All species of fish in Lake Sinclair and Lake Oconee go through a transition when fall weather gives way to winter conditions. You cannot look at the calendar to get an answer to when this transition will occur. The transition I am referring to relates to water temperature and its impact on where the fish are located. As the water cools and then turns cold, most of the fish will move from shallow to deep water.

The first day of winter occurs every year on December 22 but do not look for the fish to react one way or the other on that date. Some years colder weather sends water temperatures plummeting even in early November and other years like the present one where colder weather may not arrive until late December or even January. We also have some years when significant cold weather never arrives.

Last year the immediate area saw a very mild winter and many of the fish never really transitioned to their normal wintertime deeper locations. This year, the fish have continued to remain in relatively shallow water due to the mild weather. We have seen a few nights already when the air temperatures have fallen to the freezing mark but then we have an immediate warmup and there was little impact on the water temperature. Water temperatures have remained in the middle to low 60s and those temperatures will keep the fish in shallow water longer.

When the water temperatures fall into the low 50s and upper 40s the fish seek out deeper water where they remain until a significant water warming occurs. Until those colder water temperatures arrive the fish have no reason to leave the shallow water. The shad that the fish like largemouth bass, hybrid bass, striped bass and crappie feed on are also still shallow.

However, once the baitfish react to colder water temperatures and move to deeper locations, the other fish that feed on shad will also follow along to feed. Now let me quickly point out that not all of the fish will move to deeper water. I think some largemouth bass (especially bigger bass) stay in relatively shallow water all year. Many wintertime fishing tournaments are won by anglers casting a jig around docks when the water temperatures may be in the upper 40s. Those anglers may only get a few strikes but usually those strikes produce big fish.

Even after a majority of fish move to deeper water, they will still move to relatively shallow water on warm days to feed on shad that have also moved shallow. Shallow water will warm quickly and the fish react to those conditions. Anglers have to be savvy about water temperatures and weather conditions each time they go fishing during winter.

As an angler who loves to fish during the winter, I prefer the water temperatures to drop into the middle/upper 40s and stay there for a good length of time. That usually insures that the fish will school up in deep water locations and can be caught on my favorite winter lure the jigging spoon. Often largemouth bass, hybrid bass, striped bass and crappie can be caught in the same locations when the fish school in deep water.

Failure of water temperatures to drop into the upper 40s to low 50s causes the fish to remain scattered somewhat in both shallow and deep water and when that occurs, the fish can be hard to locate and catch consistently. I would rate last year’s wintertime angling on Lakes Oconee and Sinclair as an off year due to the very mild winter that occurred in middle Georgia. A colder winter will produce much better wintertime angling because the fish will congregate in large schools.

We are now entering a period when colder winter temperatures should arrive and will hopefully insure good winter angling. All the weather forecast I have seen lately are predicting another mild winter so it’s anybody’s guess if we will see water temperatures fall into the 40s this year.

Anglers right now are catching several species in shallow water where the shad are located. When I tell my wife we need some cold weather for better fishing, she just shrugs her shoulder and gives me a “who cares” look. My wife does not like cold weather but I tell her she can always throw on another blanket or throw another log on the fire.

The winter fishing season can produce great fishing and as I said before it is hard to beat a jigging spoon but other lures will catch fish. For consistently catching crappie nothing beats trolling crappie jigs and minnows during cold weather. Other good lures for catching largemouth, hybrid, striped and white bass include jigs, an Alabama rig, an umbrella rig and deep diving crankbaits. Live bait also works very well in both lakes.

I would rate the overall winter fishing on Lake Oconee better than Lake Sinclair. The birds really work Lake Oconee better than Lake Sinclair and the birds can lead you to some great fishing. Lake Sinclair no longer has the warming effects of Plant Branch and that is a negative for Lake Sinclair. I hope old man winter will cooperate and give us some cold weather but don’t tell my wife I said that. Good fishing and see you next week.