Advertisement
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: 1.7 feet below 340. Temp: 68 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Karl Pingry reports that Ed at Lakeside says it’s taking 17 to 19 pounds to win the bass tournaments right now. Crankbaits are a hot ticket. A Bandit 200 in black or chartreuse and a No. 7 pearl Shad Rap is working. Ed says to throw this along the dock pilings. A 1/2-oz. size Rat-L-Trap is the one Ed recommends. A Rapala X-rap in CH-Ghost, a Pop-R and a black buzzbait are also hot lures right now. If you want to fish docks and blowdowns, try a jig in dark purple or plum. Shaky-head worms in plum apple, black emerald or junebug red or an Ol’ Monster in the same colors near the backs of the coves are also good choices. The new pattern this month is flipping a ChatterBait along the grasslines. I suggest a grass jig…
Read MoreLake Sinclair Fishing Articles
The forecast called for the hottest day of the year so far — high 90s. This mid-June trip to Lake Sinclair was going to be a test of endurance, but the young man I was to fish with assured me that those Sinclair bass still bite during the heat of the summer. I was to meet my…
Want to get your string stretched this summer? Fight the type of fish that makes the biceps bulge as you begin to wonder who is really in charge of this head-to-head battle between angler and fish? If so, then catfishing below Georgiaʼs dams may be for you, especially if you like to do battle with…
As water temperatures finally climb into the mid 50s, more and more bass anglers will be removing the cover from their bass boats, filling up their tanks and heading to the lake. The next three months will be a fun time to be a fisherman. It’s just so much fun to catch a bass when…
Like an aging prom queen, as a reservoir matures it goes through changes… and some aren’t so pretty. Some are subtle and take years to impact fishing patterns. Other changes occur almost overnight. The anglers who know a lake best — that proverbial “like-the-back-of-your-hand” knowledge — are the ones who can catch fish when the…
They fight better than they eat… and they eat good! The hybrid bass has become one of the favorite freshwater game fish in Georgia waters. This fish, which is a cross between white and striped bass, is an excellent fighter, pound for pound, and can also provide some good table fare. The Georgia WRD Fisheries…
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 |