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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
From the time I was old enough to crawl into a plywood boat on the Ocmulgee River, there’s one thing I was taught NOT to do: make noise. So why is this striper guide constantly rapping on the floor of his Ranger with the rubber-tipped butt end of a sawed-off walking cane? Because he’s learned…
The Conservation LE Corner is designed to highlight the efforts of Georgia DNR Law Enforcement Division (LED) officers who, among their many duties, protect Georgia’s wildlife, sportsmen and natural resources from game-law violators. Putnam County: During routine patrol on Dec. 6, 2020, Sgt. Matt Garthright pulled into the Sugar Creek public boat ramp on Lake…
Fish rocks and docks for February Lake Oconee bass. That simple pattern will put fish in the boat all over the lake, and many different baits will catch them. Weather will play a part in how active bass will be, but you can catch fish under any conditions. Lake Oconee is a Georgia Power Co.…
Minor League Fishing bass tournament hit Lake Oconee on Saturday, June 27, and it took 27-plus pounds and 11 bass to win the event. The unique bass tournament format allows teams to weigh every legal bass. Anglers are allowed to weigh in as often as they like to avoid crowded livewells and fish dying. In…
On the afternoon of May 12, Chris McDaniel, of Morgan County, was busy setting up a brand new cell-phone, a direct result of catching a brand-new Lake Oconee flathead catfish record that weighed 51-lbs., 12-ozs. on certified scales. “I bent over to pick the fish up out of the water, and it went right out…
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 |