Meet The Lake Oconee Striper Club

After spending a day on the water with three members of the Lake Oconee Striper Club (LOSC), it was obvious this club is all about serving people. In my own summary, these guys and gals get together to celebrate Lake Oconee striper fishing while helping those in the community and teaching one another to become better anglers.

“The Lake Oconee Striper Club started in 2020 as the brain child of James Pressley, Mark Smith and Jimmy Holmes, all guides on the lake,” said Kevin Wahl, current board member with the LOSC.

In the club’s infancy, they had pay-out fishing tournaments, but that came with some growing pains that had members wondering if that was the direction the club needed to go. Kevin had a conversation with Lanier guide Capt. Mack Farr, who asked Kevin a question that would shift the future of the LOSC.

“He asked, ‘Do you want to have a fishing club or a tournament club?” said Kevin. “Tournament clubs tend to blow up and then shrink back down, and a lot of them don’t make it. They decided they wanted a fishing club where you can promote the sport and grow it, kind of like a mentorship program, and I really liked that idea. We were already kind of heading that way, doing volunteer stuff for the Boys & Girls Club teaching fishing classes and working with the Outdoor Legacy Foundation. We really loved the idea of helping the community.”

While there is no longer a pay-out fishing tournament where top anglers take home money, the LOSC still hosts tournaments. However, all funds collected in a very modest, $20-per-angler entry fee goes into a pot. Then, at the end of the tournament season, the Angler Of The Year gets to select a charity that gets 100% of the proceeds from the year.

“It’s worked really well,” said Kevin. “That way if you’re not fishing up to par, you don’t really feel like you’re losing your money to one person, you are donating your money to charity. This year Chad Wammock won, and he picked 30-30 Ministries, it’s a great charity and a great pick.”

Chad Wammock (left) was top angler during last season’s nine Lake Oconee Striper Club tournaments. He chose 30-30 Ministries as the recipient of all the entry fees for the season. Brad Gill with 30-30 Ministries receives the $2,560 check from Chad.

The tournament works where anglers can launch from anywhere on Lake Oconee and then submit photos of three fish on a measuring board by a pre-determined time. All fish are released alive after photos. Nobody knows who won until the entire club convenes at the El Agave restaurant to have a meal together and get the results.

“We only run tournaments nine months out of the year because during heat of the summer, it ends up killing some of the fish. We try to be a good steward for the fishery,” said Kevin.

All indicators are that the current change in direction of the LOSC has been good.

“What we are doing with the club and the direction we are taking it, the way we do the tournaments, the events we do, the charity, the feedback from all the membership has been 100% positive, and we want to keep that going,” said Nick Friedrich, LOSC board member.

There’s also an educational platform that comes with a membership with the LOSC.

“Darcy (Flynn) had this great idea of doing mentor days where we mentor the new folks to get them up to speed so they can fish the tournaments,” said Kevin. “If they’ve never been able to live bait or spoon fish or troll, we try to get them on a boat with someone who can teach them how to do that. The mentorship program sets us apart as being able to teach folks how to fish so that they can teach other folks how to fish. It becomes a contagious and a wonderful thing when at the end of the day you are helping other folks.”

Darcy Flynn

Kevin said being a part of a club where earning money isn’t the goal at the end of the day has led to some great experiences.

“We do a Cast and Blast in the spring, and it’s an absolute riot,” said Kevin. “You fish during the morning, and you count your total inches of fish (five fish per team). Then in the afternoon, we go to Old Hudson and shoot clay pigeons, and we add up the total amount of clay pigeons your team hit (along with total fish inches) to get a winning team.”

In regards to the Cast and Blast, Darcy added, “We have volunteer captains and put everyone’s name in a hat, and the captains pull their crew out of the hat. Some of the hard-core guys who fished together said they appreciated that. They said they would have never gotten out of their comfort zones if we didn’t do that. It kept them from having cliques. You end up fishing with everyone.”

You don’t have to own a boat to be a member of the LOSC.

“Normally we can pair you with someone, and then a lot of times you make new friendships with that,” said Nick. “Meeting people is another perk of coming to the meetings.”

Nick Friedrich

The LOSC has monthly meetings the third Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. at Lakepoint Community Church, 940 Harmony Rd, Eatonton, GA 31024.

“At our meetings, we have a lot of really good speakers,” said Kevin. “Speakers talk about different lures, different rods, different styles of fishing. We just had Capt. Doug Nelms come in and talk. We have a lot of talent already in the club, so we have a lot of sources to draw from.”

Yearly membership dues are $100, and those funds go back into the club to purchase prizes for the tournament winners and to cover administrative costs that come with supporting a club.

“We are always open for new members,” said Kevin. “We are really looking for people who are good hearted, positive and enjoy being with people.

“I think this club really works well with people from beginner fishermen all the way to expert fishermen who like to catch striped bass. We try to help others, put other before us, share our information,  share our gifts. It’s a really good place to make some life-long friends.”

For more information on the LOSC, call Kevin at 404.824.3220 or Darcy at 404.819.9419.

Kevin Wahl