Shallow Bite The Key For Berry’s Team Trail Tournament On Lake Oconee
Brad Sears would love to be fishing the Berry’s Team Tournament on Lake Oconee Saturday, but a father sometimes just has to give up some of the things he likes to do when his children are growing up and getting involved in sports and other activities.
“I’m fishing the (B.A.S.S. Southern) Opens this year and I’m gone so much for that,” said Sears who fishes Oconee a lot and is a Berry’s Trail veteran. “My son is having a track meet Saturday so that is where I will be instead.”
But, if he could make the tournament, he knows just how he would fish it.
“The water is warming up. It’s come up 10 to 15 degrees depending on where you are on the lake. It’s gone from the low 40s to the mid 50s and in some areas probably up in the 60-degree range. The most stable water in the lake is probably in the area from Sugar Creek down to Lick Creek.”
That should have the fish in pre-spawn, he said, with another wave getting ready to go into pre-spawn and some behind them that are still out deeper and lethargic.
“Oconee is a shallow bite lake year round. The winning sack is probably going to come from flipping docks, throwing shallow-running crankbaits and shallow-running spinnerbaits.,” he said.
“For the pre-spawn fish I’d be fishing the back of Sugar Creek or Lick Creek,” Sears said. “Those fish stay shallow back there all year. In Sugar Creek I’d start out in the morning throwing a shallow-running crankbait or spinnerbait over some sandy bottoms. If I moved down to Lick Creek to rocks and wood, such as blowdowns.”
Since Oconee is noted as a “muddy water” lake, color is very important in lure selection, he said.
“I’d either throw a white and chartreuse or a blue shimmer shad spinnerbait. My spinnerbait choice would be a 3/8-ounce Buzzerbait with a Colorado/willow leaf combo or a double willow leaf combo,” he said. “If I was throwing a crankbait, I’d throw a SPRO Little John in black and chartreuse.”
If the sun comes out with bluebird skies, he said, he would be skipping under the docks with either a jig or a watermelon red fluke rigged weightless.
“The jig would be black and blue with a green pumpkin Zoom Speed Craw dipped in JJ’s Magic chartreuse on the claws. That’s the best kept secret in bass fishing.”
Or he’d bang a crankbait off the dock posts, he said.
“The key to fishing the docks is to find which post they are holding on, those closer in or the ones out towards deeper water,” he said.
Sears said the fish still out in the deeper water can be caught too.
“Don’t be afraid to pull out and fish the ledges with a Carolina rig.”
Family comes first, but Sears admittedly would really love to fish the Berry’s Trail this year if he could.
“It’s a well run tournament. They are real sticklers on rules and safety and they keep everyone true and it shows because of the number of fishermen it draws. It attracts so many because of the paybacks, one in every six. I fished a tournament at Sinclair and finished 16th – and got a check.”
Because of the payback and the way the tournaments are run the family run trail is probably the biggest trail in the state of Georgia, Sears said.
“I fished the trail last year and in one tournament we had 155 boats,” he noted.
The current schedule began in December, with tournaments in January and February and five more counting this Saturday before the two-day Classic on the two lakes June 4-5. The first two events drew 119 and 124 boats and there were 84 in the February tournament.
“They average 85 to 130 boats a tournament and it should really pick up now that hunting season is over,” Sears said.
Teams have to fish five of the eight tournaments on the schedule to qualify for the classic in June.
Sears predicted it will take at least 17 to 18 pounds to win Saturday’s tournament – and even that may not be enough.
“There are a couple of people who have fished that lake for years who may come in with a 20-pound-plus sack,” he said.
Berry’s Team Tournament Trail
Lake: Lake Oconee
Landing: Sugar Creek Marina
Date: Sat, Mar. 5, 2011
