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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: 0.3 feet below 435. Temp: 58-62 degrees. Clarity: The north and south end of the lake is clear, but it’s muddy mid lake on the Oconee side. Clear in Richland. Bass: Guide Nick Knapp, with Elite Guide Service, reports, “April is a month when a lot of things happen on this lake. You have the spawn coming to an end and the shad spawn beginning. Look for any rocky backs with shad on them. I like throwing a 1/2-oz. Booyah spinnerbait and a pearl-white fluke on a 1/2-oz. jig head. Any of the bridges will have shad spawning on them. It’s a great time of year to catch some big ones on Lake Oconee. I really like the bridges in Lick Creek first thing in the morning for targeting fish this time of year. April is one of the best months, so get out there and catch some.”…
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I met Jay Johnston, of Jackson, and his 3-year-old daughter Ashley at Lake Oconee’s Lawrence Shoals boat ramp at 7 a.m. on July 18. Jay’s boat was already sitting in the water, waiting on me to arrive. I could see the dam when I packed my gear inside his 16-foot jon boat. With the assistance…
April 6, 2002: Walmart BFL, Oconee Sugar Creek Marina hosted the second of five Walmart BFL tournaments to be fished this season. In a competitive tournament of some of the state’s finest anglers, Jim Murray Jr., of Arabi, took first place with five fish that went 18-lbs., 2-ozs. Jim caught his first two fish on…
They fight better than they eat… and they eat good! The hybrid bass has become one of the favorite freshwater game fish in Georgia waters. This fish, which is a cross between white and striped bass, is an excellent fighter, pound for pound, and can also provide some good table fare. The Georgia WRD Fisheries…
Since Lake Oconee first filled with water in 1979, I’ve seen a lot of changes take place on this middle Georgia lake, some good, some not so good. I’ve been guiding on Lake Oconee since 1980 and watched as the changes slowly took place. In the early 1980s, Lake Oconee was a lake with miles…
Jonathan Clifton, of Siloam, holds the current channel catfish record for Lake Oconee with a 34-lb., 8-oz.. fish he caught on May 31, 1998.
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 |