Lake Oconee Fishing Report – February 2007

Oconee: Level: Full pool. Temp: 45-50 degrees. Clarity: Very stained to muddy. Clearest water is in Richland Creek.

Bass: Fair to poor. The lake is muddy, and the water is cold. “Look for warm and clearer water before you start fishing,” recommends guide Al Bassett. “If you are looking for the bigger fish, flipping a jig ’n pig or a large worm under docks will bring you a few good bites. You will want to look for docks where there is deep water nearby. Make sure you work all areas of the dock,” Al said. “If you are looking for numbers of fish, I would go to finesse fishing. Fish a drop-shot or a jig-head worm on light line, 6- or 8-lb. test should be a good choice. Also, working a 1/2-oz. Rat-L-Trap or a small crankbait like a Spro Crank25 in the black/chrome would be a good choice.” See the feature article with Al on page 40.

Crappie: Incredibly, in mid January some huge slabs were biting up the Apalachee River like it was springtime, but cold and rain put a stop to that shallow bite. “Due to the cold, muddy water up the Oconee and Appalachee rivers, the fishing has all but stopped,” Al Bassett said. “Once the water clears and warms a little, the fishing up the rivers should pick back up. There are some schools of fish in 45 to 50 feet of water down the lake and in Richland Creek. Use your depthfinder to locate the fish and use live minnows and fish just above them. Watch your rod as these fish are biting very light.”

Hybrids: Slow. The early and middle part of January was just too warm. “It got better toward the end of the month,” said guide Doug Nelms. At presstime, he said the area between Riverbend and Double Branches was producing best, and he’s been catching hybrids on jigging spoons. “The other day, I pulled baits and hardly got a bite. Then I pulled up on a hump and marked them right on the bottom, right at 35 feet deep. If you crank up the electronics, you can see those boomerangs right on the bottom. We caught quite a few of them up to seven pounds. The hybes are trying their best to find shad, and if cold weather would prevail we would get a shad kill and it would be on. Right now, if you can put several nice fish in your boat, you are beating the odds.” The seagulls will be a key over the next several weeks to finding schools of baitfish and hybrids, Doug said.