Lake Oconee Fishing Report July 2016

Oconee: Level: Full pool. Temp: Upper 80s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Fair. It’s been brutally hot the past week, and that’s made daytime bass fishing tough on anglers. When the sun is up, the best bite is going to be under the deeper docks with at least 6 to 8 feet of water under them. The docks in Sugar Creek just down from the bridge are a good place to start. Skip a Net Boy Bait football jig with a finesse worm or Trick Worm as far under the docks as you can, and watch you line for a bite on the fall. Also look for bass in 18 to 24 feet of water on main-lake points and humps, and try a Carolina-rigged Trick Worm or a Net Boy Baits football jig with a twin-tail trailer.

Linesides: Guide Doug Nelms reports, “Over the past three years we have had an incredible topwater bite at daylight, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that it will happen again. But you have to be out there before the sun comes up to get on the best bite. I throw 3-inch Sassy Shads on light spinning tackle into the schooling fish. It is always a guess about what size fish comes next. You can boat a 1-lb. hybrid, throw back again and catch an 8-pounder. It is really a lot of fun, and then typically around 10 a.m. or so, the bite has ended. Sometimes when the bite stops I will drop a Hopkins spoon down to the bottom and pick up a few fish. Start looking around the lower part of the lake from the dam to Little Stone Mountain and right into Richland Creek.”

Crappie: Guide Doug Nelms reports, “The crappie have moved into the timber, and if you have great electronics, you understand what ‘look for Christmas trees’ means. The crappie will appear like tiny ornaments hanging on the trees this time of year. They are looking for shade and holding really close. This time of the year we drop live bait right down in the treetops, and on some days it is just crazy how many crappie you can pull off just one tree. I use gold Aberdeen hooks and 10-lb. test line, so if I get hung, I can easily pull and straighten the hook without having to re-tie. I will be looking for the fish all over the middle portion of the lake. Just about anywhere you can find submerged timber, you will find the crappie.”