Lake Oconee Fishing Report September 2011

Oconee: Level: Down 2.1 feet below full pool. Temp: 90 degrees. Clarity: Slight stain upriver; clear on the main lake.

Bass: Slow. Guide and tournament pro Tony Couch reports, “Bass fishing is fair at best with the best catches being caught on shallow docks 2 to 5 feet deep. A junebug Ol’ Monster rigged Texas style or a junebug Trick Worm on a shaky head seem to work best.”

Linesides: Poor. “Striper and hybrid fishing is poor due to hot water. The few that are being caught are being caught early and late near the dam on live shad,” Tony said.

Crappie: Fair to good at night with crappie minnows fished under the bridges under lights, Tony said. “Shooting docks with small light jigs works well during the day,” he said. Al Bassett reports, “Fishing is currently good as the fish are over brush in 10 to 15 feet of water. They are also being found over the sharp drop-offs around the lake. The fish should stay in these types of areas for the rest of the month before they start their move to shallow water. First locate the fish on the drop-offs or brushpiles using your depthfinder, like a Lowrance HDS unit, before you start fishing. Look for the brushpiles in 10 to 15 feet of water, or look for sharp drop-offs where the river channel is very near a flat. Use a live minnow, and fish right over the brush or drop-off where you have located them. Using a drop-shot rig with a minnow is a good way to also locate fish on the drop off. In most cases, when you find one fish you have found a school of fish so work the area well,” Al said.

Catfish: Excellent. “Catfish remain very active,” Tony said. “Plenty of fish are being caught both day and night on shrimp and live or cut shad. The 25-lb. plus fish seem to prefer live bluegill or cut gizzard shad. The catfish are being caught from 5 to 25 feet deep off points and around river channels.” Guide Chad Smith reports, “With lake Oconee drawn down almost 4 feet, the catfish are concentrated more to the deeper channels and structure. Look for the bigger catfish in the deeper depths this month. Concentrate on the 30- to 60-foot depths using big live bream and big chunks of cut bait. I’ve been concentrating all my fishing time between the Highway 44 bridge and the River Bend area this month looking for main-lake channels with steep drops and ledges that have structure. If you can find the bait around the channels, then the fish will be with them. We caught two blue cats over 40 pounds, one on Aug. 16 and one on Aug. 19. Both hit during the day in deep channels that had bait present.”