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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: Full at 435. Temp: 51-54 degrees. Clarity: Stained to the Highway 44 bridge. Bass: Guide Nick Knapp, with Elite Guide Service, reports, “During the month of January, I like to target rocky points with sun on them. With the cold water, the fish are trying to find warmer water. During this month, I like using bigger profile baits. My go-to is a green-pumpkin, 3/4-oz. jig with a Zoom Super Chunk trailer in the same color. Mid lake is usually the best this time of year. I like fishing the rocky points around Cuscowilla. It is wintertime fishing, so slower presentations are key.” Stripers: Capt. Doug Nelms, with BigFishHeads Guide Service, reports, “Throughout this past month of December, it has absolutely been the best striper, hybrid and white bass fishing that I have seen in many years. The Oconee white bass are fat chunks and not a mark on…
Read MoreLake Oconee Articles
Even Oconee’s best crankin’ fishermen were shaking their heads in August. It was just too darn hot for good concentrations of fish to hold in water shallow enough that they could be caught cranking. “When I’m cranking, I like the fish about 15 to 18 feet deep,” said Shawn Malcom. “I feel like the fish…
Berry’s tournament trail came to a close this weekend after a two-day event. Qualifying anglers fished Saturday on Oconee and Sunday at Sinclair. This year’s Classic winners were Jack Brown and Terry Adams. “The fish at Oconee have moved out deep,” said Terry Adams. “We caught them in the main lake, but the fish weren’t…
“There’s one on there… it’s a good ’un, too,” Kenny Scott said. Kenny, who lives in Madison, was looking up at his flathead fish- ing buddy, Jason Knight of Good Hope, with a giant grin on his face. I was standing in the back of the boat with my camera in hand, just dying to…
Kim Carver and Matt Ferman said changing weather conditions and a spinnerbait were key ingredients in their win at Berry’s Lake Oconee tournament Saturday, May 13. “We struggled all morning,” said Kim. “We mostly caught our fish off a Zoom lizard. We’d catch one on a dock, then one on a seawall, we probably only…
You don’t second-guess the word. We had launched the boats at the Sugar Creek ramp, and although my fishing partner knew there were some crappie back in Sugar, the word was there was a good bite up the Apalachee. Apparently, when it comes to crappie fishing, the word carries some weight. And apparently, the word…
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 |