If you are ever near Eastman Georgia you must visit Dodge County PFA. This public fishing area is operated and maintained by the State of Georgia Department of Natural Resources. It is strictly managed to grow trophy largemouth bass here in Georgia.
Directions
Eastman Georgia is located just about 45 minutes south of Macon Georgia. Travel U.S. Highway 341 toward McRae-Helena till you see the road sign for Dodge Lake Road. You will travel down an old dirt country road for about half of a mile. When the road ends you are entering the public fishing area. When entering the parking lot and boat ramp area you will find a very nice layout. With three concrete boat ramps to help with all the anglers who fish here.
Overall Layout of Dodge County PFA
When you are looking at an aerial view of Dodge County PFA, find that this lake has a lot to offer. It is a total of 104 acres with some areas of old flooded timber and several coves. The depths range from 0.2 feet to over 25 feet toward the dam area. if you are looking to fish topwater to deep structure this is a place for you.
If you look toward the dam from the boat ramp area you will also see a small island area that certainly would be a good area to start at. The island is near deep water to allow the bass to come up to eat early in the morning and then as the South Georgia heat cranks up, they will be near deeper cooler water.
Catching Bass at Dodge County PFA
With the water temperatures in the mid 70’s I started with a 1/4 ounce shakey head painted in black with a june bug silver flake stick bait. It was not long before a had one take it and the fight was on. As I was fighting the fish , it came to the surface and shook the hook.
I made my way into one of the coves and began picking it apart with some finesse techniques. All of sudden, I heard a splash across the cove. I looked and saw something chasing shad. I reached into my Plano 3600 Edge Box and grabbed a Z-man Finesse Shad in Smelt color.
Casting into the tree tops that had fallen into the water and jerked that Z-man Finesse Shad once. The top water explosion was exciting and it was on like Donkey Kong.
After fighting the fish for about two minutes , I was a happy angler. This largemouth measured in at 16.25 inches. I was finally on the leaderboard.
Continuing on for the next fish, I paddled out the cove and into the main body of the lake. Noticing a small dock, I pitched the shakey head over to the edge of the it. As soon as it hit the problem another fish had it. Setting the hook and once again it was on. Landing this fish gave me another one on the leaderboard. Measuring in at 17.00 inches, I was on a roll.
Well needless to say as the da went on the fish did not want to bite. Time was running out and I had a total of 33.25 inches. This was good enough for a 6th place finish and another top 10 finish for the year.
