Lake Oconee Fishing Reports – May 2023

Oconee: Level: Full at 1035. Temp: 69 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Guide Norris Edge reports, “The bass fishing is really good right now because the water is clearing up and most of the lake is under a big shad spawn. If you can find the shad busting on seawalls, you can throw a white spinnerbait and catch a mixed bag of stripers and largemouth. They could vary each cast, from small fish to very large stripers that could tear up your stuff. After the shad spawn stops, which is normally when the sun hits the water, you can back off and throw small shaky-head plastics and continue catching them.”

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Linesides: Capt. Doug Nelms with BigFishHeads Guide Service reports, “The word to describe our crappie fishing season this past spring is ‘weird.’ The hot and cold weather and tons of rain and wind had most of us guides scratching our heads, but that is all about to change. May is the month when the Oconee crappie start moving into the treetops and brushpiles, and as guides, we just love it. It starts in May, but it just gets better the hotter the weather gets. Great electronics is the key to a successful day. I have Humminbirds on my boat, and it makes finding the fish so simple. A little secret I will share with you is that after each morning’s guide trip, after the customers have unloaded the boat and left, I will go out for about an hour and just look in coves for new brushpiles. Last year, I averaged finding around three new brushpiles in that hour’s time. With the Solix Side Imaging, just about nothing can stay hid, and many times these new finds become the priority FAD sites (Fish Attracting Devices) for the season. On the tackle side, I am using 10-lb. braid, a 1/2-oz. weight, 6-lb. fluorocarbon and a No. 2 aberdeen with a minnow of course. You can’t go wrong with that setup. After a tough spring, we are excited about the month of May and what it will bring to our trips.”