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Lake Oconee, Madison Georgia
Capt. Doug Nelms
March 25, 2005
Lake Oconee - Freshwater Fishing Report
Water Temp 56.7 at Wallace Dam
Well it is finally official, the easy, catch your fish in a barrel, hybrid dam bite, is on at Lake Oconee. And by the looks of all the boats at the dam, I would say this once secret, revered hot spot is no longer a secret to anyone. I have even seen television cameras filming shows this week; the host of the show standing on the front of the bow, hoisting in 7 pound fish, one after another. Makes him look good! Makes the boat traffic bad! This place is getting so popular I thought I saw in a grocery store tabloid a report of an Elvis sighting along the barrel lines………..I jest!
But seriously folks, anglers are making the annual pilgrimage to this really fun place, and if you want to catch trophy hybrids, just show up with some live bait and get in line.
Speaking of “getting in line”, I am asking all of my devoted readers of this report to help” stop the violence”! You who read this are intelligent people, and if you have fished at the dam you can tell the people who don’t read this article. They are the ones going in the opposite direction of the entire fishing armada. They are the ones who cut in on other boats and tangle lines. Even though we haven’t established a written code there is an unmentioned rule that most of us go by. “WHEN THE HYBES ARE BITING IN FRONT OF THE BOAT HOUSE, GET IN LINE AND SWING BY!” It makes fishing really easy for all of us. Once you cross the hump you normally have 1 to 3 rods go down and it takes you all the way to the point to get the fish in the boat. Invariably there will be some “non-reader” who will anchor his boat right in the path of every other angler, or either short drift and go back into incoming traffic. This in not the way to catch these fish, as they run in, out, and over this hump and they just do not sit still as crappie do.
Now we all make mistakes and I met a really nice angler yesterday, who was very congenial. I know he was congenial because after floating the barrel line I mistakenly pulled right along side his boat. My back was turned and I didn’t see him until it was too late. I apologized and he smiled at me and said, it was no problem, and his kindness made me appreciate the experienced fisherman who lives among us. The truth of the matter is this is not my lake, nor my fish. It belongs to everyone. One other statement I need to make, if an angler comes along side your boat and ask, how your doing, tell him! Talk with him and be nice, it is not like you have found a secret spot and he is infringing on your territory. I met one angler last week who really thought Lake Oconee and Wallace Dam belonged to him. Tight lipped with info, not friendly, out there to catch as many fish as he possibly could. Now that is his business, but there will be almost 500,000 fish stocked in the lake this year alone. If 20 percent of them live that will be 100,000 fish. If 100 boats catch 500 fish that is still only half of what is left. Last year I fished almost 100 days and all year long I caught a little over 1000 hybes. I was out there in the snow sleet and rain. The point is, you cannot catch them all, be nice and help someone else catch them. So thanks to the nice angler who didn’t throw a beer bottle at me for making a mistake. In the words of the King, Can’t we all just get along!
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