Lake Oconee Fishing Report – January 2009

Oconee: Level: Full pool. Temp: 54 degrees. Clarity: Stained.

Bass: Fair. During the warm spell the week before Christmas, the bass were hitting spinnerbaits, crankbaits and jigs around docks on the main lake and near the mouths of pockets. For numbers, look for baitfish on flats and points near the creek mouths, and throw a Rat-L-Trap or small crankbait. Cold weather should bring on a good jigging-spoon bite in January. Look for baitfish near the ends of main-lake points in 20 to 25 feet of water.

Linesides: Good. Guide Doug Nelms said the fish are on the south end, and he’s catching a 50-50 mix of hybrids and 5- to 6-lb. stripers. “We’ve caught stripers over 10 pounds, so they should be up to about 13 pounds this spring.” He said the Double Branches has been good, where he’s downlining live shad 25 feet down over 80 feet of water. “Big bass minnows will also work, and you can catch fish by jigging white Flex-it spoons on the humps 20 to 30 feet deep.”