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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: 1.3 feet below 340. Temp: 69 degrees in Little River. Clarity: Heavily stained most places but clearing by the dam. Bass: Karl Pingry reports, “Ed at Lakeside Chevron says the first wave of spawning bass has occurred. A Trick Worm in dark colors or merthiolate is your best bet in the backs of the coves for the postspawners. A prop bait in bluegill color is another good choice. Either a shaky-head worm or an Ol’ Monster in dark colors will also work around the docks, both in the coves and on the main lake. Also on the main lake, fish the shallow grass with a frog or chartreuse/white ChatterBait for prespawn bass. A Rat-L-Trap or Bandit 200 will work on shallow rock. The big news is the shad spawn. Ed says the shad are trying to spawn in the backs of the pockets. That means by the printing…
Read MoreLake Sinclair Fishing Articles
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…
Sometimes a graph adds more frustration to a bass-fishing situation than it does to help the cause. Such was the case for Jim Windham and I on Lake Sinclair last week. “There’s a pile of fish down there,” Jim said as his boat drifted over the point we’d just pulled crankbaits across. The graph was…
There’s plenty of different techniques you can use to load up a stringer slap full of crappie — corked minnows, tight-lining, trolling, jigs, jigging spoons and probably even a few more that I haven’t tried. Last month on Lake Sinclair I got to learn a different and very enjoyable crappie-fishing technique — shooting docks. Shooting…
You just know August bass fishing after a long, hot, dry summer is going to be tough. You probably don’t think of Sinclair as a good place to go, unless you are planning a night trip to fish lighted docks. But Sinclair may surprise you. Mike Blackshear and Rick Compton brought six bass weighing 16.7…
Brent Moye, of Macon, was fishing a bass tournament on Lake Sinclair in late January when he landed a record-breaking 2-lb., 11.5-oz. black crappie. Brent and his brother Craig were vertical jigging 1/4-oz. Hopkins spoons over a school of shad on the main lake near Nancy Brach when Brent set the hook on what he…
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 |