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Lake Oconee, Madison Georgia
Capt. Doug Nelms
March 21, 2002
Lake Oconee - Freshwater Fishing Report
Hybrids
At Lake Oconee, around the first week of April, the hybrid bass always come to the dam. This year they have arrived early and the fishing has been fast and furious. Yesterday I was given a lesson in humbleness as I watched 3 anglers in a johnboat, catch over 20 hybrids in less than one hour. I’m talking about big ones! They started off fishing 2 rods each but finally had to only use one because the fish were so hungry. The anglers had to hide in the boat to bait their hooks.
Live shad is the ticket. If you can catch live shad, you can catch a trophy hybrid. Downrods, flatlines, or casting: it really doesn’t matter how you present the bait, just as long as it is in the water.
The fish are full of eggs and some of the ones I weighed Monday will go over 8 pounds. This will not last long, but hopefully over the next 2 weeks they will be there and will stay hungry. The bite is coming early in the morning and late in the afternoon. The more Georgia Power is pulling the lake, the better the fishing will be.
10-pound test line should be all you need, along with a spinning reel and stout rod. Throw the shad over the barrels toward the dam and don’t get occupied doing something else, because it will not take long.
I will keep you informed as to how long they are there. I am getting reports everyday from local anglers who live for this time of the year. It is some exciting fishing.
Crappie
If you want to fill your cooler with huge slabs, now is the time to be on the water. Many people wait to catch crappie for the first sign of dogwoods blooming, but right now at Lake Oconee they are biting like mad.
There are so many ways to fish them right now, but probably the most exciting is casting to them in shallow water. Throw a 1/8-oz curly tail grub, white or chartreuse, and slowly retrieve it. The big females are headed toward the bank in preparation to spawn and the males are already there, so you shouldn’t have a problem catching them.
I have noticed a lot of boaters night fishing, and they are telling me that their catches are nice and close to their limit each time. You can start looking for them up the Apalachee River and Sugar Creek. The channel in the Apalachee is loaded with fish as well as the powerlines. If you like to fish at night, Lick Creek is a great place to throw jigs at the lighted docks. You can tell there are a lot of nice people in that area that love to catch crappie, just by the number of lighted docks.
Now is the time to catch huge soc-a-lait, so what are you waiting for!
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