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Lake Jackson
Lake Jackson is one of the oldest reservoirs in the United States. Jackson has transitioned from a trophy largemouth bass lake to lots more spotted bass making up the bass catch. Crappie fishing is good on Jackson, and the lake is home to some huge catfish. The Lloyd Shoals Dam was built in 1910 by Central Georgia Power Company, and electricity was originally generated for the city of Macon. At 4,750 acres, Lake Jackson is small compared to other Georgia reservoirs.
Lake Jackson Resources
Jackson: Level: 0.9 feet above 528. Temp: 61-64 degrees. Clarity: The rivers are stained. Good fishing color in the Alcovy, above the South River mouth, in Tussahaw Creek and downstream of its mouth. Bass: According to tournament angler Willie McMullen, “Tie on your favorite spinnerbait, ChatterBait or squarebill and put your trolling motor down. Run sunny banks and points concentrating on any wood cover 2 to 5 feet deep to find a pattern. In March, the fish may be concentrated anywhere from main-lake banks to near the backs of pockets. Deeper-water access is the best on shallow points and wood in the coves. Willie’s biggest Jackson bass hit a rattlebait on a wind-blown bank a few years ago in March, so if the wind is blowing, find a good rocky bank and fight the wind to fish it. When a bad cold front comes through, which it will, back off…
Read MoreLake Jackson Articles
For most anglers, crappie fishing is an enjoyable way to spend a lazy day on the water filling the freezer with delicious table fare. Not so for Tim and Cathy Langham. This husband-and-wife tournament team takes crappie fishing very seriously. Even when they’re not fishing one of the Crappie USA events they frequent, they are…
For many years Lake Jackson was known for its big bass. Then spotted bass got into the lake, and it seemed the big lunker largemouths got very rare, but you could catch a pile of keeper- sized spots. Stringers with several 6-to 8-lb. bass are not seen like they were years ago, but 20-lb. tournament…
It was a brutally cold day last February. Bass-tournament angler Mike York wanted to go fishing real bad, but he decided to wait until about 10:30 a.m. to leave his Jackson house and head to the ramp. “I went straight to the powerlines,” said Mike. The powerline area is a local favorite for many at…
The great thing about Rounds 4-6 of the Skeeter Eliminator Series is that GON editors ride along for all the tournaments. We take detailed notes and publish each angler’s diary about how they spend their seven hours on the water. The following pages contain diaries from the Round 5 Hartwell and Jackson tournaments. The Skeeter…
Mark Holloway of Madison had never fished Lake Jackson before Friday, three days before his Eliminator semi-final match. After his tournament day, he was wondering why — he loved the endless cover of blowdowns and overhanging branches that lines the rivers above Lake Jackson. And he loved the bass they produced. Blast-off was at 6:06…
Lake Jackson Record Fish
| Largemouth Bass | 14-lbs., 7-ozs. | John Burnett | 03/09/86 |
| Spotted Bass | 6-lbs., 0.03-ozs. | Bill Haines | 06/08/18 |
| Black Crappie | 3-lbs., 8.5-ozs. | Barry Massey | 04/16/91 |
| White Crappie | 1-lb., 2-ozs. | Dylan Peppers | 05/31/05 |
| Yellow Perch | 1-lb., 6-ozs. | Rusty Tate | 02/06/19 |
| Hybrid Bass | 15-lbs., 2-ozs. | Jack Anderson | 04/16/92 |
| Shellcracker | 2-lbs., 3-ozs. | Jeff Weege | 04/22/92 |
| Common Carp | 35-lbs., 12-ozs.* | Donald Clark | 1972 |
| Chain Pickerel | 2-lbs., 9.28-ozs. | Hunter Parker | 04/20/21 |
| Flathead Catfish | 63-lbs., 11-ozs. | Donald Kennedy | 04/13/16 |
| Channel Catfish | 16-lbs., 10.56-ozs. | Grant Burroughs | 02/13/17 |
| Blue Catfish | 46-lbs., 7-ozs. | Luke Chandler | 11/15/18 |
| Striped Bass | 27-lbs. | Scott Hayes | June 1985 |
| Warmouth | 0.88-lbs. | Hunter Parker | 03/21/21 |