Lake Oconee Bass Fishing Report – May 20, 2024

Ronnie Garrison with a Lake Oconee largemouth caught on a Trick Worm while practice fishing for a club tournament.

Oconee: Level: Full pool. Surface Temperature: 72-75 degrees. Clarity: “Oconee clear.”

Topwater was the way to go at Lake Oconee on Saturday, May 18. Kwong Yu won the Potato Creek Bassmasters May tournament with five bass weighing 13.88 pounds. He won big fish with a 5.53-lb. largemouth that hit a Horny Toad under a dock at  2 p.m.  He also had a 4.40-pounder that hit a buzzbait early. Second place was Kinny Delay with five bass weighing 10.16 pounds, and third place was Mitch Cardell with five bass at 9.40 pounds.

I thought I would have a good tournament day. On Friday while practice fishing, I had landed two good keepers, one around 3 pounds (in picture) and another just a little smaller caught in grass on Trick Worms between 11 a.m. and noon. During the tournament, we started at 6:30 in the morning, and I landed two solid keepers and three throwbacks using a spinnerbait around a main-lake grassbed before 7 a.m.  I thought grass would be key, but after fishing grass from points all the way back into coves for five hours, I landed only one more keeper. It weighed 2.80 pounds and hit a Trick Worm.

With 97 boats in the Berry’s Classic on Oconee Saturday, after 7 a.m. I was fishing used water. Matt O’Connell and Scott Locklear won the Berry’s Classic (which fished Oconee on Saturday and Lake Sinclair on Sunday) with 20.48 pounds on Oconee and 19,08 on Sinclair for 39.56 total weight. They said their fish came on topwater. Grant Kelly and Greg Kelly placed second with 17.75 on Oconee and 16.19 on Sinclair for 33.94 total pounds. They caught their fish on Clutch Darter glide baits. Willie McMullen and Chad Stahl came in third in the Berry’s Classic, weighing in 17.26 on Oconee and 15.90 on Sinclair for a total of 33.10 pounds. Willie said they caught fish at Lake Oconee on buzzbaits and jigs.