Lake Oconee Fishing Report October 2015

Oconee: Level: Full pool. Temp: Mid 70s. Clarity: Stained.

Bass: Tournament angler Aaron Batson reports, “Bass fishing is tough but getting better. October is the fall month where the bite can really pick back up. Fish will generally move shallow and follow baitfish into the major creek arms. Look on secondary points with small crankbaits like a Normans Middle N or a Bomber 6A. You can also fish a slow-moving 3/4-oz. Rat-L-Trap in the same areas. Look for this bite to be best early to midday. Once the sun gets higher, fish will ambush shad from the shade of docks and blowdowns. Fish a 3/8-oz. Net Boy Baits jig in black and brown around the edges of docks. Search for any brushpiles on the ends, and you should pick up a few bites there.” Guide Mark Smith reports, “Bass fishing will be improving all month long. As the water cools, the fish will continue to move back to the banks and secondary points all over the lake. At the start of the month, look for boat docks in 10 feet of water. A small crankbait or a shaky head fished under and around these docks will produce. As the water cools, continue to move into the creeks and coves off of the main lake. As with the stripers, the largemouth will follow the bait into the coves and creeks. Later in the month, the buzzbait bite will also be very productive.”

Linesides: Guide Mark Smith reports, “October is when the stripers come back to the lake. The timing of the return is always dependent on the weather. If we can get a lot of rain and wind, the bite will start sooner. I start looking around the middle of the month, and I look for large schools of bait. When the stripers return to the lake, they are looking for one thing and that is food. When I find the large schools of bait on my Lowrance, I will slow down and start looking for the stripers to be located under the bait. When I see the fish under the bait, I drop a downline with a shad down to the fish. As we continue to cool into the fall, I will start using flatlines as well as planer boards as the fish will move up in the water column.”

Crappie: Guide Al Bassett reports, “Crappie fishing is currently fair to good as the fish are still over brush in 10 to 15 feet of water, but these fish are on the move. You will be able to catch a few here and a few there. You will need to move from one brushpile to another. By the end of the month, they will start to move with the shad into the backs of the creeks. During this time of year, some bigger crappie will start to show up in these areas. Use your Lowrance HDS and LSS-2 unit to find the fish before you start fishing. The bites may be very light, so use light line, and be a line watcher.  Using live bait or casting Jiffy Jig Super Grubs in the blue/silver/chartreuse or white/pearl/chartreuse will work. By the end of the month, fish should be starting to show up in the backs of the creeks like they are in the spring. They will only be there for a very short time.”