Clarks Hill Fishing Report – August 2007

Level: 5 feet below full pool. Temp: Upper 80s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Good. Pro angler Danny Kirk said to begin the morning throwing topwater near the humps and main-lake points. He said to watch for them on your locator, and then throw above them. “When the baitfish move, the bass are going to move with them, so you’ve got to find the bait,” said Danny. “It took 14 pounds to win the Wednesday night tournament with 44 boats.” Danny’s been fishing mostly evenings and listed several keys to success. He likes to throw a clear Super Spook with a dark-blue back or an albino fluke on topwater until about 30 minutes before dark. Then he switches to a Zoom Ol Monster Carolina-rig in dark colors. He said a black jig with a black-and-blue chunk was also working well. Concentrate on humps and long points in the 15- to 25-foot range. “The same fish that were schooling on top earlier will go deep in the same area, and you can usually catch them,” said Danny. He said he likes to position the boat in shallow and throw deeper, but throwing from deep to shallow also works. “A lot of the fish get it on the fall,” said Danny. “Especially the better fish, so you’ve got to be ready.” Some of the guys are throwing shallow crankbaits like Bandits around the lights after dark and getting some good fish as well.

Linesides: Great. “August can be a good month for fishing,” said Capt. Dave Willard. “Usually we have a lot of surface activity with largemouth, stripers and hybrids feeding on hordes of threadfin shad. Try and match the hatch by fishing small lures — Thing Poppers and small spoons like the Cleo. Also, surface poppers like the Gunfish and the Sammy work well. Live-bait fishing can be good, but herring don’t like hot water and die quickly this time of year. Trolling bucktail jigs behind leadcore line or downriggers can be the best way to catch a limit of stripers and beat the heat. Schooling activity can occur anywhere, but the large water in front of the dam up to Parksville was good last year. Also, try out in front of Little River bridge to Mosley Creek. The deep fish will relate to the trees in the river channel out in front of Fort Gordon and in the old river channel with lots of standing timber at Parksville up to Soap Creek. The area below Russell dam can also be great during the hot months. For the best times, consult the generation schedules.” Guide William Sasser fishes shad on 40- to 50-foot humps before daylight for larger stripers. “Herring fishing this month is tricky,” said William. “They live OK in the boat, but when you put them in the lake they expire in just a few minutes. So, I do a lot of looking on my depthfinder until I find quantities of fish then drop the bait right on top of them. Trolling umbrella rigs and deep-diving lures is also a good alternative to live-bait fishing this month. Schooling fish will be showing up around Parksville; a Thing Popper is a good bait for them. Have a lot of different baits for this as they can vary from day to day on what works best.”

Crappie: Fair. “August is a month for true fishermen,” said William. “The crappie in Clarks Hill are congregated in large numbers but harder to find. This is definitely a minnow-fishing time. I’ll fish in 20 to 30 feet of water near the bottom under trees with patience. Try to stay near where smaller tributaries meet the Savannah and Little River out in the lake. Also, August is a good month to night fish over brush with minnows, but most of the good fishing comes between midnight and 5 a.m.”

White Perch: Excellent. William said these fish will be on brushpiles in the late afternoon. “I’ll fish on the bottom with small minnows and do well. These fish love the small minnows, and we’ll catch large channel catfish, too.”