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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: 0.5 feet below 435. Temp: 69-75 degrees. Clarity: Mostly clear. Bass: Guide Nick Knapp, with Elite Guide Service, reports, “During the month of November, look for the largemouth to be moving from the points and humps toward the backs of pockets and coves. Water temperature has drastically decreased with the cooler nights we have been having. Some spots I would try in November are the small pockets in Lick Creek. My go-to bait this time of year is a squarebill crankbait early, followed by a 1/2-oz. black/blue or green-pumpkin flipping jig. The water clarity for the most part is clear right now, so natural colors have been working for the crankbaits.” Stripers: Capt. Doug Nelms, with BigFishHeads Guide Service, reports, “November is the month the gulls and terns return on Lake Oconee. They will spend the winter feeding off the tons of tiny shad that live here. We…
Read MoreLake Oconee Articles
For the second time in less than a month, the Lake Oconee longnose gar record has been broken. The latest angler to hold the record is Dustin Turk, of Eatonton. Dustin caught his fish on Oct. 5, and it weighed 20-lbs., 13-ozs. and was 52 inches long. “Me, my son Maddox and Michael Brock were…
Editor’s Note: For lots more Oconee crappie fishing information, download Scott’s interview at the GON Outdoors Podcast. About the time this issue of GON finds itself on coffee tables, my buddy Scott Williams and his dad Billy will be in Grenada, Miss. competing in the Crappie Masters National Championship. That tournament is slated for Sept.…
Scott Williams, of Cochran, knows how to catch Lake Oconee crappie. Him and his dad Billy compete not only in Crappie Masters tournaments but in Crappie USA events, tournaments that send them regularly as far away as Texas. They’ve both won Georgia Slab Masters and the Peach State Crappie classics, some Crappie USA tournaments on Clarks…
Go to Lake Oconee fishing this month and expect to catch bass early in the mornings on topwater on seawalls and on points leading into coves and creeks. Anglers can then fish topwater on shady banks as the sun gets up, and they can also catch bass around docks on plastics and crankbaits, which are…
GON was in the boat with Mark Smith with Reel Time Guide Service on the morning of June 11, 2019 and put together a timely fishing report. Mark hosts an annual summer fishing trip for the Putnam County Middle School girls basketball team through Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Mark called on some buddies to help…
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 |