Lake Oconee Fishing Report – December 2008

Oconee: Level: Full pool. Temp: 52-56 degrees. Clarity: Mostly clear.

Bass: Fair, with bass still relating to docks near the mouths of pockets or on the main lake in about 5 feet of water. Mike Cleveland said a spinnerbait or black-and-blue 1/4-oz. jig have been producing. Al Bassett said many of the bass are about to make a move back into deeper water. “The best bait has been the shaky-head worm fished around the docks at the mouths of the pockets around the lake. A small crankbait or a 3/8-oz. spinnerbait fished around the docks where you find deep water nearby can also catch a few fish. A 1/2-oz. Rat-L-Trap has been working very well. If you should come across brush that you may see in shallow water, use a Texas-rigged worm and work all around the brush. Make sure that you use a good scent on your plastic bait, such as JJ’s Magic. As the month comes to an end, the water temperature should drop to the mid 40s, and bass fishing will slow. Once the water temperature drops to below 50 degrees, start looking for schools of shad with your depthfinder, and fish a spoon or a drop shot under the schools of shad. Look for the schools in the openings to coves all around the lake. Also, look for any rip-rap you can find the sun shinning on, as the water around these rocks will be a bit warmer as the daytime temperatures warm. Your bass will be looking for that warmer water.”

Crappie: Good. “These fish are holding over brush and dropoffs in 10 to 15 feet of water,” Al said. “The best bait has been a 1/16-oz. Jiffy Jig tipped with a minnow. Trolling in the Sugar Creek area around the bridge has been producing some good catches. Trolling at the mouth of Sugar Creek around the bird-nest poles and around the areas leading into the Reynolds Plantation marina has been working very well and should for the next month. These fish will move and hold in deeper water by the end of the next month. Fishing will slow as the water temperature drops, but you should be able to catch some real nice fish.”

Linesides: Excellent, according to guide Doug Nelms. “Last week some customers and I threw to an area that was almost 5 acres in size of schooling hybrids and stripers. When I tell you we were catching fish every cast, that is no exaggeration,” said Doug. “They were exploding on the small shad hatch, and the fish stayed up for about an hour. This is a sign that the bite is on and will stay this way for a long time. If you are on the lake and you see schooling activity, throw a 3-inch Sassy Shad, pearl color, on a 1/4-oz. jig head. Many people throw huge topwater and other things, but nothing works better than the soft plastic. It is almost an identical representation of what they are eating. Start looking around the middle of the lake, like the pipeline area, Lick Creek and Reynolds Marina. When you see them, approach very slowly with your electric motor. If you run into them, they will go down. When the fish stop schooling, you can downline shad to them, and they will continue eating. Many times your biggest fish will come on this bite.”