Lake Oconee Fishing Report – August 2023

Oconee: Level: Full at 435. Temp: 88 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Guide Norris Edge said bass fishing has been fair to good. There’s been an early bite at The Bullhole on Zara Spooks and Skitter Pops, but you’ll need to be there early. That bite only lasts an hour. After that, you’ll need to fish the usual summer holes with deep crankbaits and worms. Target deeper seawalls with jigs and shaky heads. Try pumpkin-seed centipede worms on shaky heads or Ned rigs.”

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Crappie: Capt. Doug Nelms with BigFishHeads Guide Service reports, “Every crappie in Lake Oconee is stuck to a tree right now! If you can find a brushpile or stump or even a tree laying down in the water, there is a great chance there will be crappie in it. We love this time of year because we sit on top of said brushpiles and it’s very similar to the proverbial fishing in a barrel. We are presently dropping minnows down into the trees and plucking them out like ripe fruit. I locate a tree with my Humminbird Solix and throw out a marker. Then I slowly come back to the marker and drop my minnow just at the top of the highest fish I saw on the brush and slowly work my way down, about 2 feet at a time. One particular day last week customers took home 58 fish, and we only fished on two trees. Right now if you can find the brush on Oconee, you can easily find the fish.” 

Linesides: Capt. Doug Nelms reports, “Last month was surprising! We caught a ton of stripers without any assistance from Wallace Dam. I went down six times in the morning and never found the pumpback going, but what I did see were lots of bubbles, and I think the new oxygen system has given us the most wonderful summertime striper bite I have ever experienced on Oconee. On a normal morning trip, we are putting between 20 and 40 stripers/hybrids in the boat, and many of these fish are running from 3 to 5 pounds. I am finding tons of fish on the humps from Tornado Point all the way to the dam, and if you get a cloudy day, it makes it even better. I’m sure if you throw the net and catch shad, you will be rewarded with some good fishing, but all I have been using is artificial lures. Spoons, Sassy Shads, popping corks, etc., and I don’t think I have used live bait in more than two months now. So, I think August is going to be even better fishing because I believe the bubbles are keeping them close.”