Lake Oconee Fishing Report – April 2009

Oconee: Level: Full pool. Temp: Upper 50s to mid 60s. Clarity: Clear down the lake to stained and muddy up the rivers.

Bass: Good. Al Bassett reports, “There are a lot of fish being found very shallow. Some of the fish have already gone on bed, and more will be going to bed in April. Fish the shallow pockets in coves near deep water with an Ol-Nelle spinnerbait in white/chartreuse. Another good bait is a 1/4-oz. Rat-L-Tap in chrome/blue or chrome/black. It is hard to beat a Zoom lizard. Adding a few drops of the JJ’s Magic Juice to your soft plastic bags will also help increase your catch ratio. Toward the middle of April the shad spawn should be in full swing. Be on the water at daylight, and look for the hard seawalls for a mixed bag of fish. Use a Pop-R, buzzbait or shallow-running crankbaits.” David Lowery said he’s been catching fish flipping an All-Terrain Jig to shallow back posts on docks. He’s been having his best luck on a junebug jig with a black/blue trailer. Spinnerbaits on seawalls in less than 3 feet of water have also been producing some good catches. Early in the morning, a buzzbait has also been producing a few fish. Run the buzzbait down shallow seawalls or fish it around grassbeds.

Crappie: Good. Al reports, “The size of the fish is going down, but the numbers are beginning to rise. Troll the backs of the creeks using Jiffy Jigs tipped with live minnows. The best areas to target are in the back of Sugar Creek, Sandy Creek or Rocky Creek.”

Linesides: Fair for numbers, but the size is excellent. Flatlines are producing best right now with large minnows or shad, but also try downlines. The best area is the buoy line at the dam, but there are also fish on the main-lake humps from the mouth of Richland Creek to the dam.

White Bass: Good. The run up the rivers began the third week in March. “This spawn will only last about a month, maybe less,” said Doug Nelms. “We fish with ultra-light tackle and small jigs, and on many days you will pull up to a hole and catch them until your arm gets tired.”