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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
Chad Carver, a longtime GON reader from Baxley and a Lake Sinclair regular, is a master of catching reservoir fish shallow year-round. I’ve been trying to nail down a story on Lake Sinclair with Chad for a couple of years now, but between his schedule and mine, it took us a while to finally get…
Georgia B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series will be hosting the first-ever Bass Anglers Sportsman Society Kayak State Championship ever held in the state of Georgia on Lake Sinclair on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. For this year and this year only, the tournament is an open tournament with no qualification necessary other than being a Georgia B.A.S.S.…
When you think of a yellow perch setting a lake record in Georgia, a mountain lake probably comes to mind, or maybe one of the Savannah River reservoirs where these fish are more common. But Lake Sinclair? Lake Sinclair is middle Georgia epitomized—and not prime yellow perch waters. But Sinclair does have some yellow perch,…
When she has the chance, Rachel Brown, 25, of Dallas, Ga., accompanies her dad at their family’s Lake Sinclair vacation home. On Thursday, April 9, they had the chance to go fishing together like they have many times before. “We fished some that afternoon and caught some bass and bream, which is our normal,” said…
If you enjoy competing in fishing tournaments on lakes Oconee or Sinclair, it may be time to shift gears and do a little yard work. In a statement released on March 30 by Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills, he is asking fishing tournament directors to reschedule any tournaments taking place between now and at least…
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 |