Lake Oconee Fishing Report May 2015

Oconee: Level: Full pool. Temp: 68-72 degrees. Clarity: Stained over most of the lake.

Bass: Tournament angler Aaron Batson reports, “Bass fishing has been excellent. Big females are up shallow feeding and spawning. Look for them in 1 to 3 feet of water for a few more weeks, but the majority of them are moving toward much deeper water. Try a Trixster Custom Baits Craw Flappy or a beaver-style bait on the Texas rig. Good colors are green pumpkin or junebug. Also try some topwater baits on main-lake points. Good baits are Sammys and Pop-Rs.”

Crappie: Guide Doug Nelms reports, “This month we will start fishing over the tops of trees for our summertime crappie bite. I really enjoy this time of year because it is a big numbers game and lots of fun for the kids. Spider rigs can be tough with a 16-footer swinging out off the front of the boat, but this time of year we are back to manageable lengths and numbers of rods. We typically only use a couple of rods per person because when we find the fish, they bite very aggressively. We will be targeting the acres of submerged timber that is found all over the lake. My boat is equipped with huge umbrellas so the sun doesn’t work us over too bad, and the hotter it gets, the better the fishing will be as the crappie find shade in those trees.”
Guide Jody Stephens reports, “Crappie have been good on longlines around timber and ledges. Trolling various colors of Jiffy Jigs Super Grubs with weights going from 1/16- to 1/8-oz. have been doing the job. Crappie will continue to migrate back to the standing timber as the water warms in May. Targeting these fish with good downscan electronics is crucial to finding the best schools of crappie.”

Linesides: Guide Doug Nelms reports, “The water has climbed over 70 degrees, which means the U-Rig bite is about to happen. This month is when we catch huge numbers of stripers and hybrids pulling those wonderful inventions over the humps and points down at the dam. There are some days that we may boat 30 to 40 fish in a half day, and sometimes they can get pretty big, at least for Lake Oconee standards. Don’t make the mistake of using an A-Rig and think you will get the same results. The rig I use is a 3-oz. arm with nine jigs that are 3/4-oz. each. On 100-lb. braided line it will run about 18 feet deep. You really can’t put enough weight on an A-rig to get it down deep. Captain Mack’s is introducing a new Hybrid Rig, which I have been using the past couple of years. They have spinnerbait skirts and short-shanked hooks and mono line. I have really enjoyed using them and have caught a ton of fish on them."