Does anyone have any recent info on bass fishing at Oconee? I’m being recruited to take over as GM at a hotel on the lake. I would rather stay closer to the SC Lowcountry , but this combination might be too good to pass up,

I know that lake, as well as Sinclair below it, are supposed to have phenomenal cat fishing. I’ve read here and there that Oconee has good bass fishing, but cat’s are what it’s really known for.

I'll be following.  My son has a degree in hospitality and has worked near there.  I've encouraged him to stay in that country because I rather like the idea of retiring to western NC, eastern TN, northern GA or northern SC, but he's left the hospitality field for other ventures.   I'm still considering the area and would actually like to visit a resort area on the lake soon and will likely do so when the Covid insanity cools off a bit.  I'm curious to learn what you find out and wouldn't mind knowing what hotel (PM me if you're comfortable doing so).

Bass fishing is good on Oconee and Sinclair.A great area to work and fish. Clark’s hill not far from Oconee, 45 minutes toLittle river

9 hours ago, GANGGREEN said:

I'll be following.  My son has a degree in hospitality and has worked near there.  I've encouraged him to stay in that country because I rather like the idea of retiring to western NC, eastern TN, northern GA or northern SC, but he's left the hospitality field for other ventures.   I'm still considering the area and would actually like to visit a resort area on the lake soon and will likely do so when the Covid insanity cools off a bit.  I'm curious to learn what you find out and wouldn't mind knowing what hotel (PM me if you're comfortable doing so).

I’m in final negotiations now and will have a decision tomorrow. I don’t want to say anything until a deal has been made. Stay tuned.

1 minute ago, Koz said:

I’m in final negotiations now and will have a decision tomorrow. I don’t want to say anything until a deal has been made. Stay tuned.

Good luck!!!!

29 minutes ago, flatcreek said:

Bass fishing is good on Oconee and Sinclair.A great area to work and fish. Clark’s hill not far from Oconee, 45 minutes toLittle river

 

Spotted bass bite or a good largemouth bite as well?   Wouldn't surprise me to see a few smallmouth as well, although nothing like what I'm used to.  Any hybrids or stripers in the lake?

 

Good luck Koz.

No spots or smallmouth on Oconee or Sinclair. Hybrid an Stripers ,flathead catfish, Arkansas Blues , bream and crappie are plentiful.Clark Hill has spots and largemouth and there is smallmouth below the dam.plenty of flatheads , stripers and hybrid , shell crackers ,bluegill,crappie.good fishing

Largemouth are plentiful on all of these lakes

On 1/26/2021 at 8:20 AM, GANGGREEN said:

I'll be following.  My son has a degree in hospitality and has worked near there.  I've encouraged him to stay in that country because I rather like the idea of retiring to western NC, eastern TN, northern GA or northern SC, but he's left the hospitality field for other ventures.   I'm still considering the area and would actually like to visit a resort area on the lake soon and will likely do so when the Covid insanity cools off a bit.  I'm curious to learn what you find out and wouldn't mind knowing what hotel (PM me if you're comfortable doing so).

I finalized a deal this morning and the owner was more than fair with me. The hotel is The Lodge at Lake Oconee.

 

It's a small property and right now it's not in the best of shape. Nothing huge, just neglected and it will take me probably 3 months to make enough changes where I consider it to be in decent shape. There's a lot of maintenance that needs to be done out there and a lot of associate training. But since I was already out there for a weekend visit I have a to do list ready to go.

 

So, without violating any BR guidelines, if anyone is going to be in that area after May of this year feel free to PM me. If anyone comes out sooner, please reserve judgment - it's going to take 3+ months to make an impact and a year to get where it needs to be, especially since COVID has been killing hotels.

31 minutes ago, Koz said:

I finalized a deal this morning and the owner was more than fair with me. The hotel is The Lodge at Lake Oconee.

 

It's a small property and right now it's not in the best of shape. Nothing huge, just neglected and it will take me probably 3 months to make enough changes where I consider it to be in decent shape. There's a lot of maintenance that needs to be done out there and a lot of associate training. But since I was already out there for a weekend visit I have a to do list ready to go.

 

So, without violating any BR guidelines, if anyone is going to be in that area after May of this year feel free to PM me. If anyone comes out sooner, please reserve judgment - it's going to take 3+ months to make an impact and a year to get where it needs to be, especially since COVID has been killing hotels.

Congrats!

Congratulations.  Maybe I'll actually make that visit sometime late fall/winter of 2021.

 

You should have a good time fishing Lake Oconee since it is well known for striped bass, hybrid striped bass, largemouth bass, crappie, and catfish.

On 1/26/2021 at 6:23 PM, GANGGREEN said:

 

Spotted bass bite or a good largemouth bite as well?   Wouldn't surprise me to see a few smallmouth as well, although nothing like what I'm used to.  Any hybrids or stripers in the lake?

 

Good luck Koz.

 

I did land the job and have managed to fish a few times after work on the docks at my hotel. It's still cold and miserable weather here for the most part and while the biggest LMB I have caught was only a pound and a half I catch something just about every time out.

 

The hotel is located in one of the inlet fingers and the water is fairly shallow so I imagine it might end up being spawning grounds. I've only caught males so far so I'm thinking they are staging for the spawn. Hopefully the bigger females move in soon to feed before the spawn.

 

I did fish late at night one night and while I caught nothing, twice there were HUGE splashes just off the dock. I'm not sure, but they could have been stripers cruising.

 

Once the water warms a bit and the winds settle down I'm going to grab one of our kayaks and go exploring and do some fishing. I'm looking forward to a big striper towing me around the lake on the kayak!

If you don’t mind I’ll pull in to your docks and give you a shout here fairly soon. I fish in your cove  when I’m running that stretch.

Probably next week

3 hours ago, flatcreek said:

If you don’t mind I’ll pull in to your docks and give you a shout here fairly soon. I fish in your cove  when I’m running that stretch.

 

That would be great! I'm living in the hotel right now until I find a place so I'm here 24/7. It's really, really hard trying to find a place to rent here. I don't want to buy until I know the area much better.

 

My choices are narrowed further because I have a small dog and I need a garage for my car and all of my tools and woodworking equipment. Everything I find that I like is out in Covington and that's too far of a commute.

 

I have today off and was hoping to fish for a while, but it's 37 degrees and pouring rain. No bueno!