Lake Oconee Fishing Report – April 2022

Oconee: Level: 0.7 feet low. Temp: 60-65 degrees. Clarity: The rivers are red mud and it’s heavily stained to 44 bridge. The lake is stained almost down to dam and it is stained in the upper part of Richland Creek.

Bass: Tournament angler Karl Pingry reports, “Special thanks to the 4 Lakes Bass Club for giving GON this information right after their tournament Saturday. The winning pattern of 4 Lakes Bass Club was almost 15 pounds fishing a wacky-rig Senko and a shaky head on or near the docks. They had big fish with a 5-pounder. Second place caught their five fish fishing a creature bait in the grass and third place caught fish on wacky rigs. Senkos on the docks and a crankbait and spinnerbait near the dock posts and on seawalls will be working. There were several fish caught on a C-rig on the points, but they were mostly males. All the bass were caught in 6 feet or less. The full moon just finished and the group agreed that there were a lot of males guarding nests and the females were hard to find. Look for April to have spawning bass, especially on the full moon. Topwater will become a more consistent pattern and a spinnerbait, crankbait and C-rig lizard will all continue to work. On the docks, jigs, Texas-rigged worms and lizards and a wacky-rig Senko will all work. The key will be to find those females as they make their way shallow to spawn. About the third week of April, look for the shad spawn to start. Not all areas will have feeding largemouth, but throw double willowleaf spinnerbait, a shallow crankbait like a Spro John Crews that runs 0-3 feet and a buzzbait for the first hour of the day where you see the shad spawning. Seawalls and rip-rap will be the places to look for spawning shad, and don’t forget dock posts. This is a month where bass will be in all stages of the spawn. Enjoy one of the most active months on Oconee.”

Crappie: Capt. Kevin Alexander with Crappie Time Guide Service reports, “The crappie have started making their annual spawning run into the creeks and coves. The March full moon really turned the bite on for us as we are longline trolling. We are focusing mainly on coves with a creek channel running through them. Blue, white, chartreuse curly tails on pink heads have been one of my best combos this spring. The female crappie are busting with eggs so they should be migrating into the backs of the coves and into shallow water very soon. This pattern should hold into early April and by late April we will be starting to target fish in submerged timber and on brushpiles.”

Linesides: Capt. Doug Nelms with BigFishHeads Guide Service reports, “There are a lot of things happening on Lake Oconee in the month of April:  Masters Week, spring break and the arrival of some really big stripers. This is the month we will see our biggest fish as they are in full spawning mode and you will find them in two places. I believe that most of the fish that are north of the Highway 44 bridge will go up the Oconee and Apalachee rivers to spawn, while those south of 44 will go to the dam. If you’re looking for fishing in either location, they are not hard to find. Just look for the flotilla of boats. It’s during this time of year that stripers are the most easiest to catch because they will devour a regular big bass shiner, and you can purchase them just about anywhere. Hook them through the nose, send them about 50 feet behind your boat on an unweighted line, and just troll around until you hear the drag scream. It’s that easy. However, as soon as the shad spawn happens, which is usually around the big moons of April, the stripers’ appetite will change overnight. Then you have to throw your cast net, keep your shad in a tank (because they will just die inside a boat livewell) and be prepared to wash your boat everyday you fish. That is when we see the number of boats decrease because keeping shad alive isn’t easy at all, but there are specialized tanks that you can put your shad in that will keep them happy. Also a good friend of mine has created a chemical called Shad Magic that you add to your water, and it is surprising how well the baits do in this concoction. I have used it enough to know this; at the end of your trip, be prepared to chase the baits around the tank. It almost seems like they are more lively than before we caught them. Contact me if you want to know how to get some of this wonderful stuff. There’s really only two locations you need to focus on, the dam and up the rivers. I start trolling flatlines and downlines around Jumping Rock and will go all the way to the barrel line at the dam and back. For my flatlines, I use 12-lb. fluorocarbon and for my downlines I attach a 2-oz. trolling weight. I run a minimum spread of eight lines out the back of the boat using planer boards and about four downrods. The fish can make a mess but you can always re-tie your lines and start all over because it’s about putting fish in the boat and not style points.”

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