Lake Oconee Fishing Report – July 2008

Oconee: Level: Full pool. Temp: 85-89 degrees. Clarity: Mostly clear except for light stain in the backs of creeks.

Bass: Good. Try topwater first thing along seawalls and docks. During the day, fish jigs and big worms under docks on bright, sunny days. If water is moving, fish the main-lake points and humps with Carolina-rigged green-pumpkin Trick Worms in 15 to 22 feet of water. Guide Al Bassett reports a few mayflies still around the lake first thing in the day. “Bushes or trees that hang over the lake are a great place to check for the mayflies. Use a buzzbait or a Pop-R.” There are still a good number of fish in shallow water less than 5 feet. Al said a shaky-head worm around the docks and seawalls will bring you some good fish. You need to keep a tight line and watch for the line to begin to move. Some of these bites are very light, and the line may just start to move off in another direction. Fishing a small crankbait in the same areas will also bring a few fish.”

Linesides: Excellent. Live shad and trolled plugs and bucktails are producing over main-lake humps, particularly down the lake toward the dam. “We are seeing some record catches coming in for this time of year,” said guide Doug Nelms. “Yesterday in 45 feet of water I marked one of the largest schools of fish that I have seen all year. When we lowered baits to them, it didn’t take long for all the rods to start bouncing, and we were rewarded with several nice fish. The year-class of 2003 that were stocked on Oconee have now grown to more than 10 pounds, which means they are eating really good — probably just in time too, because this year I have netted some of the largest gizzard shad I have ever seen. I netted one close to 3 pounds last week. The deep-water humps at the dam are where we are finding the fish. Sugar Creek is also set to go online pretty soon. If you can catch live bait, your first choice should be dropping downlines over the humps at the dam. I have a feeling we will be catching a lot of nice fish right through the hottest part of the summer,” Doug said.