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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: 1.1 feet above 528. Temp: Low 70s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Tournament angler Willie McMullen won an ABA at Jackson near the end of April with 12.27 pounds. He said the last cold front in April pushed the shad spawn back, so it is wide open the beginning of May. Topwater like Spooks and Pop-Rs, along with spinnerbaits and ChatterBaits, are all good. Fish seawalls with rip-rap early in the morning when you see any activity from birds or fish. Move quickly to find action. It lasts only until the sun gets on the water. Cloudy days push the feeding a little longer. Later in the day, look for bream beds and cast a wacky-rigged worm or topwater to them for quality, bass-eating bream. Boat traffic will get worse as the month progresses, so early mornings will be the best times to go. If fishing during the heat of…
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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…
Mike Cleveland of Monticello has two dreams — one, he wants to be a full-timer on the FLW Tour bass-tournament trail, and two, he wants to compete in the Bassmaster Classic. I believe he’ll meet both these goals, and he’ll probably do it sooner than later. Competitive bass anglers from Georgia know the name Mike…
HD Marine tournament anglers beware… there’s a young ball of fire headed your way for the 2007 tournament season. His name is Ben Cleary. He’s 16 years old, and during his summer vacation he has been warming up his bass-fishing skills on Lake Jackson, where he lives. Besides living on a lake where he can…
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 | 64-lbs., 6.08-ozs. | Daniel Perrier | 05/29/23 |
| 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 |