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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: 51-54 degrees. Clarity: Stained to the Highway 44 bridge. Bass: Guide Nick Knapp, with Elite Guide Service, reports, “During the month of January, I like to target rocky points with sun on them. With the cold water, the fish are trying to find warmer water. During this month, I like using bigger profile baits. My go-to is a green-pumpkin, 3/4-oz. jig with a Zoom Super Chunk trailer in the same color. Mid lake is usually the best this time of year. I like fishing the rocky points around Cuscowilla. It is wintertime fishing, so slower presentations are key.” Stripers: Capt. Doug Nelms, with BigFishHeads Guide Service, reports, “Throughout this past month of December, it has absolutely been the best striper, hybrid and white bass fishing that I have seen in many years. The Oconee white bass are fat chunks and not a mark on…
Read MoreLake Oconee Articles
It’s breezy early in the day as Barry Hough and I motor up this northern section of the Oconee River, which has its origin just a few counties upstream. We’re an hour or so from Atlanta, depending, as always, on highway traffic. And it’s pretty much the same here on this gorgeous waterway. The locals…
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…
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 |