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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: High 70s to low 80s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Guide Nick Knapp, with Elite Guide Service, reports, “During the month of June, it is transition month. I look for the fish to move from the banks on the periodic shad spawn that has been going on. Docks this month are going to be great. I like to flip docks with a D Bomb with a 1/2-oz. weight pegged. As the month continues on, I like to get off the points with a Carolina-rigged green-pumpkin Trick Worm and work it slow on tapering points in Richland Creek. As the water warms, it’s time to slow down a little bit.” Stripers: Capt. Doug Nelms, with BigFishHeads Guide Service, reports, “June will put us in the middle of the summertime striper and crappie bites, and us guides are pretty excited about it. Yep, I said striper! Stripers used to…
Read MoreLake Oconee Articles
Cold wind, low clouds blocking any hint of a warming sun, and water temperatures holding at 48 degrees… Doug Nelms put the trolling motor down and eased into a lane through the timber up the Apalachee River, a spot known as the Powerline, and he began setting out his minnow-tipped jigs. I glanced at the…
I met Wayne Moore 17 years ago after killing my first deer, a small-racked buck from Coweta County. At the time dad and I didn’t know much about quartering-up game, so we took it down the road to a local deer processor. There, we were greeted by a middle-aged man with an long, dark beard.…
The first batch of tiny, fingernail-sized stripers from this year’s stocking program went to their new home last week, and how well they do there will be of great interest to biologists and anglers alike. The first stocking of the season took place May 18, 2005 at Lake Oconee, one of five middle Georgia lakes…
May 22: Bassmasters Series, Oconee Flipping docks was the primary pattern during the May 22, 2005 Bassmasters Series tournament at Lake Oconee — just not for the winner. Montie Walters of Warner Robins won the tournament with five fish that weighed 16-lbs., 11-ozs. “I took a chance to win,” said Montie, who fished the area…
Stan Payne of Athens used to pitch baseballs. These days, he would rather pitch lures around Lake Oconee as a fishing guide. Stan was on the mound when the Georgia Bulldogs won the 1990 College World Series, and he spent several years with the Oakland A’s organization before retiring from the game and returning to…
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 |