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Lake Oconee
Lake Oconee is an excellent fishing lake located in central Georgia on the Oconee River near Greensboro, the real Buckhead and Eatonton. Oconee is known for very good bass fishing, great crappie fishing for huge slabs, and very good fishing for linesides and catfish. The lake was created in 1979 when Georgia Power completed the construction of the Wallace Dam on the Oconee River. Lake Oconee runs through Georgia's Morgan, Greene, and Putnam counties and is separated from its sister lake, Sinclair, by Wallace Dam. Lake Oconee is home to a number of golf communities, including Reynolds Plantation, Cuscawilla, and Harbor Club.
Lake Oconee Resources
Oconee: Level: 0.5 feet below 435. Temp: 69-75 degrees. Clarity: Mostly clear. Bass: Guide Nick Knapp, with Elite Guide Service, reports, “During the month of November, look for the largemouth to be moving from the points and humps toward the backs of pockets and coves. Water temperature has drastically decreased with the cooler nights we have been having. Some spots I would try in November are the small pockets in Lick Creek. My go-to bait this time of year is a squarebill crankbait early, followed by a 1/2-oz. black/blue or green-pumpkin flipping jig. The water clarity for the most part is clear right now, so natural colors have been working for the crankbaits.” Stripers: Capt. Doug Nelms, with BigFishHeads Guide Service, reports, “November is the month the gulls and terns return on Lake Oconee. They will spend the winter feeding off the tons of tiny shad that live here. We…
Read MoreLake Oconee Articles
It’s common knowledge among anyone who chases crappie in Georgia that fall is one of the best times of the year to wear out crappie. While the fish are not bunching up in the fall to spawn, like they do in the springtime, they are following cooling water temperatures and food supply. The Peach State…
July is here, and bass fishing is going to get tougher and tougher until the cooler fall temperatures arrive. Dragging a Carolina rig or running big crankbaits on deep points can be productive on Georgia lakes, but there’s a lot of water to cover, and the slow days are going to outnumber the…
When a few warm days finally hit, the fishing at Oconee should bust loose. But as of the Round 3 Lowrance Eliminator Series event on March 5, it had not happened. As it turned out, the eight boaters competing at Oconee for a coveted final-four spot only need to catch a single keeper bass to…
There are a few anglers who it seems can slap a big sack of bass on the scales tournament after tournament this time of year. As much as some would like to believe it’s luck, the guys who consistently wow the crowds are using no magic, but time-tested, methodical approaches to catching quality fish during…
At Oconee the shad are moving into the pockets, and the bass follow and feed aggressively. If you are a bass fisherman, you have to love November. The weather is usually decent for fishing, the bass are shallow and feeding, and there are few other fishermen and pleasure boaters on the water. All that leads…
Lake Oconee Record Fish
| Largemouth Bass | 12-lbs., 14-ozs. | Bill Brantley | 05/14/12 |
| Hybrid Bass | 14-lbs., 4-ozs. | Jan Allen Ward | 04/03/91 |
| Striped Bass | 29-lbs., 14.9-ozs. | Fred Worthy | 05/10/96 |
| Black Crappie | 3-lbs., 12-ozs. | Edward Rhodes | 02/10/97 |
| Channel Catfish | 34-lbs., 8-ozs. | Jonathan Clifton | 05/31/98 |
| Blue Catfish | 70-lbs., 2-ozs. | Koob Moua | 03/22/23 |
| Flathead Catfish | 62-lbs., 10.4-ozs. | Rob Allgood | 03/11/23 |
| White Bass | 3-lbs., 6-ozs. | Tony Couch | 04/02/93 |
| Longnose Gar | 20-lbs., 13-ozs. | Dustin Turk | 10/05/19 |
| Chain Pickerel | 1-lb., 2-ozs. | Terry Brice | 03/05/17 |
| Spotted Bass | 5-lbs., 3.2-ozs. | Austin Skinner | 03/19/22 |
| Shellcracker | 1-lb., 14.56-ozs. | Randy Smith | 04/23/22 |
| Yellow Perch | 11-ozs. | John Moore | 02/16/23 |