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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: 1.5 feet below 340. Temp: 76-77 degrees. Clarity: Muddy to stained until you get to the dam. Bass: Karl Pingry reports, “Ed at Lakeside Chevron says recent weights at tournaments have been impressive—27, 22, 19 and 18 pounds winning these last couple of weeks. Ed thinks that most of the bass have spawned, but there will be a few more with the next full moon that will be deeper in the water column. The shad spawn is still ongoing with the biggest concentration up the Oconee. It will end soon with the warm temps and no rain the last week of April. However, the mayflies will continue to be emerging along the banks for the next several weeks. The shad spawn will be first thing in the morning. Target rocks, grass, dock pilings and seawalls where you see shad throwing themselves up on the banks. A spinnerbait is…
Read MoreLake Sinclair Fishing Articles
Ten Georgia Power Company lakes will experience drawdowns this fall or winter. “Get out your Rat-L-Traps,” Aaron Batson said when asked about the lake drawdowns. Aaron is a tournament angler, a contributor to GON‘s fishing reports and a two-time GON Eliminator Series bass tournament champion. “Fall fishing already bunches up schools of bass that follow…
Another Georgia lake record has been broken. Henry Younker, of Oxford, landed a record blue catfish Friday, June 12 on Lake Sinclair. Henry and his two sons put their boat in the water at Little River around 7 a.m. After having much success throughout the day, the boys decided to stay as long as they…
Troy Thiel is attempting to tell me how simple it is to catch crappie trolling on Lake Sinclair. “People make it harder… there’s a fish… than it really has to be. All you need to do… there’s another one…” Being interrupted by slab crappie is not a bad thing, even at the beginning of the…
July is not a favorite month for most bass fishermen. Water and air temperatures are hot, and that makes most bass move deep. Fishing can be a sweaty frustration during the day, and many anlgers just don’t like to cast at night. But you can catch bass in July, especially at Lake Sinclair. Sinclair is…
The month of January can be pretty darn lackluster for an outdoorsman, to be honest. Deer season has come and gone, all of that delicious, heart-clogging holiday food is a distant memory, and the end of another highly anticipated duck season is looming in the back of your mind. If I was really cruel, I…
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 |