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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
I made my first cast of the morning right against the rocks at the Sugar Creek rip-rap. I was fishing between a husband-and wife tournament duo from Fairburn, Joey and Chris Byrd. Joey wore a smile, a silly grin that would have forced me to ask, ‘What’s so funny?’ but I didn’t have to. Chris…
The passenger in a bass boat that was on plane heading down the Oconee River above Lake Oconee was shot in the arm by an 86-year-old man fishing from the bank. John Burke “Pete” Yearwood of Madison was arrested by Greene County deputies and jailed on an aggravated-assault charge. He was released that day on…
Shooting 3-D archery tournaments is reportedly one of the fastest-growing sports around. At GON, however, no one had ever shot one of the tournaments. We thought we would go pay our fee and try one out to see what the buzz was about. The Lake Oconee Shooting Club near Eatonton had a tournament scheduled for…
Several anglers said their stomachs were tied in knots. Thoughts of fishing a four hour tournament against one other angler was fresh, new; it was something that most weren’t sure how to prepare for. Go for a quick limit or look for one or two really good bites? Here’s a look at how the 64…
Last April, Mike Harris of Watkinsville was fishing an R&R tournament at Lake Oconee with his 16-year-old step-son, Travis Mulkey. “It was the third tournament he ever fished; he’d didn’t catch a keeper in the first two,” said Mike. On a windless morning, less than 30 minutes into fishing, the team had made a run…
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 |