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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
Lake Sinclair bass are on their winter pattern. Many fish spend idle time in deep water, but they move up shallow to feed around rocks and wood. They will hit while holding deep, too, so you have many options of where and how to fish this month. Lake Sinclair has been on fire for big…
On the afternoon of May 9, Jeffery Goodman, of Decatur, caught the new blue catfish record for Lake Sinclair, according to GON’s official records. The huge catfish weighed 51-lbs., 14-ozs. on certified scales. WRD Fisheries Biologist Keith Weaver confirmed it was a blue catfish and weighed it around 5:15 p.m. at the Walton Fish Hatchery.…
March ushers in the long-awaited first week of spring, but weather this month is capricious at best—and cussed at worst. Juggling schedules while attempting to pick out that sure-fire good day on a lake like Sinclair can be a roll of the dice in March. So what’s a fisherman to do? Just go, grin and…
Sinclair offers you many bass-fishing choices in September. If you like probing deep, main-channel point ledges for bass in current, Sinclair is a good choice this month. Meanwhile, you can also catch bass shallow around docks and find some feeding on bream in pockets around grass and wood. Sinclair is an old Georgia Power lake…
The cost to spend a day at federal recreation areas on the Oconee and Chattahoochee national forests could be going up soon. The U.S. Forest Service is proposing increases to user fees at some Forest Service recreation areas in Georgia, including access to some boat ramps, campgrounds and day-use areas. The proposed price hikes include…
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 | 73-lbs., 12.16-ozs. | Brandon Pitts | 01/26/24 |
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 |