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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: 1.6 feet below 340. Temp: Low to mid 50s. Clarity: The rivers are stained as are the backs of most pockets. It is clear near the dam. Bass: Karl Pingry reports, “It’s taking 18 to 19 pounds to win the club tournaments. Ed at Lakeside Chevron confirmed that our fishing forecast in November was fairly accurate. The bass are still in the backs of the coves that are stained. Crankbaits are the hot bait right now. A Bandit 200 in black or chartreuse/pearl or a jointed No. 7 Shad Rap in clown or chartreuse/white were recommended by Ed. If you’re fishing rocks, fish the ones with sun on them. A chrome/blue Rat-L-Trap is still the bait to throw. Ed added one more pattern that he learned from Junior Collis: throw a crankbait anywhere you see a sweetgum tree on the bank. Long ago, Junior told Ed the…
Read MoreLake Sinclair Fishing Articles
July 17: Valley Sportsman, West Point The fishing was pretty slow at the Valley Sportsman tournament at West Point. Twenty-two boats decided they’d try to beat the heat and fish, and in the end it was Martie Murphy and Mike York who won with 15.46 pounds. Second went to John Pearson and Trey Rhodes with…
All of us have experienced those rare, sweet moments when something good happens to people we know. You know the feeling, that warm inner glow you get, a swelling of pride that something that ought to have happened, some special reward or recognition, has been bestowed on one of the good guys. It happened recently.…
We had run the boat for only a couple of minutes, scarcely reaching above idle speed as Jerry McClure rounded a bend into a pocket, the back of which ran along a road. Jerry dropped the trolling motor and maneuvered the Ranger into water that seemed too shallow for such a big boat. “This used…
On Friday, March 11, members of the Macon Pro Casters bass-fishing club were on Lake Seminole for a weekend outing. Club President Tony King was across the state on Lake Sinclair, preparing for a tournament in the Bulldog Division of the Wal-Mart BFL. Nobody knew that the day would turn tragic for a seasoned boater…
Lineside fishermen on several middle Georgia lakes will see a change in future years. A plan to begin phasing in the stocking of stripers and phasing out the stocking of hybrids was introduced by WRD Fisheries biologists at a public meeting in Milledgeville last month. Lakes feeding the Altamaha River basin that over the past…
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., 11.6-ozs. | Kelsey Helms | 12/07/24 |
| Bluegill | 1-lb., 8-ozs. | Duke Campbell Jr. | 03/31/15 |
| Shellcracker | 1-lb., 13-ozs. | Ben Bell | 05/29/22 |
| Blue Catfish | 62-lbs., 15.2-ozs. | Kevin Carey | 01/12/25 |
| Bowfin | 7-lbs., 6.016-ozs. | Benjamin Hammock | 07/24/23 |