Oconee and Appalachee Rivers - Blue catfish Flathead catfish explosion?

[CaptCatFish]

On a recent deer hunting trip, I heard several stories (and saw a few pictures) about how blue and flathead catfishing is taking off in the Oconee Lake, specifically the Oconee and Appalachee River arms. Someone said it will be the next Santee-Copper (which is really hard to believe).

Can anyone confirm or deny these rumors?

Best regards

CaptCatFish

[Creteus]

I don't know about flats in Oconee, but I know a guy who fishes it, during the day, and brings home 20 to 30 cats each trip. From what I hear Oconee is full of cats. as for the next santee, well I don't know about that

[PALMER]

may have to check that area out.:big_smile:

[jerseycat9]

Ive been hearing the same thing lately could be something to keep an eye on

[BassMassey]

went fishing last night where river dumps into the lake....about 10 pm caught a healthy blue that was every bit of 20 pounds....caught em off of a small lively bream off the bottom. anyone else fishing oconee lately?

[baitshop 2]

the cats will come out to play just feed them dont forget to play hide the hook........and see what you get......:smile2::tounge_out::smile2:

[BassMassey]

fished the same spot as last post. around midnight had a nice steady pull on the clicker......ended up being about a 13# flathead....about 1 in the morning had a real quick jerky run , just as i missed the hookset a big ol' cat rolled on the top of the water. Im guessin it had to be a nice blue due to how he was peelin line off the clicker. I did get my bream back all mangled. I also had a 1# bass i caught while baitfishing out on a 10 ought hook that never got hit. As the water cools in the next couple months things should get good.

[GaDep]

Been hitting Sinclair but haven't tried Oconee but will give it a try soon as Alligator season is over!!

[BassMassey]

i've fished sinclair once below the oconee dam off the fishing pier. We caught a few decent blue cats and channel cats. I think oconee with the rivers feeding the resovoir have a more established flathead population. Although i really need to fish the spillway below the sinclair dam, i have a feeling there have to be some nice flatheads in there. I went down there and scouted it out and it looks promising. Anyone know anything about the sinclair spillway??

[BassMassey]

me and cretues fished the oconee friday night......caught good bait. Fished until 2 am..........two runs= no fish on the bank..........hopefully we can do better next time.

[BassMassey]

Caught my PB Oconee cat this afternoon....nice fat blue cat, around 30-35 lb range, didnt have a camera with me....but it was the first time i even fished that spot so i will be back. I found this spot last week.....it's about 3 miles back on a WMA road, then an additional mile walk through some woods. I don't think anyone else has fished it before....its a nice big bend in the apalachee river just before it dumps into lake oconee....if you cast out 20 yds your bait drops down so far it looks like you're about 5 ft off the bank. I got to the spot around 4 pm......set up my rods and holders and all....casted out 3 live bream off the bottom, the i got the smallest bream( which was a tiny warmouth) and hooked him through the eyes about 10 ft deep on a slip float........i threw out into the slow current and really didnt pay too much attention to it. I sat down and was getting ready to have a smoke since I had just gotten set up. After about not even 5 minutes have gone by when i look up and notice i can't find my float?? I then look at my rod in the rod holder in the bank.....my rods doubled over and drag is being pulled out....i jump up and the fish was already on....didnt even have to set the hook, he must have just grabbed in and went........he ran hard down the bank of the river crossing a couple lines......after two hard runs i managed to beach him and turn him loose. I wish i had bought a throw away cam.....I will be back at that spot soon though....after that fish i had no runs ......i fished until 8:30...

[BassMassey]

I beleive i found myself a honey hole on the apalachee river arm of lake oconee. Same spot as last post, I fished it last Monday from about 6 am till 11......i didn't catch anything that day although i threw out a live 12" bass right when i got there that morning......I let him soak for about 2 hours when my rod starting tapping lightly.....a few minutes later i had a hell of a run on my clicker. I missed whatever it was, but it was very exciting knowing something in that hole took a big bait like that. I didn't end up hooking into anything monday morning, but i did fish it again yesterday afternoon into last night. I will post results on the following post.......

[BassMassey]

yesterday i got off from working overnight around 11 am..i went home and got my stuff together then went to one of my bream holes. Catching bream was kinda slow, I ended up getting about 8 small bream. I got to my river spot around 2 , baited up and threw in. Fishing was slow all day long and by the time the sun was setting i only had one live bream left and i had mostly cut bait out. My eyes were starting to get heavy and i really didn't feel like packing up and making the long grueling walk back through the woods to my car. I ending up dozing off just after the sun set.....around 7:30 i wake up to one of my clickers singing........i wake up and slowly walk to my rod....pick up, engage the reel...........rod loaded up instantly. Moments later i put a 15# flattie on the bank. Caught him on the tail section of a small bream. After that i still had 3 rods with cut bait still out and i had the live bream out which i hadn't touched in a few hours. I decide to sit back down and doze off some more. About an hour later i get woken again by another bait clicker, this was on the live bream this time. The clicker was singing kinda fast and steady, I picked up and engaged the reel, the rod loaded up instantly and it felt heavy. After a very nice fight i put a monster flattie on the bank, this one was pushing 35-40# range. The bream was actually still on the hook on the top side of his jaw, i unhooked the flattie and used the mangled bream as cutbait. I cut the bream in half and threw him out on two different rods and sat back down the get some shut eye. About another hour later i was woken again, i had a bream head out on the same rod i caught the biggun on. The clicker was going good when i picked up the rod. I had a good hookset and actually fought another very nice feeling fish for about 2 minutes when the line snapped. I didn't check my line after catching the last fish, and im sure his teeth tore the leader up pretty good. Anyways i did have a camera with me this time, i got pics of the two i put on the bank........and im gonna keep fishing this hole hard so i should have some more pics before too long. I will post pics when i get them since it is on a throw away camera....

[jsthumb]

Sounds like you found you a good honey hole. Congrats Aaron on the nice fish and story.

[stumpjumper]

Dang Aaron, that sounds like a sweet spot man! I am glad to hear that some big fish are being caught. I can't wait to see the pictures.

[BassMassey]

Just a couple days ago I got access to a private boatramp that is right in the apalachee river. It's only 25$ for the year, and it saves me about a 10 mile boatride from the closest public ramp down in the main lake. I fished the river last night. Put the boat in at about 7 and scouted the river for an hour or so. Fished several spots throughout the night w/ livebream, ended up with two small 10# flatheads. One of the fish I didn't even know was on the line. I was reeling up to move and the fish was actually under the boat and guthooked. He's in the fridge now, I don't think he was gonna make it......gonna try again tomorrow night..........bassmassey

[jerseycat9]

Just a couple days ago I got access to a private boatramp that is right in the apalachee river. It's only 25$ for the year, and it saves me about a 10 mile boatride from the closest public ramp down in the main lake. I fished the river last night. Put the boat in at about 7 and scouted the river for an hour or so. Fished several spots throughout the night w/ livebream, ended up with two small 10# flatheads. One of the fish I didn't even know was on the line. I was reeling up to move and the fish was actually under the boat and guthooked. He's in the fridge now, I don't think he was gonna make it......gonna try again tomorrow night..........bassmassey
Good luck buddy catch a boat load

[brother hilljack]

All of that sounds like some good fishing, I will be sure to hit it up when I get to Georgia in the spring. Thanks for all the info

[BassMassey]

I did do pretty well thurday night. Me and my buddy that works at the marina across the street fished the river. He fishes these bass tournaments around here but I think I'm doing good at converting him. We went to catch bait and caught about 2 dozen good sized bream, and I even caught a lil 12" bass. If i were by myself I would haven't thought twice about throwing em in the baitbucket......but I knew he fished bass, so out of respect I made sure he was cool with it......he said the lake has too many small bass anyway and if anything it would probably help. Well we put in just before dark and motor down to a spot that I thought was promising. we were anchored down and not long after i put a 16# blue cat in the boat. caught him off the deep side. about two hours went by and we had most our baits along the bank in about 2-3 ft of water. I reeled one rod in to check my bream and he wasn't too lively so i put that lil bass on and tossed him up right against the bank. Now I was fishing with a khale hook with the reel locked down good in the rodholder. not even 20 minutes past when that rod tip about touched the water......i reeled the line down as tight as i could and struggled to get the rod out of the holder........this was a good fish! I get it out and proceed to give this fish hell....like a dummy i decide to stand up on my bench seat in my lil jonboat like im fighting a damned tarpon or something....the fight continues for about a minute when the line snapped loudly....you know where i went right? my ass went straight into the river....i mean i went down a lil bit too....i had to swim to get back to the surface.....it happened so quick it wasn't real scary......but thinking back i was pretty scared down in that water. my buddy said i just plain dissapeared......then when i came up i shot right back up into the boat......I thought i heard it was hard to get back into a jonboat?? i mean i guess i wanted back in badly....lol good thing is i didn't get hurt and didn't lose the rod. we fished until about 2 cause it got cold and i my shorts were still wet.......we ended up with another bluecat that went for about 10#, and missed a couple good runs......I'm going back out tonight.......and now i know in a lil boat keep your ass on the seat....lmao........bassmassey

[BassMassey]

just got back in from the river........skunked. me and a buddy fished off my boat and another buddy and his brother fished off there boat on the other side of the river. not any hits or anything.....we threw live bream at them and they had a lil bit of everything......they were fishing with livers, crawlers trying to catch some eaters. The same spot produced good just two nights ago......bassmassey

[BassMassey]

I fished the apalachee again thur. night and last night. Thursday night my buddy came along again......he had a fish basket full of big bream he had caught during the week so it was straight to the river. We anchor down in our first spot around 8. We changed spots about every 2 hours and couldnt buy a bite until about 3 in the morning. my buddies clicker went off and moments later he boated his first flattie, about a 10 lber. Not even 10 minutes later he get's another run, a lil bigger a 15 lb blue......his first bluecat too! we pulled anchor around 5 and headed to the ramp.

Fished last night by myself. I went and caught couple dozen bream and hit the river around 8. Again no bites in the first three spots. Then i anchor down in my fourth spot around 2......moments after the lines are all out i get a run on a lil 8 lb flathead. Thats all i caught, i did miss a couple runs that woke me up. We're gonna fish again tonight, but were gonna park the boat on an island and bank it tonight.........bassmassey

[mack in n.c.]

wayne pearson was on tv last night fishing lake oconee with jugs and trot lines.....he caught plenty of flatheads and blues......mack

[BassMassey]

I talked to a good buddy at work today, he was telling me his wifes uncle was on tv juggin on the lake. I'm still trying to catch a re-run and/ or find a link to the show.....

[BassMassey]

just got back from the river......I caught about 22 bream yesterday afternoon and loaded up the boat. I decided when i got on the river I was gonna be on the move tonight....from 8- midnight i pulled anchor probably 10 times, I only had a couple rods go down but it was like the fish weren't commiting themselves and hooking up. finally around midnight I got a good one on and he decided he was gonna wrap himself up inthe prop, the rear anchor line, and one of my lines i had out. It was a pretty good fish, a blue that went for about 15 lbs. got that mess untangled and fished for another 15 minutes till i pulled the anchor. hit another spot that had a lot of wood in the water and way down at the dam i guess they decided to push the water back up....screwed up my anchor job and reeled em up. moved just up river from the snag and fished below a bend in about 17ft of water. baited up and made myself comfortable. out of that last hole i ended up with a 5 lb blue and just moments after that a pretty good shovelhead that was about 18 lbs. this was at about 4 am.....the 5 lb blue had the bream still hanging out of his lil mouth. The water was a lot cooler from the last time I've been out on oconee....last night the water was 79 degrees......when earlier this month and last month it was high 80's and lower 90's during the day. there was a nice warm breeze too...until about 6 this morning, it turned into a cold gusts....

[Slime of the South]

I knew you were the real threat on Oconee BassMassey. :big_smile:

[Slime of the South]

I can see right now, I'm going to have to use special tactics in the tournament. :wink:

[BassMassey]

I hope to be drifting by the time the tournament comes around....i want to spend half the night anchoring in the river and finish off drifting down in the main lake. I got plenty of drift weights from the roundhill when i was in sc last week. I just gotta break out the drill and make a couple drift buckets. I know it's a good way to cover lots of water and to put fish in the boat, and I think oconee would be a good lake to drift if the wind co-operates. wheres all the tourney talk? it's been quiet lately......

[BassMassey]

when are you coming out to fish paul? I know you want to fish the lake a couple nights before october? I can show you around a lil bit, and I'm sure you could help me figure some things out on the lake too? I know there's a big fish to be had down near the train truss....there's just too many good elements there that points to a big cat hideout, I've put several nights in out there and never caught nothing more then 10 lb bluecats. or anyone else for that matter wants to come down and fish let me know....

[Slime of the South]

I've been thinking the same thing about the Hwy. 219 bridge up the river here, but have'nt caught any big ones there. I might ride out there before the tournament. If I do, I'll give you a holler.

[BassMassey]

.......well it pretty much rained all day today....I caught 7 baits and just brought out three rods. I figured I would just do more looking then anything and fish some new spots. I found a bank where the river channel runs just off a steep bank where there's a big tree about every 5 ft going into the water. Now this is in the main lake not up in the river. I anchored down and threw out some bait and fished this spot for about an hour with no action. It was dark now and i decided to pull anchor and fish a spot that I was looking at earlier. The next spot I didn't get to fish, right when i got there the bottom fell out of the sky and is started pouring and lightning. Well I opened up my 8hp mercury and hightailed it to one of my bank spots that's behind a buddies house. I beached the boat and it was still pouring and the lightning was now closer. I got up in the woods......I know you're not supposed to get near trees.....but it sure feels safer being in the woods rather then in the wide open. I'm squattin down in the woods waiting for it to let up.....steady hard rain. After a few moments i figure I might as well have a line in the water, so i run down to my boat and grab a rod. I throw a lil 8" bass out. I don't know why I didn't just put the rod in the rod holder......but I just turned the clicker on and layed it down in the boat, then ran back up in the woods. Probably about half an hour goes by when the rain lets up and the lightning seems like it's further away then it was. I get back down by the water and wasn't even concerned about my bait in the water, I was trying to check the skies to looks for signs of it clearing up. Then i remembered i had a bait in the water...I get down in the water by the back of my boat and look down at the spool of the 7000 and notice it's spooled....all the way down to the arbor knot. Damn......I'm a lucky sob i think to myself.....then i proceed to pick up the rod and reel it up. If felt kinda hung up, yet something was pulling back. I start gaining line but it still felt like it was wrapped around something. I got it about halfway in and it starting coming in easier. Then about 15 ft out the fish started splashing and giving me hell....my drag was locked down and I didn't let him go anywhere.....Got him in to where i was, standing in knee high water....I got a Good Flathead i could see.....I got him up shallow where i could grab his mouth.....picked him up out of the water..had to let out a hollar, easily my best oconee flathead....every bit of 30 lbs, I would say 35. I put him on a stringer and tied him off to the stern of my boat......ran up to my buddies house, about a 5 minute run and they were all sittin in the living room hanging out. Had my buddy drive me back so he could take a few pics before i let him swim off. I'm gonna take the camera to wal-mart in the morning. I guess you catch them when you least expect it. We usually do pretty good off that bank, but we've never got anything bigger than 15 lbs at that spot. I'm sure glad I decided to go tonight.

[BassMassey]

another thing i forgot to mention was how much cooler the water is right now with this fresh rain. the water temp. was 70 degreees! it was just in the 90's a few weeks ago. something strange too i noticed, at one time when i was scouting I was out in the main channel in about 30 ft of waterand the temp was way down, i mean it was reading low 60's and even hight 50's? I don't know what was going on there, I guess that was just fresh rain water or something.......but other then that it showed between 70-74......

[Slime of the South]

.......well it pretty much rained all day today....I caught 7 baits and just brought out three rods. I figured I would just do more looking then anything and fish some new spots. I found a bank where the river channel runs just off a steep bank where there's a big tree about every 5 ft going into the water. Now this is in the main lake not up in the river. I anchored down and threw out some bait and fished this spot for about an hour with no action. It was dark now and i decided to pull anchor and fish a spot that I was looking at earlier. The next spot I didn't get to fish, right when i got there the bottom fell out of the sky and is started pouring and lightning. Well I opened up my 8hp mercury and hightailed it to one of my bank spots that's behind a buddies house. I beached the boat and it was still pouring and the lightning was now closer. I got up in the woods......I know you're not supposed to get near trees.....but it sure feels safer being in the woods rather then in the wide open. I'm squattin down in the woods waiting for it to let up.....steady hard rain. After a few moments i figure I might as well have a line in the water, so i run down to my boat and grab a rod. I throw a lil 8" bass out. I don't know why I didn't just put the rod in the rod holder......but I just turned the clicker on and layed it down in the boat, then ran back up in the woods. Probably about half an hour goes by when the rain lets up and the lightning seems like it's further away then it was. I get back down by the water and wasn't even concerned about my bait in the water, I was trying to check the skies to looks for signs of it clearing up. Then i remembered i had a bait in the water...I get down in the water by the back of my boat and look down at the spool of the 7000 and notice it's spooled....all the way down to the arbor knot. Damn......I'm a lucky sob i think to myself.....then i proceed to pick up the rod and reel it up. If felt kinda hung up, yet something was pulling back. I start gaining line but it still felt like it was wrapped around something. I got it about halfway in and it starting coming in easier. Then about 15 ft out the fish started splashing and giving me hell....my drag was locked down and I didn't let him go anywhere.....Got him in to where i was, standing in knee high water....I got a Good Flathead i could see.....I got him up shallow where i could grab his mouth.....picked him up out of the water..had to let out a hollar, easily my best oconee flathead....every bit of 30 lbs, I would say 35. I put him on a stringer and tied him off to the stern of my boat......ran up to my buddies house, about a 5 minute run and they were all sittin in the living room hanging out. Had my buddy drive me back so he could take a few pics before i let him swim off. I'm gonna take the camera to wal-mart in the morning. I guess you catch them when you least expect it. We usually do pretty good off that bank, but we've never got anything bigger than 15 lbs at that spot. I'm sure glad I decided to go tonight.
That is one heck of a story! Congrats! Can't wait to see the pictures!

[brother hilljack]

yesterday i got off from working overnight around 11 am..i went home and got my stuff together then went to one of my bream holes. Catching bream was kinda slow, I ended up getting about 8 small bream. I got to my river spot around 2 , baited up and threw in. Fishing was slow all day long and by the time the sun was setting i only had one live bream left and i had mostly cut bait out. My eyes were starting to get heavy and i really didn't feel like packing up and making the long grueling walk back through the woods to my car. I ending up dozing off just after the sun set.....around 7:30 i wake up to one of my clickers singing........i wake up and slowly walk to my rod....pick up, engage the reel...........rod loaded up instantly. Moments later i put a 15# flattie on the bank. Caught him on the tail section of a small bream. After that i still had 3 rods with cut bait still out and i had the live bream out which i hadn't touched in a few hours. I decide to sit back down and doze off some more. About an hour later i get woken again by another bait clicker, this was on the live bream this time. The clicker was singing kinda fast and steady, I picked up and engaged the reel, the rod loaded up instantly and it felt heavy. After a very nice fight i put a monster flattie on the bank, this one was pushing 35-40# range. The bream was actually still on the hook on the top side of his jaw, i unhooked the flattie and used the mangled bream as cutbait. I cut the bream in half and threw him out on two different rods and sat back down the get some shut eye. About another hour later i was woken again, i had a bream head out on the same rod i caught the biggun on. The clicker was going good when i picked up the rod. I had a good hookset and actually fought another very nice feeling fish for about 2 minutes when the line snapped. I didn't check my line after catching the last fish, and im sure his teeth tore the leader up pretty good. Anyways i did have a camera with me this time, i got pics of the two i put on the bank........and im gonna keep fishing this hole hard so i should have some more pics before too long. I will post pics when i get them since it is on a throw away camera....

I am taking notes on this guy, sounds like he has the big fish pinned down!! Good luck brother and keep us posted

[brother hilljack]

another thing i forgot to mention was how much cooler the water is right now with this fresh rain. the water temp. was 70 degreees! it was just in the 90's a few weeks ago. something strange too i noticed, at one time when i was scouting I was out in the main channel in about 30 ft of waterand the temp was way down, i mean it was reading low 60's and even hight 50's? I don't know what was going on there, I guess that was just fresh rain water or something.......but other then that it showed between 70-74......

Great report, thanks for sharing with us

[Slime of the South]

Pictures please!!! :big_smile:

[BassMassey]

here's the fish from last night....pics came out pretty good.....I was scared the camera had gotten too wet....

[BassMassey]

Here's the shovehead i caught last thursday night.....and just a random pic of an oconee sunset......I have a bunch of random pics...I just got three camera's developed...lol

[BassMassey]

here's my buddies first flathead, and first bluecat.....he caught them 10 minutes apart from eachother......and a pic from the bank last fall...

[BassMassey]

oops......

[BassMassey]

here's some fish i put on the bank.....that lil blue got a fat ol' belly

[BassMassey]

here's how i do it off the bank......me and rivercats on the cumberland river....and the last one was on the PeeDee river a couple weeks ago

[BassMassey]

here's from the georgia gathering last june......creutus with a good flathead, and a lil flathead i caught fishing with chambers

[Slime of the South]

Nice one!

[BassMassey]

hey, it's almost bait : 30 ......time to fill up the baitbuckets.....

[Slime of the South]

I like no. 1

[bumper]

Nice flathead BassMassey, and a heckuva story. Thanks for the pics!

[Slime of the South]

My thank you clicker quit working. Is that possible? :sad2:

[Slime of the South]

Looks Great!

[BassMassey]

.....went fishing last night and didn't do much of anything. I did catch a 2# bass while baitfishing though. I ended up with about 16 bream and i threw the net for a few minutes and got some gizzard shad that I put on some ice. Got out around 7 and started fishing down in the main lake again. fished a couple spots then my buddy called so I went to his dock and picked him up. we went to the back of a cove and managed a 10lb bluecat and that's all we could boat. Fished until about 1 o' clock. The clouds were all gone by 10 o' clock and the sky was really clear. ..oh yeah the blue hit on a shad head......

[Slime of the South]

Went up the Chattahoochee last night. Fished from 10 till 2. Caught 2 Flats on live Gizzards. One was about 8 and the other about 10. Released.

[Slime of the South]

Who started this thread anyway?

[BassMassey]

I don't know who that guy is......but looks like he doesn't post much anymore. This thread started way before I even lived on oconee...lol

[Slime of the South]

I'm fixing to go throw for some gizzards in a little pocket up the river and then I'm going to try for a big one. The water has cooled down and we have some good current flowing. Biggun's should be on the prowl. Last night it looked perfect but not much action. I think it might pick up tonight. I know we have some 40+ swimming around. Had one break 30# P Line the other night. Must have had the drag too tight. It was a good one!

[BassMassey]

go get 'em paul.....let us know how you do. I got to work in the morning but i should be back at em tomorrow night.

[Slime of the South]

I would give you a thanks but my thank you clicker went out again. :sad2:

[Bill in SC]

<I am taking notes on this guy, sounds like he has the big fish pinned down!!>

Yeah, you gotta watch BassMassey! He's a fishin' machine! WELL DONE, Aaron! Wish I coulda been there!
Bill in SC

[Slime of the South]

<I am taking notes on this guy, sounds like he has the big fish pinned down!!>

Yeah, you gotta watch BassMassey! He's a fishin' machine! WELL DONE, Aaron! Wish I coulda been there!
Bill in SC
BassMassey is one of the best we have here in Georgia! :big_smile:

[BassMassey]

I wouldn't say all that now, we have some damn good catfisherman on this board........did you make it out on the river paul?

[Slime of the South]

Na, plan fell through. Had to go out for dinner instead. :sad2:

[Bill in SC]

< BassMassey is one of the best we have here in Georgia! :big_smile:>

He's one of the best photographers too! See my avatar! :smile2:

BB in SC

[Slime of the South]

< BassMassey is one of the best we have here in Georgia! :big_smile:>

He's one of the best photographers too! See my avatar! :smile2:

BB in SC
BassMassey is also a great underwater photographer. :ooooh:

[Bill in SC]

Please, do elaborate! :ooooh:

Bill in SC

[Slime of the South]

I am sure BassMassey will return soon with another wonderful story for us.

[BassMassey]

went out friday night..........nothing doing...caught some good bait though....we didn't get out until about 10......fished that bank withh all these hardwood trees on the bank going right into the riverchannel....fished there until about 3......dropped my buddy off at his dock then went to that point where i caught the last one and fished until the sun came up. Nothing all night......

[Slime of the South]

Went last night and got three hits. Nothing hooked. Really slow. :sad2:

[BassMassey]

ever since faye left it's been slow......come on gustav....or hannah.....lol.....that tropical weather seems to turn em on pretty good! I hope they both come together and stall right over georgia......LMAO

[Slime of the South]

Still slow on West Point.

[BassMassey]

i finally got two days off to go fishing....I went last night on the full moon....fished the apalachee river and got skunked......threw all kinds of bait at em and fished several spots. Went tonight down in the main lake and managed a 13# bluecat....he hit a big live bream. I had a decent pull down on an 8" channelcat, I should have just left it in the rodholder though. I need to start drifting down in the main lake......I'm having a hard time figuring it out just anchoring. I have one spot that I always end up when i fish down there, and that's where i caught my biggun last month, and the one i caught last night. I usually try a few new holes, then end up fishing that point the rest of the night...lol. Water temps are coming down, yesterday was in the low 80's, then today high to mid 70's. It was cool outside today and windy.

[BassMassey]

put in the apalachee river yesterday earlier then i usually do. I was on the water by 4pm. I spent a good while scoutin holes and just looking around. Found a nice lookin hole a lil further down river just before it opens up into the lake. Anchored down around 6pm, threw some bait into the hole....sat down to have a smoke and a cold pop, rod started flexin....bam rod goes down.....nothing huge, but it was a healthy 12 lb flathead. Right of the rip....fished that spot for another hour, moved around some, ended up back at that spot later that night.....nothing more?? I'm gonna try the morning bite tomorrow....to heck with the night bite for right now. Water was around 74 when i put in, and 70 when i took out at 4am.....

[Slime of the South]

Yeah, they are starting to bite in the daytime over here too. Might not do much more night fishin this fall. Be careful out there drinking those cold pops! :smile2:

[BassMassey]

Yeah after that first fish I thought i was in for a good night......it really was a pop.....dr. pepper......I did drink a tall-boy later that night before i took my nap though...lmao

[BassMassey]

spent the whole day on the water today....the only fish that made it on my boat where the ones in my baitbucket....lol. It was a nice day though, and better then being at the house or at work. I put in the apalachee around 5am, and took out around 6. I didn't fish the whole time however, I did alot of looking around. Although, I fished enough i should've caught atleast one damn fish....I don't know what the heck is going on? Is it slow over there on westpoint paul? I know it's gotta pick up soon though, and I'm gonna make sure I'm there when it happens. I did venture down in the main lake from the apalachee and found a real good looking spot off a point....good deep water just off the bank, wood going into the water, and big boulders going into the water. I didn't fish it because it was windy today down in the open water. Then I went way back up river past the ramp...and on a little adventure. Where I fish the apalachee is really river like, but technically it's the backwaters of lake oconee. If you go upriver from the 278 bridge it gets really wide open and the water averages about 1.7 ft deep.....there is no channel or clear cut way to get by it....you just gotta grin n bear it. Once you get up in there it looks like there is about 5 different ways to go with little sloughs and whatnot everywhere. I got up in there far enough where I was in the apalachee river......(not the backwater of oconee) I had to get out and pull the boat numerous times. Once in the river it was pretty cool....although it was really like a big creek, lol. I ran up it about 10 bends and it started getting a lil hairy. I didn't see anything that made me drop my anchor, but I bet there are some decent cats that might go all the way up that far. I've just heard of people going up there during the whitebass run and was curious as to what it looked like.....I don't see myself going back anytime soon...lol.

[Slime of the South]

yeah it slowed down over here when the cool came through.

[Bill in SC]

I have noticed the slow down too, Lil Chiefin. I have about 18 fine live bream, and may try 'em tomorrow. Like you, I want to be there when something happens! :wink:
Bill in SC

[BassMassey]

it's gonna pick up......i think we're still 2-3 weeks off from a really good bite!

[Slime of the South]

Thanks for your prediction BassMassey. :cool2:

[BassMassey]

I got to the boat ramp this morning around 5 o'clock......when i first put in water temp. was around 72......I sat at my first spot until sunrise with no bites, couple hang-ups. The mechanic at the marina across the street was telling me yesterday the lake is starting to turnover. I would say he's right....the water was nasty today, foamy, dingy, and just nasty looking. you could almost smell it at times too. I've never noticed a thermocline in the areas i fish since it never gets deeper then 30 ft......?? but it's turned over. Well i fished a few spots in the river without any fish in the boat, so i decide to venture down into the lake around 10. I follow the channel down a couple bends and find a spot off a point that drops straight down into the channel and my sonar showed some fish stacked on the bottom of the drop. I drop the anchor and position my boat so i can cast right on top of em. Put a healthy 8 lb blue in the boat, he was hungry for a gizzard shad head. I reel in one of my other rods and put half of a 12" shad on it, scaled and filleted on one side. I throw it off the front and turned the clicker on since i was sitting facing the back of my boat. About half an hour later something freight trained my reel.....i got up and turned the reel over but the fish was gone, and i was hung up. Fished there for a while longer with no more action. Ventured back into the river around 1 or two and fished a few more holes. Had a couple pull downs that just wouldn't stay down. Ended up at one of my old bank spot holes up in the river around 4 pm. Threw a couple cut gizzard shad up in there, a live largemouth off the bottom, one largemouth on a float, and a live bream off the bottom. I sit back and get comfortable and notice the rod with the largemouth on the bottoms slightly go down then came right back up. Alright, i got something to look at I think to myself, lol. Not even a minute late that rod got hammered, I had trouble getting the rod out of the rodholder! I get my rod in hand and proceed to fight this fish....he made a couple hard runs toward the bottom, sure felt like a nice fish. I thought for sure it was a flathead the way he was trying to stick on the bottom like that. I had him up near the boat, but it seemed like forever until i finally got a look at him......a nice fat bluecat! He managed to get into the rear anchor line, i reached behind me and grabbed my net.....with rod in left hand , i net him with my right.......i get him in the boat, boy them bluecats are so much harder to handle then a flathead....bluecats like to beat the crap out of themselves, all over the boat.....bit the hell out of my fingers...he was easily 25 lbs. I snapped a couple pics, although they were the first pictures on my disposable so i wont have them available for a lil bit. They won't be great pics anyway, i was fishing by myself today......water temp. when taking out was 81 degrees.

[Slime of the South]

Dang BassMassey. That is a great story! U da man!

[BassMassey]

it's about damn time, my last 4 trips only yielded 2 fish! and those were atleast 8 hours on the water each time.......I think we have a cold front sweeping through the southeast around wednesday, better go before they shutdown again!

[LureheadEd]

Great Report Bassmassey ! I did'nt know that Oconee did the turn-over thing... I always thought that all that flushing into Sinclair and then repumping it back up kept the lake from stratifying, what with the change in water level so often...

[BassMassey]

I didn't think it did either......there's a pretty good current throughout the lake when they're pumping water, and way up north where i do most my fishing it's not deep enough for a thermocline i don't think....I'm kinda new to the whole lake thing, I prefer fishing rivers.

[Slime of the South]

BassMassey has been sitting there looking into the water for so long it just looks like its turning over. :tounge_out:

[LureheadEd]

Round and round he goes, where he stops nobody knows.....
Man, I'd like to be on the water as much as you guys, it'd make me goofy ...

[trapperP]

Greetings! I'm planning on a trip down to Oconeee to do some scouting for the goose season and was wondering where to go soak a shrimp. I'll most likely either put in at Sword's or at Sugar Creek so some advice would be welcome. :wink:

[Slime of the South]

BassMassey will return soon. He can help you. :cool2: