Another Lake Oconee Catfish Record Smashed; Two Within One Week

Wayne Tatum, of Tennile, and his grandson Will Tatum, 6, with the record-breaking 69-lb., 7-oz. blue catfish caught Sept. 17 from Oconee.

A new blue catfish record on Lake Oconee was set on Sept. 16 by Wayne Tatum, of Tennille. The monster blue weighed 69-lbs., 7-ozs. and was caught around 10 a.m. Friday morning about a mile up the lake from the dam. The giant fish smashes the old Lake Oconee blue cat record by more than 22 pounds.

This is the second record catfish from Lake Oconee within the same week. A record-breaking flathead was caught Sept. 9. The flathead record was caught by Sam Collis, of Eatonton, and that catfish weighed 49-lbs., 1.28-ozs. The full story can be viewed at www.gon.com.

Sam Collis, of Eatonton, caught the Oconee flathead record on Sept. 9. The fish weighed 49-lbs., 1.28-ozs.

Wayne Tatum said he has been fishing Lake Oconee since it was impounded.

“I go to Highway 44 and put in, and I catch my bait there. After I catch my bait, I take my boat back out of the lake and drive down to the dam and put in,” said Wayne.

Wayne was anchored in 45 feet of water. He was fishing about 3 feet off the bottom using an Abu Garcia 6500 reel.

“I was using some live gizzard shad and cut gizzard shad,” said Wayne.

Wayne prefers gizzard shad, but if he can’t catch them, he’ll use threadfins.

Amazingly, Wayne had already caught a blue catfish earlier that morning that weighed 42 pounds—on part of the same cut gizzard shad he caught the record-breaking fish on.

“I put the middle section of this gizzard shad on this other line, the one the big fish hit,” said Wayne. “I imagine it took me 20 minutes or a little longer to get it in. ”

For more details on Wayne’s incredible catch, see the full story at www.gon.com.