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Lake Sinclair
Lake Sinclair is in central Georgia near Milledgeville directly downstream from Lake Oconee on the Oconee River. The 15,330-acre lake is operated by Georgia Power. Bass fishing and crappie fishing are very good and quite popular on Sinclair, and the lake is also home to plenty of catfish. The lake's dynamics changed in 2013 when Georgia Power ceased operation of Plant Branch, which created a warm-water discharge near the Highway 441 bridge area. Even the iconic Plant Branch smoke stacks were brought down. Lake Sinclair stretches through the counties of Baldwin, Hancock and Putnam. Lake Sinclair was created in 1953.
Lake Sinclair Resources
Sinclair: Level: 1.1 feet below 340. Temp: 62-64 degrees. Clarity: Up the creeks and rivers the water is stained to muddy. It’s a little clearer near the dam. Bass: Karl Pingry reports, “Big Ed at Lakeside Chevron reports that the ABA tournament took 20 pounds to win. The winning baits were black frogs and black buzzbaits fished in the backs of the pockets. Other baits used for the bigger bags were swim jigs and merthiolate Trick Worms for bedding bass. The recent Mid Georgia tournament took 20 pounds for first and second place. One primary bait used was a turtleback-bladed spinnerbait with a chartreuse-and-white skirt up the Oconee and Little River arms. Ed commented that all the big bags were caught in extremely muddy water. Other notable baits to have tied on are a squarebill in crawfish pattern, a Bandit 200 series and an Ol’ Monster worm in junebug red.…
Read MoreLake Sinclair Fishing Articles
On the afternoon of Jan. 26, long-time buddies Brandon Pitts and Kenny Scott set out on Lake Sinclair in hopes of wrangling some big stripers. Finding gizzard shad of a suitable size for bait proved to be difficult, forcing the anglers to alter their game plan. Unbeknownst to them, it put them on a path…
Ellaville native Justin Barnes emerged as the winner at the Lake Eufaula ABA-AFT Top 150 tournament after a remarkable turnaround on the second day, June 3. Competing against 117 other anglers, Barnes secured first place with a total weight of 38.16 pounds, earning a prize of $16,400. On the first day of the tournament, Barnes…
Dennis Johnson and his crew won first place and a check for $7,500 in the 100% payback Brandon Key Catfishing Tournament on Lake Sinclair June 10-11. The 8th annual tournament is a fundraiser for 30-30 Ministries, a 501c3 non-profit organization youth ministry whose mission is to use hunting and fishing as a platform to share…
About twice a month, James Rowland likes to go to Lake Sinclair with his fishing buddy so they can stock their freezers with good eating-size catfish. The Hartwell native never imagined that he’d ever catch a single blue cat that would seemingly feed half of his hometown. James is the new Lake Sinclair record holder…
Flint Davis, of Leesburg, caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds even last Saturday, May 20, to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Sinclair, presented by Brown Oil Company. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Bulldog presented by Mystik Lubricants Division. Davis…
Lake Sinclair Record Fish
Largemouth Bass | 13-lbs., 2-ozs. | Jimmy Edge | 02/10/90 |
Hybrid Bass | 10-lbs., 7-ozs. | David Phillips | 11/27/98 |
Striped Bass | 42-lbs. | Mike Wicks | - |
White Bass | 2-lbs., 7-ozs. | James Borders Jr. | 07/12/92 |
Black Crappie | 2-lbs., 11.5-ozs. | Brent Moye | 01/22/00 |
Channel Catfish | 21-lbs., 5-ozs. | Kenny Durden | 05/02/07 |
Longnosed Gar | 15-lb., 3-ozs. | Dustin Turk | 08/18/09 |
Flathead Catfish | 39-lbs. | Tommy Spell | 07/19/22 |
Blue Catfish | 73-lbs., 12.16-ozs. | Brandon Pitts | 01/26/24 |
Yellow Perch | 15.04-ozs. | Eric Phillips | 02/09/22 |
Spotted Bass | 3-lbs., 9.76-ozs. | Larry Cason | 05/10/21 |
Warmouth | 12-ozs. | Christopher Leverette | 02/22/23 |
Oconee River Below Sinclair Record Fish
Largemouth Bass | 10-lbs., 3.2-ozs. | Tracey Jackson | 03/26/17 |
Channel Catfish | 32-lbs., 6-ozs. | Rick Leitheiser | 04/07/96 |
Flathead Catfish | 62-lbs. | Brian Estes | 06/13/99 |
Striped Bass | 63-lbs.* | Kelly Ward | 05/30/67 |
Black Crappie | 1-lb., 9-ozs. | Duke Campbell Jr. | 04/01/06 |
Bluegill | 1-lb., 8-ozs. | Duke Campbell Jr. | 03/31/15 |
Shellcracker | 1-lb., 13-ozs. | Ben Bell | 05/29/22 |
Blue Catfish | 43-lbs., 2-ozs. | Brandon Watts | 07/09/22 |
Bowfin | 7-lbs., 6.016-ozs. | Benjamin Hammock | 07/24/23 |