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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
Level: Full pool Temp.: 62-66 degrees. Clarity: Up the river is stained. Down the lake it’s clearing from Highway 44 and south. Linesides: Guide Mark Smith with Reel Time Guide Services reports that the lineside dam run is not really happening this year. It’s actually gotten worse and worse over the last five years. Instead, look for linesides on the south end in Richland Creek between the Ritz-Carlton and Jumping Rock. Best baits have been threadfin shad and small gizzard shad fished on downlines and flatlines. The flatlines have produced the bigger fish during Mark’s guide trips over the last week. Just look for bait in this stretch, and the white fish will be there. The bite could be anywhere from 1 to 25 feet of water. Fish are also up the river, according to Mark. Some of these fish will be all the way up to Barnett Shoals in…
Read MoreLake Oconee Articles
Koob Moua, from Monroe, didn’t set out to establish a new Lake Oconee record for blue catfish. In fact, Koob seldom even fishes for catfish, but he might from now on. On March 22, Koob joined his brother Jacob Moua and their friend Justin Pledger in a 16-foot aluminum Bass Tracker boat. Using light tackle,…
Rob Allgood and his dad Robbie decided to fish for catfish at Oconee on Saturday, March 11. Robbie has been fishing for Oconee catfish since the lake was impounded, and he and Rob fish the Middle Georgia Catfish Anglers tournament trail. That Saturday, he said they were “just messing around.” The day was slow, they…
To say they were excited is a massive understatement. I had built up the trip for weeks to my two boys, discussing the process of jug fishing. When we arrived at Lake Oconee, the first thing we did was tie on small hooks, snap on corks and bait up some red wigglers on their fishing…
I was young when I figured out a certain fishing technique. No one taught me this one, and I would not be surprised if there are numerous other methods that trump mine. However, I figured out how to put white bass in my boat. The white bass is a fish I feel is often overlooked.…
Over the years, Lake Oconee has earned a reputation as a fantastic lake for striped bass and hybrid bass fishing, and its credentials as a productive bass and crappie lake are nothing to sneeze at. With a major new Georgia Power project at Wallace Dam about to go operational, anglers will have an additional…
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 |