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Lake Oconee, Madison Georgia
Capt. Doug Nelms
April 22, 2004
Lake Oconee - Freshwater Fishing Report
Water Temp 67-70
It appears that the long awaited false spawn at the dam here at Lake Oconee has finally ended. You will still see “pods” of fish showing up every now and then at striper point and other places, but it is pretty much over with the big fish headed out to sea!
THAT DOES NOT MEAN FISHING IS OVER BY ANY MEANS! It just means that we have to work a little harder to find them now. When the spawn was on, ANYONE, could float a couple of minnows over the points and maybe catch a 10 pounder. Now the fish are going to the points and shallow humps and will stay there until the weather just becomes unbearably hot.
I did hear about a school of white bass and hybes showing up around flagpole the other day. A friend of mine caught about 30 off the school before they went down for good. This is the kind of fishing you need to be prepared for over the next few weeks. When they show up it will be really exciting, but you might have to ride around and look for them.
Keep in your arsenal several rods for flat lining bait, down lining bait, popping corks, curly tail grubs, white rooster tails, and keep them all ready to go. This time of the year I keep a total of 20 or more rods on my boat for whatever situation arises.
This is an exciting time of the year for us guides because this is when we earn our money and get to fish “our secret spots” that can produce hybes when every one else is getting snake bit. I hope I don’t sound boastful, but catching your limit during this time of the year can really be challenging. A good day of hybrids on Oconee is 20 fish and 10 for a half day. These fish should run around 5 pounds or so and if you do the math, that equates to a lot of filets.
Try looking around the pipeline, the hayfields at Sugar Creek, River Bend, and any shallow water hump you can find. In a few weeks they will be showing up at Flagpole point and you can catch them on shad or a goober rig.
So, turn up your fish finder, get ready to spend a little more money on gas, and be on the lookout for those big arches. You never know where they will show up.
Tight Lines
Doug Nelms
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