Lake Sinclair Fishing Report – July 2009

Sinclair: Level: 0.3 feet below full pool. Temp: 85 degrees. Clarity: Stained up the Oconee and Little rivers but clear in Rooty Creek.

Bass: Mike Cleveland reports that a 13 1/2-lb. sack was the top Sinclair bag from more than 100 boats fishing the Berry’s Classic two weeks ago. “They’re not biting worth nothing,” said Mike. “Nobody I talked to could find a mayfly hatch, but the bream were bedding some. They’ll bed on every full moon in July and August.” This month, Mike focuses on shade and bream beds. However, at daylight, he’ll run grass edges and throw a buzzbait or double-willowleaf spinnerbait. He’ll have white and black tied on. After that, he’ll find bream beds and throw a Pop-R with a gold back and white bottom. If you don’t know where they’re at, put on your polarized glasses and look or just start sniffing them out. Areas of overhanging branches with shade will produce strikes all day. Areas of stained water will push the fish shallower and make them less spooky. “Nobody I know is catching fish deep right now,” said Mike. “I’ll stay shallow. I always say if I’m over knee-deep, I’d drown.” Also, Mike will hop a black/blue, 3/8-oz. jig through areas of bream beds. “You can catch 40 fish a day on docks, but they’re all small,” said Mike. “We were fishing Ol Monster worms… green pumpkin. I dip the tail chartreuse.” When fishing docks, Mike looks for 3 to 7 feet on the fronts. “Grass nearby helps,” he added.

Linesides: Excellent. Doug Nelms reports, “The fishing has gone from mediocre to red hot. Over the past couple of weeks the stripers have showed up in the tailrace below the dam. We pull up to the barrel line while Georgia Power is releasing water and cast light tackle into the surf. When the stripers hit, and it doesn’t matter what size they are, it feels like you have hooked up with a permit. Even greater than the fight is the occurrence of each bite. Every drift we either put fish in the boat or break them off. It is the wildest time of the year for non-stop action. The bite will probably last a couple more weeks, and I am booking late afternoon trips. On some days we don’t get started until 5 p.m. and still have incredible action.”