Oconee is the site of an effort by the WRD, and local clubs like the Lake Oconee Bassmasters, to improve shoreline habitat. In many areas, the shore is lined with docks and seawalls that tend to eliminate natural cover and reduce places for young bass to hide. Here, the program is to plant native water grasses in the shallows and place wood cover for the young bass to hide in.

In early spring, look for bass feeding around riprap banks and seawalls. A spinnerbait or crankbait ordinarily attracts these fish. As the water warms, they move into pockets to spawn, and you can sight-fish for bass on the beds.

All spring and into early summer, throw a spinnerbait around any grass cover you find back in the pockets. On sunny days in late spring and during the summer, pitch a jig-and-pig or Texas-rigged plastic worm under boat docks. Docks on deeper water are usually better during the summer, and main-lake docks with current moving under them are best.

Docks continue to produce in the fall. But bass are more active, and crankbaits and spinnerbaits fished near riprap and seawalls can also pay off. Small crankbaits work in the same areas during the winter, but fish them more slowly. Also try targeting bridge pilings and riprap at this time of year.

Flint River
From the Lake Blackshear's dam to south of Albany, the Flint River has some of the best shoal-bass fishing you can find. No tournaments were reported on this river, although some people weighed in shoal bass running way up the Flint from Lake Seminole.

Access is limited, and the best way to fish the river is to drift sections of it. Team up with other fishermen and use two vehicles. Leave one at the take-out spot and drive upriver to put in. You'll need a shallow-draft boat with a strong trolling motor to fish the shoals on the river.

Shoal bass, obviously, like shoals. You may find a few in deeper sections of the river or holding on wood cover but for the best fishing, look for swift water running over rocks. In the spring, you have to watch for high water that makes the river very dangerous.

Fish the shoals with small Texas-rigged worms, small jig-and-pigs and little crankbaits. Work those lures through eddies and riffles for bass that are waiting on food to be washed to them. Fish with the current to make your bait look natural.

In late spring through the summer when the water level stabilizes, topwater action can be fantastic. Use a popper-style lure or buzzbait around shoals, and you could catch some good-sized bass. Five-pound shoalies are usually caught in this area on most trips, along with many more in the 3- to 4-pound range. Early morning and late afternoons are best for topwater action.

Lake Walter F. George
Lake Eufaula -- as this reservoir on the Chattahoochee River is more commonly called -- is a well-known bass fishery that produces excellent catches year 'round. The 14-inch size limit enforced for all black-bass species means that lower numbers of bass are actually weighed in during tournaments, since the 12- and 13-inchers that would otherwise be brought to the scales on other lakes must be released. The heaviest winning weights reported in tournaments are the highest in the state.

In early spring, look for big largemouth moving into shallow water in search of spawning beds. Bass will often be surprisingly shallow and a long way from the channel. Try spinnerbaits and a jig-and-pig around the grass edges for them.

After the bass spawn, they move out the flats to the edges of the creek and river channels. At Eufaula, the ledge fishing that this migration offers is legendary. Big crankbaits, plastic worms and heavy Ledgebuster spinnerbaits often produce heavyweight largemouths at this time. Look for stumps and brush on bends of the flooded river channel in the main lake for the best of this action.

The bass stay on the ledges from late spring until the next spawning season, so follow them from shallow ledges to deeper ones, then back to shallow in the fall.