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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
Several anglers said their stomachs were tied in knots. Thoughts of fishing a four hour tournament against one other angler was fresh, new; it was something that most weren’t sure how to prepare for. Go for a quick limit or look for one or two really good bites? Here’s a look at how the 64…
For Richard Saunders, any time he can be on the water is the best time to be crappie fishing on Sinclair, but through the winter months, while he is trolling heavy jigs in deep water, he is thinking about March, when the water temperatures begin to rise and the crappie move shallow. His favorite way…
I like deep-diving crankbaits and hard-thumping Colorado blades on spinnerbaits. So… when I got wind that my latest GON fishing assignment would include a lesson on how to catch Sinclair largemouths on a drop-shot rig, I found myself looking more forward to the company than the means we’d be using to sling fish in the…
October is a fantastic time to fish for crappie on a Georgia reservoir for several reasons. With the ranks of fishermen thinned by the call of deer stands, and with the last of the skiers and summer pleasure boaters gone for the season, a die-hard crappie angler will find plenty of uncontested water waiting for…
Temperatures soared well into the 90s during the last HD Marine tournament of the 2006 season, but it didn’t hurt the bite for first-place finishers Brad Warfield and Jeff Morgan. The team found fish shallow for the two-day event, which was held June 10-11. On day one the team fished for some topwater fish they’d…
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 | 79-lbs., 8-ozs. | Guy Covington | 04/27/2024 |
| 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 | 50-lbs., 6.4-ozs. | Eli Carey | 04/06/24 |
| Bowfin | 7-lbs., 6.016-ozs. | Benjamin Hammock | 07/24/23 |