18 pounds were caught on a black popping frog, while the winning bag was caught on chartreuse-and-white spinnerbaits up the Oconee where it was stained. Other baits working right now are chrome-and-blue Rat-L-Traps on the rip-rap and seawalls and crawfish-colored crankbaits and squarebills. Spinnerbaits and ChatterBaits fished in and parallel to the hydrilla is hot right now and should continue through the winter. Shaky heads with junebug red worms on docks and blowdowns and lightly weighted monster worms in the same color is the go-to plastic. Yes the bass are very shallow. In January, look for the hydrilla bite to stay strong and add a jig to go with the shaky head and monster worm bite on the docks and blowdowns. I expect the bite to get a little deeper once the temps get below 50, so look for a deeper-diving crankbait to also come into play. You’ll also have to work your baits deeper along the hydrilla whether it’s a spinnerbait, ChatterBait or jerkbait. In Sinclair, never be afraid of fishing the stained water as long as you’ve got a heavy vibrating bait on. Check in with Ed for updated conditions and his new shipment of Zoom plastics.”