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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: 0.1 feet below 435. Temp: 65 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Guide Nick Knapp, with Elite Guide Service, reports, “During the month of December, I look for the fish to be toward the backs of pockets with bait in them. December is a good month to target fish shallow around rocks. With the cooler water, the fish will be a little slower, so slow down the presentation. I like to slow-roll a 1/2-oz. white spinnerbait this time of year. Check the areas around 44 bridge and south to Old Salem. Look for bait on the shallow secondary points with rock. The largemouth won’t be far away. I also like a green-pumpkin jig with a junebug trailer. It seems to get the bigger bites this time of year. It’s wintertime—slow down and use bigger-profile baits for bigger bites.” Stripers: Capt. Doug Nelms, with BigFishHeads Guide Service, reports, “It’s the most…
Read MoreLake Oconee Articles
With cooler nights and dropping temperatures on the state’s reservoirs, the crappie fishing is getting ready to pick up from the doldrums of summer, when it’s hard to catch these tasty fish, unless you’re willing to stay out all night. Expert anglers around the state are wiping the dust off of their ultra-light gear,…
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…
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 |