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Lake Oconee, Madison Georgia
Capt. Doug Nelms
March 14, 2003
Lake Oconee - Freshwater Fishing Report
Hybrids
Water Temp 58
It is March Madness and I am not talking about the big tournament or for that matter Georgia not playing in it, but it is wide open and exciting fishing on Lake Oconee right now for huge hybrids. Over the last 4 days we have boated over 400 pounds of fish. I am glad to say that most of them are still swimming around in our lake no worse for the wear, for the exception of a very few specimens that will be served blackened over a bed of rice. Sorry I digress.
It is an accident if you can’t catch a hybrid right now on this lake. Bass fisherman are reporting that these fish are literally everywhere and they cant run a crank bait without getting hooked into one of these mad fish. The boat brigade is showing up at the dam, (with me right in the middle of the pack) and anglers are bringing in some fish that will tip the scales at 10 pounds or more.
Of course my favorite method of catching these speeding bullets is live bait, and there is plenty of it in Sugar Creek. They seem to really like the threads and gizzard shad that are around 4 to 5 inches long. I use a 10-foot radius Calusa net and it has been taking about one throw to catch a day’s worth of bait. Free lining has been the standard operating procedure for us and it is exciting watching these shad get chased up and busted on the top of the water by these huge fish. I can’t put it in words; you gotta see it to appreciate it.
Start off by looking around the dam, and different points where there is current found when GA Power generates. It seems the fishing goes slack when there is no water movement, but with all the rain we have had there has been plenty of water movement. The flip side of all of this is strong generation is hurting the crappie fishing right now, but it will improve.
So while fishing if you see the water churning like a school of piranha attacking a small mammal, throw a rattle trap, sassy shad, shad rap, fluke, or anything white, probably including the kitchen sink, and hang on for dear life. They are hybrid bass and they are mad as can be this time of year. Maybe they know these spawning runs are in vain and they are determined to make some poor helpless shad pay for their misfortune. I hope they pick on me some more!
Tight Lines
Doug Nelms
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