Clarks Hill Lake Fishing Report May 2016

Clarks Hill: Level: Nearly full pool. Temp: Low 70s. Clarity: Clear in most parts of the lake.

Bass: Tournament angler William Hooker reports, “The topwater bite is on at the moment. The herring are spawning, and the bass are shallow. Flukes, spinnerbaits and topwater are what you need to catch bass or hybrids.”

Linesides: Guide William Sasser reports, “The hybrids and stripers are pushed up into the shallows around the 10-foot range early in the mornings feeding on the spawning herring. As the day breaks, they are pulling back into deeper water from 25 to 35 feet and holding along the edges of ditches and off secondary points waiting for the herring to pass by. Before daybreak, downlining herring off shallow points is working real well. After daybreak, most of the hybrids and stripers are broke up and can be caught using planer boards in mid-lake creeks, but there are some nice hybrids that are grouped up and can be caught downlining. As the water warms some more and the herring spawn ends, you will find them holding on the sides of humps in 30 to 35 feet of water in mid- to lower-lake areas. The largemouth are following the same trend and are pushed up extremely shallow early in the mornings feeding on spawning herring and feeding so aggressively that it doesn’t seem to matter what lure is used, but buzzbaits have been very productive.

Catfish: William reports, “The catfish have pushed up onto rocky walls, such as near the lower dam and the Georgia Little River Bridge, for their spawning season along with feeding on the herring that are pushed up.”

Crappie: William reports, “The crappie have moved back off of the banks and onto shallow brushpiles and can be caught using small shiners or trolling minnow-tipped jigs.”

Bream: William reports, “The upcoming full moon will be absolutely great for shellcracker on the bed. We got a small taste of it during the April full moon, but this one will be when things really kick off. They can be caught using almost any type of worm or crickets.”