About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 2017)
Page BIO Lake Oconee News Friday, February 17,2017 Back-to-back tournaments held at Lake Sinclair The Berry’s Tournament Trail had to reschedule its tournament scheduled for Lake Sinclair on Jan. 7 due to inclement weather. That tournament was moved to Jan. 28 creating back-to- back tournaments at Lake Sinclair because another tournament was already scheduled for Feb. 4. Those back-to-back tour naments were the second and third tournaments in the 2017 Berry’s Tournament Trail. The first tournament of the 2017 season was held at Lake Oconee on Dec. 10. Even though the unusual weather caused one tourna ment to be rescheduled, the catch results for anglers have been excellent in the first three tournaments. At the Jan. 28 tourna ment, 122 teams competed and weighed 396 fish that weighed 904.25 pounds. Almost half the teams weighed in five-fish limits. Even though fishing had been only fair leading up to the tournament, the top three teams all exceeded 19 pounds in one of the best tournaments on Lake Sin clair in some time. The team of Keith Young from Statham and John White from Flowery Branch caught an amazing five-fish limit weighing 21.85 pounds to finish in first place to earn a check for $3,600. They caught their fish using crankbaits. Anytime you can catch five largemouth bass that average more than four pounds at Lake Sinclair that speaks well for the lake fish ery. Second place went to Van Dillard from Eatonton and Justin Still from Dacula with a five-fish limit weighing 19.82 pounds and earned the anglers $1,800. Dillard and Still also caught their fish casting crankbaits. Bobby Peoples Outdoor Columnist Rounding out the top three places were Shane Stokes and Brian Wilder from Lizella with a five-fish limit weighing 19-76 pounds. Stokes also caught the big bass of the tournament that weighed 7-32 pounds. They earned $1,125 for third place and Stokes earned an addi tional $1,220 for the big fish. Shifting to the February tournament, the results con tinued to be positive with 122 teams catching 394 fish weighing 837-77 pounds. Sixty-seven teams caught five-fish limits. The first place prize of $3,600 went to Samuel Dyal and Levi Dyal from Baxley. They caught a five-fish limit weighing 19.40 pounds casting crankbaits. Samual Dyal also caught the big bass weighing 7-80 pounds to earn an additional $1,220. The team of Josh Wim berly from Hinesville and Tyler Morgan from Colum bus caught five fish on spin- nerbaits and chatter baits that weighed in at 17-77 pounds. They took home the second place prize of $1,800. Rounding out the top three places was Shane Stokes from Lizella and Coubly Lewis from Macon with five fish weighing 16.96 pounds. They caught their fish on spinnerbaits and crankbaits and won $1,125. The Berry’s Tournament LAKE CONDITIONS - The lake is clear down lake, stained in the rest of the lake and up the rivers. LAKE WATER TEMPERATURE - low 50s. LARGEMOUTH BASS - SLOW/ FAIR - The bite continues to be erratic due to the unstable weather. The fish are scattered due to the weather and hard to pattern from day to day. The fish move shallow one day and then move to deeper water the next day depending on the weather. A jigging spoon and a deep running crankbait will catch the deeper fish. The jigging spoon has been effective on the humps down lake. In the coves, small crankbaits (Shad Raps, Rat-L-Traps, square billed), soft plastics (Texas rigs, Carolina rigs, Trick worm), spinnerbaits and shaky heads remain good choices for those shallow fish. CRAPPIE - GOOD - The crappie can be found in the mouths of the larger coves. Weather fronts continue to make the bite erratic but the bite is improving every day. Best action comes from using minnows and jigs on downlines and longlines. HYBRID/STRIPED/WHITE BASS - FAIR/GOOD -The weather has the fish moving to the area of the dam a little earlier than normal. Some fish remain in the River Bend area. Best baits are live bait and jigging spoons. Jigging spoons are working at the pipeline when power generation is occurring and if the water is not too stained. CATFISH -GOOD/FAIR - The catfish are primarily located in the main lake and major creeks and rivers now. Cut bait (bream and shad) are the best baits. Trail continues to be one of the best if not the best tour nament trail in Georgia year after year. The Berry family has done an excellent job over the last few years in pre senting a very professional fishing tournament that anglers eagerly look forward to competing in each year. The tournament trail is comprised of eight one-day tournaments divided equally between Lake Sinclair and Lake Oconee and those eight tournaments are then fol lowed by a two-day classic with one day of competition on each lake. The remaining sched ule will see tournaments occurring at Lake Oconee on March 4, April 8 and May 6. The tournaments remain ing for Lake Sinclair are on March 18 and April 22. A two-day classic will be held on May 20-21. All Lake Sin clair tournaments are held at the Dennis Station DNR Access and the Lake Oconee tournaments are held at Sugar Creek Marina. If you enjoy tournament competition this is the tour nament trail you need to consider fishing. To enter a tournament, visit www.ber- rysbass.com or call Bobby Berry at 770-787-6179- Good fishing and see you next week. Contributed Samual Dyal caught the big bass weighing 7.80 pounds at the Feb. 4 Berry's Tournament. Contributed Shane Stokes caught the big bass weighing 7.32 pounds at the Jan. 28 Berry's Tournament. 75.000 READERS! qM/IS^RS, ADVERTISING DEADLINE First Edition: March 17, 2017 Second Edition: March 24, 2017 RESERVE YOUR SPACE TODAY TO BE IN OUR ULTRA-POPULAR FULL COLOR MASTERS NEWS AND ADVERTISING SECTIONS CALL FOR PRICING Information Distribution Datesl First Week March 30, 31 & April 1, 2 Second Week April 5, 6, 7, 8 Extra Distribution: Covington - Augusta 1-20 CALL VICKI PARKER 912-655-8301 or 706-454-1290 Lake Oconee News & tHtjc Jfflgssmger 706-454-1290 | ads@msgr.com Let Dr. Puri Lead You to a Healthier You Middle Georgia Chest and Medical Center fy Middle Georgia ►Y4 Chest and Medical Center Anil K. Puri, M.D., FCCP Specializing in Internal Medicine, Diseases of the Chest and Sleep Medicine "Quality care... Close to home..." 706-497-7910 Putnam PC Quality Care Close to Home Offering Primary Care and Specialty Care Services • High Blood Pressure • Diabetes • High Cholesterol • Lung Diseases (COPD/Asthma) • Sleep Disorders (Snoring/Sleep Apnea/ Insomnia) • Acid Rellux/Heartburn • Thyroid Disease • Heart Diseases Always accepting new patients. 132-C Sparta Hwy. Eatonton, GA 31024 Monday-Friday: 8AM-5PM Call Today! 706-497-7910 Learn more at www.purimd.com
