Fishing on Lake Oconee was just terrible this past year and one of the local fishing guides told me why. It seems that the lake owner, Georgia Power, had really messed up the lake over the past year or so. This summer, when surface temps were around 90 degrees, at the deepest part of the lack (98 feet) the water temperature was also close to 90 degrees. Oxygenation levels were low throughout the lake.

 

This was my first year in the area, and what struck me throughout the year was I never ran across any aquatic vegetation in the water or along the banks. And once spring ended, it was tough to find largemouth or stripers, but crappie, catfish, and bluegills were plentiful.

 

But what the guide told me is that Georgia Power is rectifying the situation by installing 5 miles of aerators in the dam area. They project should be done soon, and hopefully we return to some good fishing.

 

One thing though - we've had unseasonably warm temperatures for about a week now. How warm? The rose bushes behind my hotel are starting to bloom. That's not good, especially if we get back to freezing temperatures. But now I'm wondering if this is going to lead to an early bass spawn followed by an early shad spawn.

The guy you talked to could be right, and he could be wrong. I always try to ignore what anyone says about fishing and do my own single line sampling for research. I’ve never heard of water at the bottom of a lake being 90 but Georgia is the hottest state I’ve ever been to so if it can happen anywhere I guess it would be there (but in reality I doubt it). In winter, reservoirs can be the same temp top to bottom. In summer, that’s not the case (Warm on top and cold on bottom). We have several lakes that are 200+ feet deep and the coldest water temps on the bottom of the lake at the dam occur in early summer. The water below the dam can be in the 40s on a 100 degree day.   There is an oxygenator in the bottom of Cherokee lake and it’s closed to fishing during a certain Portion of summer. It was installed to increase dissolved oxygen content for striper

5 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

The guy you talked to could be right, and he could be wrong. I always try to ignore what anyone says about fishing and do my own single line sampling for research. I’ve never heard of water at the bottom of a lake being 90 but Georgia is the hottest state I’ve ever been to so if it can happen anywhere I guess it would be there (but in reality I doubt it). In winter, reservoirs can be the same temp top to bottom. In summer, that’s not the case (Warm on top and cold on bottom). We have several lakes that are 200+ feet deep and the coldest water temps on the bottom of the lake at the dam occur in early summer. The water below the dam can be in the 40s on a 100 degree day.   There is an oxygenator in the bottom of Cherokee lake and it’s closed to fishing during a certain Portion of summer. It was installed to increase dissolved oxygen content for striper

The guy has been a guide here for over 20 years. His livelihood depends upon him being able to find the fish. There's a DNR report that also confirms the GA Power equipment and water draw had a negative impact on oxygenation, inhibited the development of fish species, and killed off the re-stocking of the striper population.

5 hours ago, Koz said:

The guy has been a guide here for over 20 years. His livelihood depends upon him being able to find the fish. There's a DNR report that also confirms the GA Power equipment and water draw had a negative impact on oxygenation, inhibited the development of fish species, and killed off the re-stocking of the striper population.

That all sounds reasonable, the 90 degree water at 98 feet doesn’t 

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

That all sounds reasonable, the 90 degree water at 98 feet doesn’t 

I read it as 90 degree surface temps at the deepest part of the lake (dam?), which happens to be 98 feet deep - not 90 degrees at a depth of 98 feet. Combined with low oxygen levels, that would be a striper death sentence. They have to have a thermal refugia with adequate oxygen, which is usually a very limited space to begin with in southern waters.

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

I read it as 90 degree surface temps at the deepest part of the lake (dam?), which happens to be 98 feet deep - not 90 degrees at a depth of 98 feet. Combined with low oxygen levels, that would be a striper death sentence. They have to have a thermal refugia with adequate oxygen, which is usually a very limited space to begin with in southern waters.

Ah. 90 degrees on surface, yes that happens a lot. I thought he meant 90 degrees on bottom 

Also I’ve been a guide, full time and part time for 15 or so years. The things the other guides will blame lack of success on never ceases to amaze me, but it’s ALWAYS something. They have to come up with something good or the clients might become upset. 
 

the most common is of course “cold front knocked them in the head.” I still love fishing after cold fronts 

4 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Ah. 90 degrees on surface, yes that happens a lot. I thought he meant 90 degrees on bottom 

No - 90 degrees both at the surface AND 90 degrees at 90 feet deep due to the GA Power equipment and water draw into the lake. And yes - it killed off a lot of the stripers.

4 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Also I’ve been a guide, full time and part time for 15 or so years. The things the other guides will blame lack of success on never ceases to amaze me, but it’s ALWAYS something. They have to come up with something good or the clients might become upset. 
 

the most common is of course “cold front knocked them in the head.” I still love fishing after cold fronts 

It was the DNR investigation that laid the blame on GA Power. That's why they made the investment in the aerators.

Wow - That's ridiculous. Horrible conditions for stripers. Any that didn't die from temperature and oxygen will end up dead on your line after a brief fight in those conditions. Might as well not even waste money stocking them.