Clarks Hill Fishing Report August 2012

Clarks Hill: Level: 10.4 feet below full pool. Temp: Mid 80s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Slow. Try marking fish and bait on main-lake humps that are in the 15- to 23-foot range. Patient and slow presentations with a jig or worm will be your best bet. Try a Texas-rigged Ol’ Monster worm, or you can fish a smaller 6-inch worm on a Carolina rig. Plum and tequila sunrise are good colors on Clarks Hill. The schooling bite around these main-lake humps isn’t really going on too well. If they come up at first light, try a Spook, Sammy, Chug Bug or a popping-cork rig.

Linesides: Fair to good. Guide William Sasser reports, “The stripers are in their summertime pattern—60 to 80 feet deep on the bottom. We are fishing the lower 10 miles of the lake, mainly fishing the river beds with live herring and small gizzard shad early in the mornings. The area in front of the dam in the afternoons has a lot of hybrids roaming around in large packs 25 to 50 feet deep. Middle of the day is a great time to troll bucktails or umbrella rigs in the river channels.”

Crappie: Fair. “August crappie fishing on Clarks Hill is very tricky,” William said. “We mainly fish out in the middle of the lake where the water quality is better. With the lake low, there are plenty of trees sticking out of the water—fish minnows down beside them. Nighttime fishing with lights under the Highway 378 bridge and Little River bridge will catch crappie and hybrids in August, so we take minnows and herring for bait. You need to be a night owl because the better fishing comes after midnight.”