LAKE OCONEE IS FULL, 50S


BY CAPTAIN MARK SMITH, REEL TIME GUIDE SERVICE 404 803 0741 [email protected]


The lake is full stained over most of the main lake. The Richland creek arm of the lake is clear. The temperature is 50 to 55 degrees. Bass fishing is good. You will need to match the color of your bait to the water color. You can fish muddy water up the rivers to clear water in Richland creek. Pick the water color you like and go for it. Sugar creek is not as stained as the main lake. Small crank baits fished around docks and sea walls from the middle of the creeks to the back of the creeks at 8 feet of water depth at the end of the docks seems to be the best producer. Small spinner baits in white and chartreuse fished in the same area will also produce. Don't forget a Rat L Traps fished around the bridge rip rap. Soft plastics have been producing from Sugar Creek north. Again fish around the 8 feet of water depth.

Striper fishing is good. As the mud line mover further south so will the stripers. They do not like muddy water. The stripers are in the river bend area of the lake as of this report but they will move south as the muddy water moves down the lake. . Down lines as well as flat lines will produce. Fish are also showing up in the mouths of the coves. Use your Lowrance to locate the schools of bait and the stripers will be close by. Now is the time to go bait hunting. Find large schools of bait and the fish will be close by. The sea gulls have not shown up as of today.


Crappie fishing is fair to great. This is the best fishing on Oconee right now. Long lining (trolling) will produce some nice catches. You will need to run your jigs about 10 to 12 feet deep. Down lining crappie minnows into tree tops and on ledges on the main lake at 10 ft. deep will also produce a lot of fish. Use your Lowrance to locate the fish in the tree tops and then drop your bait down to the fish.


Meet Captain Mark Smith at the 2019 Progressive Atlanta Boat Show.


The 2019 Progressive Atlanta Boat Show is January 10 to 13, 2019 at the Georgia World Congress Center building A. We will have room 312 for FISHING SEMINARS and there will be one seminar every hour each day. http://www.atlantaboatshow.com/seminars


LOWRANCE TIPS: Be sure to back up your waypoints, routes and trails at least every other month. This data is valuable that cannot be lost.


We have all the details for our On the Water SONAR School on our web SCHOOLS page. We have the LOWRANCE LIVE and the NEW 3D Lowrance Technology on our boat. Bring any HDS machine only to Lake Lanier and learn it ALL in one day. Call Ken for details. See our Southern Fishing Schools page for the latest screen shots of the LOWRANCE 3D technology. See bass over a ladder in 10 feet of water 158 feet from my boat. www.lowrance.com


Ask for a free sonar set up sheet by sending me an email to [email protected]. Please tell me what model machine you have.


Call Brian Leiva at www.bbgmarine.com 888 570 0916 for all your Lowrance and other technology.


We have these books for sale BASS FISHING ON WEST POINT LAKE BASS FISHING LAKE RUSSELL BASS FISHING WEST POINT LAKE and BASS FISHING LAKE HARTWELL. These books have lots of bass fishing and covers every week of the year. Each book $39.00. If you would like a sample of any book send us an e mail to [email protected].


We offer these waypoints for sale. You get the coordinates and you load them into your GPS unit for Lake Allatoona for $99.00 Lake Lanier for $99.00 Lake Oconee for $99.00 Lake Weiss for $99.00 Lake Hartwell for $99.00 WAYPOINTS ARE NOT REFUNDABLE


Ken Sturdivant will be hosting FREE Fishing classes at 4 Forsyth County Library Branches. The last seminars will cover Fly Fishing. Anglers DO NOT need to pre register. Please come to the event 30 minutes prior to start time. All events are subjects to change without notice.
Sunday, December 9, 2018 Hampton Park FLY FISHING 2 to 4 p.m. Rene Hess, FFI Certified Casting Instructor will teach this class. All events are subjects to change without notice.