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Lake Oconee, Madison Georgia

Doug Nelms
May 26, 2004
Lake Oconee - Freshwater Fishing Report

Water Temp 82

The hybrids are doing well on Lake Oconee. Even though the spawn is over, we are catching these things like fish in a barrel, during specific times of the day. To be completely honest the bite is better right now than it was during the month of March and April, when most people think it is the best time to fish for them.

Yesterday afternoon we boated 17 fish from 2pm to 5:30 pm and 12 of the 17 were over 22 inches. It has been like this all month and it looks to me like these fish have no plans on slowing up any time soon.

If you are going to fish for hybrids right now it is absolutely imperative to have live shad on your boat. If there is no way you can keep them I have heard of some anglers using bream, but the shad are the ticket. I have also found out that it doesn’t matter how big they are! Really! I have pulled some shad that were 12 inches long and the hybrids have jump on them like a homeless person on a bologna sandwich!

Many of the strikes we are getting now are explosive, top water, drag ripping hits. Most of the time you hear it before you see it. Down-lines are also working very well. Sometimes you have to keep switching from one to the other depending on what they will take, so keep plenty of rods on your boat.

You can start looking for them at the hayfields at Sugar Creek and work you way from there to Flagpole point. Many anglers are showing up at Flagpole for the afternoon white bass bite. You will be able to catch hybrids off the point out in the middle of the lake. Yesterday we landed one there over 7 pounds, floating a flat line in 45 feet of water. A good fish finder is a must! Look for the dark thick “boomerangs” that will show up when you go over a school of them and drop lines down to them. Try your best to sit on top of them as long as you can. I am fishing some lines 20 to 25 feet deep and finding a good bite there.

Tight lines

Doug Nelms

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Doug has been guiding on Lake Oconee for over 10 years. His specialty is trophy Striped and Hybrid Bass, and huge Crappie during certain months. His boat is a Ranger 2300 Bay Series powered by a 225 Yamaha 4-stroke motor. It is spacious and can fish up to 6 people! Lake Oconee is the second largest reservoir in the state of Georgia with over 18,000 surface acres of water. The lake is heavily stocked each year with Striped and Hybrid Bass. Doug tries to catch all of them!

Contact Info:

Fishing Oconee
1230 Apalachee Woods Tr.
Buckhead, GA 30625
Phone: 770-354-0300
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