This is a good time of year to catch a big bass on Georgia’s Lake Sinclair if you don’t mind throwing a big crankbait a lot, says veteran largemouth guide Barry Stokes of Covington, Ga.

“We’ve been catching some big bass on the crankbait and a Carolina rig in about 17 feet of water. I had one about 6 pounds last Saturday,” Stokes said.

“We had some 20-pound days on guide trips and there have been some phenomenal catches in the last two months,” Stokes said. “They are biting pretty good on that big crankbait. You might go awhile without a bite, then catch one 5-6 pounds. I caught one in a tournament two weeks ago that weighed 8 ˝ pounds.”

Stokes said he is throwing the big crankbaits in 17-18 feet of water off points and creek channel edges.

“The better fish seem to be coming offshore. I think this pattern will change in about another month. As the summer goes on and the thermocline gets deeper the fish will go deeper. They will probably be around 21 feet by August.”

Stokes said he is also having good success deep on a Carolina rig with a Terry Bowden Cold Steel Lizard Worm and with an OL-Nelle pig ‘n jig. “Just hop it off the bottom on deep structure,” he said.

And, if shallow water fishing is your forte, there is still some good action along the banks, he said.

“I’ve been catching some flipping jigs and soft plastics around docks and wood cover – lures like the Sweet Beaver a new creature bait that is a cross between a crawdad and a tube) and the Cold Steel Lizard,” Stokes said.

“For the last month you could catch them flipping in three feet of water, even hot water, where there is current,” he said.

Stokes guides for largemouths on Sinclair and largemouths and hybrids on Lake Oconee. He also guides for largemouths on Lake Jackson, a 100-year-old, 5,000-acre impoundment about an hour north of Lake Sinclair.

To book a fishing trip on one of the Georgia lakes, call him at (770) 713-2665. You can check out his web site at: www.barrystokesfishn.com.