Other good locations for an early morning bite on Oconee are the sea walls and docks in front of many of the homes along the shore. Cast mid-depth crankbaits parallel to the sea wall or use Texas-rigged worms on the bottom near the walls. Look for the walls with deeper water abutting them, especially in areas where the old river channel is near the shore.

Lowe pointed to several places on the reservoir that should be good this time of year. To locate the first one, look for three PVC pipes that stick up marking an obstruction as you go into the mouth of Double Branches. Lowe said the obstruction is several large rocks, but the water that juts off them is 14 feet deep and usually holds a few bass.

Another good location is around the numerous trees near the Armor Bridge boat ramp. Fairly easy to locate, the tops of these trees attract fish.

Additionally, the point off the 18th hole of the Ritz Carlton golf course also offers good bassin'. The water here drops off quickly from some large rocks into 19 feet of water.

LAKE SINCLAIR
On Lake Sinclair for late summer fishing, Lowe looks for actively feeding fish in moving water. The location that best fits this description is in the upper end of the lake. This section of the reservoir, from the Oconee Dam downstream for approximately two miles to Shoulderbone Creek, is riverine in nature with water moving on most days.

Lowe mentioned that the large rocks on the east bank in the area are usually productive as the sun comes up, but you need to be there early. Buzzbaits in white or chartreuse color are a good bet on the top, while a lightly weighted Texas-rigged worm in June bug, pumpkin seed or dark blue with red firetail is a good choice to work between the rocks.

THE OCONEE RIVER RESERVOIRS

Lake Oconee is the northern most impoundment on the Oconee River and covers 19,060 acres in Greene County. Wallace Dam, which created the lake, is a pump-back facility that releases water downstream to Lake Sinclair to produce electric power and then pumps thw water back upstream to refill Oconee. The No. 1 largemouth bass recorded from the lake was taken by Derrell Waldrop on April 1, 1990, and weighed 12 pounds, 9 ounces. Lake Sinclair spans 14, 750 acres of Baldwin, Hancock and Putnam counties, just south of Lake Oconee. The biggest largemouth reported from this reservoir weighed 13 pounds, 2 ounces ans was taken by Jimmy Edge on Feb. 10, 1990.

Also look for any patches of grass in shallow water. Try a floating frog on top of the grass, a jerkbait in chrome with a blue back in the open patches, or a spinnerbait worked parallel to the grass.

After the sun is high, don't overlook one of the most heavily fished locations on the lake, which is around the U.S. Highway 441 bridge over the Little River arm of the lake. A multitude of bass tournaments are held out of Little River Park and Lakeside Bait and Tackle. After each of those tournaments, the bass are often released into this section of the lake.

Research has shown that these released bass hang around for several weeks before they migrate to other sections of the lake. So, despite plenty of fishing pressure, this restocking means the points in the Little River and the mouth of Beaver Dam Creek hold fish, as does the U.S. 441 riprap.

Although Sinclair is typically not noted as a trophy bass lake, anglers catch and release many harvestable largemouth bass here each year. There are good numbers of 15- to 20- inch fish. But do not expect to be alone in pursuing them. According to the most recent Georgia B.A.S.S. club data, Sinclair ranks second in the state, behind Clarks Hill, in the number of bass tournaments held.

Regardless of the area of the lake targeted, you should fish dropoffs, deep brushpiles, and lighted docks at night in summer for best results. Local anglers report their best success during the generation or pump-back phase at Wallace Dam, either of which gets the water moving. This is especially true on the Oconee River arm of the impoundment.