Oconee River offers warm weather fun

A peaceful calm engulfed the lazy river as the daylight began to fade into the horizon below the tree line.  Gar surfaced beneath the bows of the kayaks and then dispersed with a mighty tail wag creating a wake below the water’s surface. A disgruntled beaver splashed in the bend upstream disturbing the sanctity of the rippling water.  There is little to complain about on the Oconee River.
“I love it,” said GCSU student Jamie Horton.  “It’s just a good place to relieve stress and relax your mind.”
For residents of Milledgeville and the surrounding areas, the Oconee provides various summertime excuses to ditch work or school such as swimming, kayaking, canoeing and fishing. The two main stretches of river in Milledgeville run from the tailrace off Sinclair Dam Rd. to the river bridge under Hwy. 22, and from the river bridge down to the state boat ramp located near Rivers Prison
As we made our way down past the old railroad bridge a man and his wife waved to us from their shorefront property. 
“Would you boys like a cold beer?” he asked. 
Not needing to think that one over, my friend and I rowed to shore to cordially accept his offer. (State law permits consumption of alcohol on the water as long as you’re under a .07.)
The couple introduced themselves as Raymond and Kelly Grimes and then chatted with us for the time it took to drink one of the coldest beers I have ever tasted. “We’ve picked up many a tuber from right here and taken them down to their cars at the river bridge or let them use the phone,” said Grimes.
While students have been spotted in nearly every imaginable type of floating vessel, the combination of distance between boat ramps and the lackadaisical flow of the river does not allow travelers to simply float down; at least not in any kind of sensible time span.  Summer water levels have risen recently but the water is still one to two feet deep in many areas, making it nearly impossible to navigate by motorboat.
This has made for an excellent opportunity to fish without traffic, swim without fear or simply admire the scenery by canoe or kayak.  Canoes and kayaks can be bought new or used from various retailers in Milledgeville or rented from local outfitters for about $30 a day.
Because of the water levels, the best route to run on the river is from the river bridge down to the state boat ramp,” said Fishing Creek Outfitters employee Hunter Morgan.
“The water tends to be at its highest a few hours before dark, and it should take about two hours from start to finish depending on how hard you paddle.  I’ll have to admit, fishing with a rod and reel on the river is a challenge; the most successful people just tie out limb lines with live bream as bait and check them periodically.  However, there are plenty of gar and carp if you enjoy bowfishing,” said Morgan.
We rounded the final bend and glided through the last stretch of still water toward the headlights on the end of the boat ramp just ahead.  We loaded up the two kayaks into the back of the station wagon and crammed into the front for the short but very uncomfortable ride home.  As the kayak behind me disrupted the curvature of my spine, I thought about how much everyone else was missing out.  Time wasted on the river was time well spent.
For more information regarding licenses and regulations contact Georgia DNR at (478) 751-6415 or (478)751-6416 or visit their website at http://georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga.us/.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 8 2006. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry