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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: 52 degrees, which is above the 38- to 46-degree water temperature reported just 10 days ago. Clarity: Stained. Stripers: Capt. Doug Nelms, with BigFishHeads Guide Service, reports on the afternoon of Feb. 5 that there is a “huge” striper bite right now from Safe Harbor Marina to River Bend. “Trolling regular Mini Macs (without any extra weight) and even umbrella rigs will bring a lot of fish into your boat,” said Doug. “Over the past week, there have been terrific numbers of fish coming in, and with the full moon coming, it should just keep getting better. With your gas motor, the trolling speed has been from 2.5 to 3 mph. If you find birds, troll right though where they are working.” Doug says if numbers of fish isn’t your thing, now is a good time to chase a trophy striper, “There is nothing more exciting than watching a…
Read MoreLake Oconee Articles
This Oconee slab wasn’t weighed until more than 24 hours after it was caught, but it still tipped the scale at 3-lbs., 12-ozs. Edward Rhodes, of Suwanee, caught the lake-record crappie Feb. 10, 1997 while trolling a 2-inch spit-tail grub tipped with a minnow.
The lake record for striped bass at Oconee was set May 10, 1996 when an Eatonton angler boated a 29-lb., 15-oz. striper. Fred Worthy was downlining a live shad 15 feet deep while fishing the buoy line at the dam when the big lineside hit. The striper hit the first shad Fred put in the…
The air had a brisk bite as I idled through the dense early morning fog toward the nearby creek channel. The fish had been holding in this area for about three weeks, moving only slightly as the water slowly cooled. The sound of screaming gulls, mufHed only by the sound of cars passing over the…
A lake record that some anglers thought would never be broken has been rewritten. The new mark for striped bass at Lake Oconee is now set at 29-lbs., 10oz., which exceeds the previous record by half a pound. Rickey Howington, of Jefferson, is the new record-holder. Rickey had a week off from work, and he…
As February finally gives way to March, the largemouth bass in Lake Oconee gradually give in to Mother Nature and begin migration into shallow water. When March is coming to an end, the first wave of spawning bass are beginning to start bedding. The month of March has something to offer every bassin’ man. Crankbaits,…
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 |