Clarks Hill Fishing Report – July 2019

Clarks Hill: Level: Full pool. Temp: Mid 80s. Clarity: Mostly clear around the dam and progressively getting dirtier the farther upriver you go.

Bass: Tournament angler Josh Rockefeller reports, “The bass are starting to become more pressured on the humps, but using a Buckeye Lures Football Mop Jig will bring bites while worked slowly. Switching to something smaller like a drop shot can also produce fish on the humps. You can also catch some fish with a drop shot vertically on bridge pylons, but these typically tend to be smaller fish. Even as the temperatures continue rising, look for some fish to be shallow, as well. Buzzbaits and frogs fished around shallow cover in more stained water can produce some huge fish in the heat of the day. If the fish miss the buzzbait, casting a Ned-rigged Senko as a good follow-up bait.”

Linesides: Guide Bradd Sasser reports, “The hybrid and striper bite couldn’t get any faster or better than it is right now. The fish are holding off points in 25 to 30 feet of water and feeding on herring around daybreak. Normally the bite shuts off right after daybreak this time of year, but not this year. A good steady bite continues after the initial feeding frenzy. The biggest difference is the fish become suspended. They maintain the same 25- to 30-foot depth. They just move toward deeper water, more along the 40- to 50-foot range. They will stay in the same general areas, but they just become suspended. The crappie are moving to deeper structure in 17 to 22 feet of water. They, too, are feeding extremely aggressively.”

Guide Eddie Mason reports, “We’ve been out pretty much six days a week every week this past month and limited out a lot, so that’s been great. We’ve been fishing mid lake a lot in about 30 feet of water. We’re still fishing downrods and putting live bait out on the bottom. We’re still going in the mouths of creeks and in the blow-throughs. By midday, when the heat goes up, we’re heading out a little deeper. We’ve been expecting the good fish to come back down to the lower end of the lake, just like other years, but they’re not doing it yet. We’ve been getting a lot of rain, but catching fish has not been a problem. It seems like the better fish are mid lake and up, and that’s totally different from last year. They’re still moving from place to place every day, and we’re still finding them.”