Lake Oconee Prespawn Bass On Docks And Rock

Fish rocks and docks for February Lake Oconee bass. That simple pattern will put fish in the boat all over the lake, and many different baits will catch them. Weather will play a part in how active bass will be, but you can catch fish under any conditions.

Lake Oconee is a Georgia Power Co. lake just south of I-20 near Madison and Eatonton. It is lined with huge houses, golf courses and docks, and it seems like the entire shoreline has some kind of seawall. Bass love seawalls, since no matter what the wall itself is constructed with, there is almost always rip-rap at the base of it.

Noah Campbell is a junior on the Georgia College fishing team in Milledgeville. He always liked to fish, and he got into tournament fishing when he went to college. He is currently leading the points standings for his team. The points winner in their local team tournaments gets full funding to fish the college tournament trails the next year.

“Bass in Oconee are starting their prespawn movement in February, so it is a transition month,” Noah said.

The bass move to points near deep water that are at the mouths of spawning pockets. Bass feed more actively as the water warms and the days get longer this month.

“Rocks are the key, and docks with rocks around them give bass a good holding place in the shade and more cover to ambush food,” Noah said.

You can look at a good map and find channel swings running by points leading into protected pockets to find the kinds of places where bass will stage.

The good spawning pockets often have a deep side and a shallow side, and Noah said he concentrates on the deep sides of pockets early in the month. If there has been a warming trend, especially toward the end of the month, he will always check the shallow side, too.

Noah will have four baits ready to fish, with a couple of other baits ready for specific situations. A crankbait, spinnerbait, jig and shaky head will cover most situations, but at times he will also cast a bladed jig and a jerkbait.

Tournament angler Noah Campbell of the Georgia College fishing team with a solid Lake Oconee largemouth. Noah said seawalls and docks are key for catching plenty of hungry, aggressive Oconee bass this month.

We fished the following 10 spots in mid-January to mark the map and record GPS coordinates. It was a little early for bass to be on these spots, and Noah caught only one keeper. To show how much fishing can change day to day, Noah caught a 7.8-lb. largemouth three days before we went and had several more quality fish on these same places.

No. 1: N 33º 24.101 – W 83º 12.708 — Going up the lake from Long Shoals ramp, the lake makes a sharp right turn and then a left turn. On the right side of the outside bend of the left turn, there is a big house that sits on a round upstream point of a cove. The seawall is wooden, and big decorative rocks are up on the bank above it.

Start on the main-lake side of the point, and fish around it and into the cove down the right side. The seawall has rip-rap along the base of it, and then inside the cove there are more rip-rap seawalls and docks to fish. The left side is the deep side here and is better most of February, but later in the month or after any three-day warming trend the shallower right side is worth checking for fish.

Noah keeps his boat in close to the seawall and throws ahead of the boat, casting near the rocks and bumping the rocks back to the boat. He likes a flat-sided, mid-depth crankbait like a Little John, but he will also throw a DT-6 or DT-4. Color depends on water color—he uses natural shad colors in clearer water and crawfish colors in stained water.

Fish from the point into the cove, hitting docks and seawalls between them. Skip a jig to the docks as you come to them. If you catch a fish, keep working down the bank until you get to the back of the pocket. Bass can be anywhere along a deep bank like this, and Noah says if you catch one you are likely to catch several.

No. 2: N 33º 23.699 – W 83º 12.911 — Go downstream to the narrow point between two pockets on your left. There is a lot of new construction just downstream. The point has a gray beach house with a dock that has a double-ridge roof on the downstream side. The seawall is big block rocks, and there is rip-rap along the base of it.

Start on the upstream side of the point and fish around it, casting your crankbait or spinnerbait right to the edge of the water. Keep your boat in close, in about 6 feet of water, and parallel the rocks.

Bump them with your crankbaits. Noah says he gets hung a lot, but you have to bump the rocks to trigger bites, and his Segar Red Label 12-lb. line holds up well if it is checked often for nicks.

A chartreuse-and-white 3/8-oz. War Eagle or Nichols spinnerbait with one gold and one silver Colorado blade is Noah’s choice. He says the Colorado blades allow him to fish the spinnerbait slower, and he wants to just crawl it along the rocks.

Fish the dock with your jig, and then work down the left bank. It has a lot of brush hanging over the seawall, and it is hard to fish, but bass often hold under it. A spinnerbait, bladed jig or shaky head skipped under the brush to the wall and worked out will catch them.

No. 3: N 33º 23.727 – W 83º 13.233 — Go across the lake and downstream to the point on the right that has two docks and a seawall. There are round red buoys on the upstream point, and a golf course hole is on the downstream cove. Start inside the upstream point and fish around it, hitting the first couple of docks inside the upstream cove, and work to the docks inside the downstream cove.

Cast your crankbait and spinnerbait to the seawalls and rocks, and fish the docks with a jig. Noah uses a 1/2-oz. natural-colored jig in clear water and a black-and-blue jig in stained water. He uses a meaty trailer that helps him skip the jig under docks, and he wants to get it as far back as he can.

Skip the jig to the dock posts, let it fall to the bottom, and then work it slowly until you are out from under the dock. Watch for bites as the jig falls, if the fish are suspended under one dock, they are likely to be suspended under others.

Noah and I talked about the boards that most docks have across the front right at the water line. They may be there to make it hard for fishermen to get lures under them, or they may be to stop waves from slapping under the docks. In either case, go to the side and back of the dock—those boards are often missing there, so you can still get a lure back under the docks where the bass are hanging out.

No. 4: N 33º 23.611 – W 83º 17.080 — Go down the river past Long Shoals ramp to the first big cove on your left, right where the river bends back to the right.

There is a small island off the point in the middle of two coves. Go to the main-lake point on the upstream side of the first cove. This point drops fast into deep water. It has a big rock seawall around it with rip-rap at the base, and this is a typical staging place for February bass. The big rock seawall turns into rip-rap at the first dock in the cove.

Fish around the point with a spinnerbait and crankbait, and then fish the left, deeper bank going back into the cove. Work the seawalls and docks all the way to the back. Noah caught a keeper largemouth here and lost a couple more that came off his crankbait, proving his point that where there is one there are usually several bass this time of year.

No. 5: N 33º 21.578 – W 83º 10.915 — Run down and into the last creek on the right before the dam. Go past the first cove on the right to the point with big boulders on it. There is a line of yellow buoys out from the bank along here. Stop just downstream of the first dock and fish the rip-rap and docks all the way around the point.

This staging area back in a creek is better later in the month as bass move back to spawn. The big boulders attract fish, and they hold on the rocks and feed. Since this point is flatter than main-lake structure, Noah will keep his boat out in 15 to 20 feet of water and make long casts to the bank. When you see boulders on the bank like this, there are likely to be more under the water.

If you see a boulder, cast your crankbait past it and run the plug over it. Also cast your jig ’n pig on top of it, and let if fall down the side, keeping your line slack so it falls to the bottom right beside the boulder to tempt fish holding tight against its base.

No. 6: N 33º 21.432 – W 83º 10.199 — Downstream there is a danger marker that sits off the upstream point of the picnic area at Lawrence Shoals recreation area. The marker is on a big boulder, and there are other big rocks around it. Cast your jig and shaky head to the boulders, and let your bait fall off the sides. Fish the entire point.

Noah likes a 3/8-oz. Buckeye Lures shaky head, and he puts a black or green-pumpkin with purple flake Zoom Trick Worm on it. Noah casts his shaky head on baitcasting equipment rather than spinning. He says he catches more fish on the shaky head but bigger fish on the jig.

Fish the point at all angles, hitting all the big rocks on it. If the water is clear, he will also cast a jerkbait over the rocks here and in other places. He fishes a deep-running McStick jerkbait and runs it slowly. He says Oconee bass don’t seem real aggressive but will hit a jerkbait fished slowly.

No. 7: N 33º 21.297 – W 83º 09.976 — The next point downstream is on the downstream side of the Lawrence Shoals swimming area. This point has grass around it and some rock. Go to the small point on the river side of the swimming area and start fishing there.

Work around the point while casting a spinnerbait or bladed jig into and through the grass. Although the grass is dead this time of year, it still attracts baitfish and bass. Fish all the way around the point to the downstream side, hitting all the grass on it.

Noah likes a 3/8-oz. red or black-and-blue Jackhammer jig with a matching trailer, and he works it through the grass slowly. When your jig or the spinnerbait hang up on grass, jerk it free, but try to keep it from moving more than a foot or so. Sluggish bass in the cold water will react to the fast movement, but they don’t want to move too far chasing a bait.

No. 8: N 33º 21.421 – W 83º 09.315 — Go across the lake to the double cove with the Georgia Power private recreation area in it. There is rip-rap in the back of both sides, and the middle point has a picnic area on it. There are big boulders on the point, too.

Stop on the right bank going in when you see the first grassbed. Start there and fish the grass to the back of the pocket. Run both your spinnerbait and bladed jig through it. Noah says you can also throw a shaky head around the grass and catch fish.

Work across the rip-rap in the back—the right side rip-rap is a little deeper and has grass in front of it. Work out on the point, fishing the boulders on it. Some are right on the bank and others are deeper, and there is some brush on them. Fish over them with your jerkbait if the water is clear, and work a shaky head and jig on the deeper ones.

No. 9: N 33º 22.556 – W 83º 09.976 — Run up to where Richland Creek turns to the right. Go around the last primary point to the next one that is between two pockets on the right. There is a white pole marking a big boulder just off the bank.

Stay a long cast off the marker, and work over the point with a jerkbait and follow up with jig and shaky head.

A crankbait bumping the boulders and a spinnerbait crawled over them will also get bites. There are other boulders on the point other than the one marked.

No. 10: N 33º 23.268 – W 83º 09.790 — Go into Double Branches to the first small creek on the left. There is a danger buoy on the downstream point marking a big boulder just under the surface, it’s like the big rocks you can see up on the point. Stop out a long cast away from the marker, and fish all around the point with jerkbait, crankbait, spinnerbait, jig and shaky head.

After fishing the boulders on the point carefully, work into the cove while fishing the left side. Fish to the last point in the back. Fish the rip-rap between docks and work the docks slowly in the cold water. The bass will hold on the point all month, but some will start moving back early in the month, and some will move back every day to feed.

Try these places to see a good February pattern and catch bass on it anywhere on Lake Oconee.