The Lodge on Lake Oconee News

31MayMay 31, 2021

Summer Kick Off – Fishing with the GM

On Saturday this Memorial Day Weekend the hotel continued it's summer kickoff with Fishing with the GM Night. About one dozen kids of all ages took part in this event. The hotel provided Zebco fishing poles and baits for the participants.

After a slow start, things really started to take off and everyone that participated caught fish including bluegill, largemouth bass, and small catfish. While no one caught The Big One, everyone managed to land a fish. Miss Madison Lee caught the most fish during the event.

Each of the kids that participated also received a Certified Angler Award certificate from the hotel. We'll be doing this throughout the summer, so be sure to check our events calendar for the dates and times.

By KozUncategorized0 Comments

31MayMay 31, 2021

Guest Hauls In Big Gar at The Lodge

Fishing off the docks at The Lodge on Lake Oconee is one of the favorite pastimes of our guests. The usual catch includes largemouth bass, black crappie, blue gills, and catfish. But guest Scott Bailey hauled in a more rare catch - an alligator gar!

Scott was fishing with a Texas rigged plastic worm (acid green with gold fleck) when he hauled in this three foot beauty. Scott and his co-worker, Clint Wilde, spent their days and evenings fishing at the hotel and around Lake Oconee and while this was the only gar they caught, both caught dozens of fish over the weekend.

So the next time you visit The Lodge, bring your fishing gear even if you only get to spend an hour fishing off the docks. You never know what you might catch.

By KozUncategorized0 Comments

31MayMay 31, 2021

Summer Kick Off – S’Mores Night

The Lodge on Lake Oconee kicked off the summer with our first S'Mores Night of the year. Kids of all ages snacked on gooey marshmallows, Hershey's chocolate, and graham crackers down at the fire pit along our docks and the lake.

It was a great turnout with with more than a dozen families participating in the event. The hotel provided all of the fixings as well as the skewers to roast the marshmallows over the fire.

Be sure to check our events calendar for the next S'Mores Night or another of our family friendly weekend events.

In the photo: The Wilson family was among the many participants of S'Mores Night at The Lodge.

By KozHotel Events0 Comments

18MayMay 18, 2021

It’s Hard to Say Goodbye

It's with great sadness that The Lodge on Lake Oconee announces the retirement of Tracy Warren. If it seems like Miss Tracy has been at the hotel forever, well, she has. Tracy was actually part of the clean up crew when the hotel was first constructed back in 2005.

Over the years she served as both a room attendant and a Housekeeping Supervisor and during that time has seen hundreds of employees and thousands of guests at our hotel. Throughout all of those years she maintained a passion for her job and honestly took it to heart when the expectations of a guest had not been met.

As a tribute to dedication to the property, The Lodge has named our board room The Warren Board Room and affixed a plaque honoring her service to the hotel and our guests. Miss Tracy also received a copy of that plaque - and a floppy gardening hat - to take home.

These days Miss Tracy is relaxing around her home, tending to her gardens, and out riding her tractor mowing her lawn. If you're lucky, you may even meet her one day out back on the hotel docks relaxing and fishing.

It's the end of an era at The Lodge, and Miss Tracy will be greatly missed. We wish her good health and peace in her retirement years.

By KozHotel News0 Comments

04MarMarch 4, 2021

Oconee Fishing Is About to Get Crazy

With winter coming to an end in the Lake Oconee area, the waters are finally starting to warm up. And if you fish for largemouth bass that can mean only one thing - the pre-spawn feeding frenzy. When the water is cold in the winter, the metabolism of the bass slows down. They still eat and you can still catch bass all winter, but they don't feed as often as they do during the warmer months.

But when the water warms the metabolism of the bass begins to speed up and the bass begin their feeding frenzy in preparation for spawning. Once we get 5 or so days in a row with the overnight temperatures warmer than the current water temperature we should see the fishing pick up. The bass will start moving from deeper winter staging areas to the shallows in search of food and warmer waters.

Start by fishing the points around the basin and work your way into the shallower inlets. Structure above water such as rocks and dock pilings will absorb heat and radiate it in the surrounding waters making them prime locations to target largemouth bass. The water in Lake Oconee is still heavily stained from winter rains, so your best bet for baits along the shoreline are going to be chatterbaits and spinnerbaits. But don't be afraid to pitch jigs and soft creature baits under docks during the warmer parts of the day.

Over the past few days I've fished out on the docks of The Lodge and while the trophy bass haven't shown up yet, the winter dinks around our docks have been replaced by some decent 2-3 pound bass.

And don't forget - at The Lodge we do have kayaks and canoes available for rent so you aren't limited to just fishing our docks. You can get out towards open water and work your way back into the coves and inlets.

By KozUncategorized0 Comments

04MarMarch 4, 2021

New Associate Recognition Program

The Lodge on Lake Oconee not only values its guests, but it also values its associates that work hard to make the guest experience the best it can be. As part of our culture, it's important that we recognize the contributions of our associates - but we would like our guest to help us with that recognition.

When you're at our hotel you may notice that associates have star pins affixed to their uniforms. Each time an associate is recognized for their outstanding service or contributions to the property they receive a pin. At the end of each quarter, the associate with the most pins receives an Amazon gift card. Associates receive recognition from both their peers and management, but we would like our guests to get involved as well.

If you're a guest at our property and receive outstanding customer service during your stay, please stop by the guest services desk during your stay or at check out and let us know the name of the associate that you wish to recognize so that we may honor them. We appreciate your participation in this program.

By KozHotel News, Uncategorized0 Comments

04MarMarch 4, 2021

The Lodge Welcomes New GM

The Lodge ion Lake Oconee is proud that Shawn Kosloff has accepted the position of General Manager at the hotel. Mr. Kosloff has over 19 years of experience in the hotel industry serving in the positions of Food and Beverage Controller, Assistant Controller, Controller, and General Manager. His experience includes working with Marriott, Hilton, and Holiday Inn properties.

Born in Connecticut, Mr. Kosloff attended Gannon University in Erie, PA and has run hotels throughout the U.S. including in Maine, Louisiana, and South Carolina.

Mr. Kosloff is the proud father of a 15 year old son, Matt, who can occasionally be seen around the hotel helping guests and assisting staff members. In his spare time, Mr. Kosloff enjoys coaching baseball, woodworking, and bass fishing. In fact, you will often find him fishing out back of The Lodge after hours and leading the Kids Fish with the GM program at the hotel. If you ask, he'll tell you about his adventures with alligators while fishing in the South Carolina Lowcountry.

By KozHotel News, Uncategorized0 Comments