Lake Sinclair Summer Blue Cat

Big Cat Outdoors and The Woody Wood Fishing Show has some information for all you catfish anglers who fish Lake Sinclair. "Lake Sinclair Summer Blue Cat", was produced for TV in 2012. Generally speaking, Lake Sinclair is a "Sleeper" for catching trophy catfish. Being downstream from Lake Oconee and 4-years behind in population, as reported by Department of Wildlife Fisheries in Georgia in 2012, is not exactly accurate. In June, 2012, my wife and I detoured from Lake Oconee and fished Lake Sinclair just to see.

We launched our boat at Crooked Creek Marina because the water is deeper halfway in between the both damns there. I drove the boat about a mile from the landing watching the contour of elevation on the bank to determine the deepest waters and channel. Then, I located fish concentrated on 20-30 foot sandy flats feeding on muscles. Using the famous "Drift Technique" and live bait, we were successful boating several fish ranging 14-17 pounds in a few minutes. The next 7 of 9 trips to this location yielded 9 fish weighing over 20 pounds.

Conditions: Post-Spawn is when the water temperature reaches 85 degrees and when fish feed after spawning. The catfish will eat a variety of baits that are assessable in the area; live shad, smaller species of fish, and muscles. They will feed during certain times of the day, and especially when the water is moving or being generated. When not in a feeding mode, they return to deeper waters. So, locate where deep water channels or breaks, generally 40 foot and slopes to 20 foot. The catfish will concentrate along these ledges.

Technique: Drift fishing covers more territory. How to rig for Drift fishing? Use up to 14 lb. Berkley Big Game Line on your spool and set your drag to 10 lb..pull. Thread a 3/4 ounce lead weigh on the line and tie a fisherman's knot to a 2 barrel swivel. Your liter line should be a heavy 25 to 40 lb. test. I like to use at least 3-4 feet of line. Once you tie the liter line on using the same knot, slip a medium size cork onto your liter line. Then tie on a size 1-4 ought circle hook. Now, place your plug into your cork about 3 inches from your hook. This will keep your bait off the bottom and prevent you from getting hung most of the time. Use the wind in your favor once you have a intended path over the fish. If the wind is blowing strong, use a drift bag along with the trolling motor to keep you on path and prevent your lines from crossing. Ideal speed is about 1-2 mph. You will see the tips of your rods bouncing on the bottom, so don't be alarmed. When you see the rod bend, the fish is hooking himself with the circle hook. So, don't snatch the rod, just take the rod out of the pole holder and point it at a 45 degree angle toward the fish and pump and reel. Again, don't snatch or drop the rod horizontal to the water. The circle hook will come unhooked. Keep the rod tip up and line tight and reel. You will enjoy fishing this style like we have done for several years on area lakes.

Bait: Catfish are picky some days. So, use live bait or cut bait. Examples of Live bait; Shad, Bass Minnows, bream, or crappie Cut Bait: Any of the live bait can be cut so the guts are expose. Catfish are scent oriented. Good Luck catching those monster catfish on Lake Sinclair. You can respond to me by going to my website, woodywood912.wix.com/bcop

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