The Berry’s Team Trail Tournament visited Lake Oconee on April 12 in what was the sixth of eight tournaments that are spread out over several months on Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair. There are two remaining tournaments before the season ending classic on June 7-8.

You know the largemouth bass are really biting when catching sixteen pounds of fish did not earn a team a check. Thirty-one teams caught at least 16 pounds of fish in the tournament but only the top twenty-two teams were rewarded with a check.

Five of the top teams registered weights of over 20 pounds. That is one of the most outstanding tournaments as far as overall weight is concerned that I can remember. The weather was beautiful and the fish were shallow and beginning to spawn. That made for an excellent day on the water for the 134 teams that competed.

Overall the teams weighed in 592 fish that weighed 1682.37 pounds. That equates to almost three pounds for each fish that was weighed in and that indicates that the largemouth bass in Lake Oconee are in good shape.

Five-fish limits were caught by 113 of the 134 teams that competed. That again is one of the best averages for a one day tournament on Lake Oconee that I can remember.

The top five teams that each caught over 20 pounds were lumped between 21 and 24 pounds and less than one-half pound separated the first and second place teams. Many of the teams reported making their catches on spinnerbaits and that included the top three teams.

Finishing in first place with a five-fish limit weighing 24.99 pounds were Frank Kitchens from Conyers and Andy Norman from Covington. That was just one-tenth of an ounce short of averaging five pounds per fish. Kitchens and Cannon took home a check for $3820.

Finishing very close in second place with 24.53 pounds were Brad Stalnaker from Milledgeville and Chris Lumpkin from Macon. I am sure when that team approached the weigh scales, they thought they probably had the winning weight but instead took home the second place check for $1910.

Rounding out the top three places was Billy Malonee from Eatonton and Noah Wheeler from Towson, Missouri with 22.12 pounds. You’ve got to really love fishing to travel all the way from the “show me” state to fish a tournament in Georgia. Maybe the $1218 check they received will help pay some of Wheeler’s travel expenses.

The big bass of the tournament weighing 6.79 pounds was caught by Tyler Rhoads from Madison and earned the angler $1340. Rhoads’ team also received a check for $600 for there seventh place finish. Normally if you catch a bass weighing over six pounds and catch a total of 19.64 pounds on Lake Oconee, you have a good chance to win the tournament but that was only good for seventh place at this tournament.

Two tournaments remain for the Berry’s Team Trail with a tournament at Lake Sinclair on April 26 and then the season’s concluding regular season tournament on May 17 at Lake Oconee. Those teams that fished at least five of the eight regular season tournament are then eligible to fish the two-day classic.

The two day classic will have the anglers competing on June 7 on Lake Oconee and then on the following day; June 8 they will fish on Lake Sinclair. The top team for the two-day classic will take home a check for $10,000.

I now have some GPS locations for fish attractors that were placed in Lake Oconee by the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division over the last several years. Just send me an email and I will forward you a copy of that information. Good fishing and see you next week.

Bobby Peoples can be reached by email at brpeoples@windstream.net.