Lake Sinclair Information

[af4evr13]

Appreciate everyone’s advice and information. Put in at Crooked creek and little did I know they just finished a catfish tournament. They must have caught them all because I didn’t have much luck. Lol. It was super hot and I don’t have a top on my boat so we moved around a lot just trying to get in the shade. When I wasn’t hugging the bank found some nice groups of fish at the mouth of coves. The bait store I went to didn’t have pinks so I used nightcrawlers and red worms. Caught a few very small channel cats and some Bream. I used shrimp to tro catch blues. The shimp I got from Publix was not the greatest and was not staying on the hook very well. I didn’t try the chicken and jello just because I didn’t want to deal with unsanitary chicken juice. Not real sure I was in good spots for blues. Again, I really appreciate everyone help…hopefully I will learn a bit more each time I go out.

 

[sleepr71]

It’s a big body of water to learn. Just have fun & fish. Take a break & jump off to cool down. I rarely have any daytime luck when there’s a lot of boat traffic(most every weekend in Summer).

 

[Redbeardless]

I am guessing that you fished on the bottom like most folks do for catfish. There are times when bottom fishing is the ticket, but not always. Next time you go, try using a couple of slip floats and fish your bait up in the water column where you are marking bait and fish. As the water warms up, the bait schools will tend to be in the thermocline. That could be anywhere from 8-10 ft. down to 35' or more. I am an old scrapper and thought I knew a few things about how to catch catfish until I started fishing on Oconee. I saw where the guys using noodle jugs were catching all kinds of catfish with fairly short lines on their noodle jugs. What I learned, and what is probably common knowledge to a lot of folks, is that catfish, all sizes, little ones and big ones school and feed on baitfish up in the water column just like any other game fish that feed on shad. Try it, you will catch catfish. And when they take the bait up in the water column, they usually take it aggressively. Probably because they are competing with other fish in the school.
I fished this past weekend on Oconee and did not get a bite on the bottom. I kept marking bait and fish at 8'-15'. I moved my bait up into that depth range and started catching catfish. Ended up with 11 in about 2 hrs., several 4-8 lbs. and the rest 1-2 lbs. Last weekend in the same time, caught 22, largest over 10 lbs. A big factor is whether or not they are pulling or pumping back water. The water was moving last weekend, but not this past one. Good luck!!! By the way, all were caught on strawberry chicken!!!

 

[af4evr13]

I am guessing that you fished on the bottom like most folks do for catfish. There are times when bottom fishing is the ticket, but not always. Next time you go, try using a couple of slip floats and fish your bait up in the water column where you are marking bait and fish. As the water warms up, the bait schools will tend to be in the thermocline. That could be anywhere from 8-10 ft. down to 35' or more. I am an old scrapper and thought I knew a few things about how to catch catfish until I started fishing on Oconee. I saw where the guys using noodle jugs were catching all kinds of catfish with fairly short lines on their noodle jugs. What I learned, and what is probably common knowledge to a lot of folks, is that catfish, all sizes, little ones and big ones school and feed on baitfish up in the water column just like any other game fish that feed on shad. Try it, you will catch catfish. And when they take the bait up in the water column, they usually take it aggressively. Probably because they are competing with other fish in the school.
I fished this past weekend on Oconee and did not get a bite on the bottom. I kept marking bait and fish at 8'-15'. I moved my bait up into that depth range and started catching catfish. Ended up with 11 in about 2 hrs., several 4-8 lbs. and the rest 1-2 lbs. Last weekend in the same time, caught 22, largest over 10 lbs. A big factor is whether or not they are pulling or pumping back water. The water was moving last weekend, but not this past one. Good luck!!! By the way, all were caught on strawberry chicken!!!View attachment 1157327

Thank you! This is great information!

 

[af4evr13]

Does anyone know if Fishtale Marina on Ocoonne is a public boat ramp?

 

[MFOSTER]

Does anyone know if Fishtale Marina on Ocoonne is a public boat ramp?

I think that’s the old Jr’s yes it’s public