Lake Sinclair Fishing Report – August 2018

Sinclair: Level: 1 foot below full pool. Temp: Mid to upper 80s. Clarity: 1 to 2 feet in the Little River and 3 to 5 feet on the main lake.

Bass: Tournament angler Mark Denney Jr. reports, “Tough. The first hour of daylight is crucial during August as fish are still active from the night before. Before the sun gets up, cover as much water as possible with moving presentations, such as a spinnerbait, ChatterBait or shallow-running crankbait to catch any bass still feeding on shad, bream and other baitfish. Topwater lures, such as a buzzbait, frog or Pop-R are all good choices, depending on the mood, location and cover of the bass that you are targeting. The bites up shallow are few and far between, but you can still catch a few off of docks and other shaded areas throughout both lakes. A light Texas-rigged Zoom Brush Hog or Buckeye Ballin’ Out finesse jig paired with a Zoom Z-Craw are good choices when the bite is finicky and can certainly produce a big fish every now and then. A majority of the bites are coming from 10 to 25 feet of water as bass seek out these depths in attempt to escape from the summer heat because of the cooler water temperatures down below. Deeper-diving crankbaits and Carolina-rigged plastics are both good choices for targeting these water columns and should be consistent producers throughout August. Once you have worked over an area and had some bites, a shaky head paired with a Zoom Finesse worm will produce a few bonus fish if you are willing to slow down and downsize your presentation. Try avoiding rocks and extremely shallow water, as these areas have now become too warm to be consistently productive throughout the day.” Tournament angler Karl Pingry reports, “Get up early if you want to catch Sinclair bass in August. Frogs in the grass and a Pop-R, buzzbait or small crankbait along the seawalls are your best bet. There are a few schooling fish around some of the bridges in the mornings, as well. The challenge is figuring out what the fish will bite when they school. After 12, even the best fishermen are struggling to catch fish. Fishing docks, bluegill beds and grass edges will produce a few fish, but the bite is tough. In a few fishermen’s opinions, including mine, the fish seem to be biting better as the water is being pulled as opposed to when Georgia Power is putting water back in the lake.”