Sinclair report 10/19/17

I went after work from 6:15 to 10:15 last night launching from Lakeside Bait & Tackle and fished up in the Rooty Creey and Cold Branch areas. This was my first time fishing Sinclair after dark and my first time in that part of the lake. I only picked there because it was closer to launch from than Dennis Station so I'd have more daylight. First off I forgot to grab a jacket and nearly froze in just a t-shirt. (Bet I won't do that again.)

Surface temps were still 75-78 degrees. I alternated between a crankbait and rubber worm without a bite until right at dusk. After that I started getting bites on the worms and stuck with that. I found a few good dock lights and caught most of my fish near them. I ended up with 12 largemouth and 1 striper. The striper was around 4 pounds. 8 of the largemouth were short fish. 3 were in the 1.5 to 2.5 pound range and the last one of the night was my biggest Lake Sinclair bass. I didn't weigh her, but she was 22.5" long. I'd guess around 6 pounds. She was near 441 straight across from Lakeside B&T right at the end of a pontoon boat.

I've been fishing lately with what I've heard called the "shaky-drop". A drop shot rig with a shaky head instead of the usual drop shot weight. Yesterday the first several bit the top worm....then later they started hitting the bottom one. Sometimes you'll get fish on both.

The big one last night tapped the bottom worm just as it hit bottom in about 6' of water. I felt her bite, but thought it was another little fish. As I waited for a split second to see if the fish was holding on or hopefully going to hit again - she rolled up swirling the surface of the water. It was then that I felt a good tug and set the hook. She started pulling drag pretty good, but didn't fight much. It turns out that she had bit and gotten hooked on both worms. That initial bump I felt and then the swirl and tug was when she rolled around and grabbed the drop shot worm. Fat girl was hungry!!

Well done! Great job!

Nice report. Sinclair is a fun lake to fish. Isn't it crappie season down there?

Are there Alabama spotted bass in Sinclair?

Thanks for the report

olcaptain said:

Well done! Great job!

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Thank you sir! I'm still looking forward to fishing with you and Max one day. Monday is looking like evening thunderstorms, but if there is an evening next week that's good for a fishing trip send me a PM.

littlejon said:

Nice report. Sinclair is a fun lake to fish. Isn't it crappie season down there?

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They should be biting right now. There were only a couple other people around the ramp when I was coming in. One boat didn't stay long and only caught one crappie. The other didn't catch any.

lampern said:

Are there Alabama spotted bass in Sinclair? Thanks for the report

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I've heard they are starting to show up in Lake Oconee and Sinclair as they were introduced in the Oconee River upstream of the lakes. I've not caught one yet. Usually I look forward to catching a new species, but it would suit me if I don't ever see a spot in Sinclair or the river below.


If anyone would like to go out during the same hours one evening let me know. Especially anyone that knows the lake well and/or knows Helix fish finders too. This time of year I'd think schools of largemouth will be staging up and getting ready to start packing on the feedbag before it gets cold.

good report! Starting to see some white bass show up in cedar creek.

let's have a pic of that drop shot shakey rig. That is a great idea.

GA BASS ODYSSEY said:

let's have a pic of that drop shot shakey rig. That is a great idea.

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I can't take credit for this idea. It's just something I saw while using Google Images to learn how to tie a drop-shot rig.

Here's a picture just from Google. There's nothing special about mine.....just easier to get a picture this way. I don't bother with the drop-shot hook with the built in swivel....although I wouldn't mind trying those. I just tie a regular drop shot hook on with a palomar knot.

I generally use a Zoom Trick Worm or the smaller "Finesse" worm on the drop shot hook since they get tangled in the rig less while casting. On the bottom hook I either use a regular trick worm or a U-tail for a little more action.

Also, I don't fish it vertically like most people fish a drop shot. I don't often fish it like a shaky head either. I cast it out and fish it back like a Texas Rig. Most of the time I'm casting it up super shallow, but it's killer thrown into the top of a blow down too.

I also don't throw it on super light line. Either straight 14-20 pound fluorocarbon or 30-50 pound braid with the same fluorocarbon leader. Every now and then you'll catch two at a time and you don't want that on 6-8 pound line.

Another thing worth mentioning:

A bite on the drop shot hook needs a reel up and lift to set the hook only while the shaky head hook needs a stronger hook set.

This leads to the question - How do I know how I should set the hook since I don't know which worm the fish is biting?

I've found that often when they bite the lower worm and need a strong hook set that it's more of a "traditional" feeling bite. The tap-tap or tug on the line just like when fishing a Texas Rig.
Usually when they bite the drop shot worm the bite feels much more slight. Sometimes you don't even feel the bite at all. Instead you'll just feel some extra weight on the line when you lift the rod tip to move the worms.....
OR you'll feel no weight on the line at all. You won't be able to feel the weight of your worms when you try to move them. Sometimes your line will start moving off to one side or the other, but often the fish will just slowly swim straight towards you and you won't realize it even has your worm if you aren't paying attention to that lack of weight on the line.

I went back out on Sinclair last night and caught 15 - 20. Only 7 were keeper size. I stopped counting all the dinks, but I know I caught a lot more of those than keepers. Every fish was under 3 pounds. One came on a spinner bait under a dock light, but all the rest were on the shaky-drop.
I started a couple hours before sunset, but only caught a few before dark.

I made a whole thread awhile back complaining about never catching numbers of bass, but night fishing at Sinclair has changed that. Now if I could start catching numbers of decent sized bass would be awesome. I think the key to that will be learning to understand the fishfinder better.