Clarks Hill Fishing Report January 2011

Clarks Hill: Level: 2.2 feet below full pool. Temp: 47 to 52 degrees. Clarity: Clear down the lake; the upper end has a great fish-catching color.

Bass: Fair. Dale Gibbs said the best bite on Clarks Hill for about the next six weeks will be slow and deep. Try hopping a jig ’n pig around rocky points at the creek mouths. Dale likes a 3/4-oz. Buckeye Mop Jig in brown for this application. Also, you should be able to pick up some suspended fish or fish holding tight to the channel drops with a 3/4-oz. jigging spoon. If you find them bunched up, fish the spoon until they stop biting it, then follow up with the jig ’n pig. Dale likes to mimic shad with his spoon, but if you get into some dirty water, go with gold and chartreuse. Another thing to try off the creek channels on the edges of the grasslines is a Sonar Blade. Cast it out, let it sink and pump it in, keeping it just off the bottom. If you find some fish like this, it wouldn’t hurt to follow up with a 1/2- or 3/4-oz. Rat-L-Trap fished the same way.

Linesides: Good. Guide William Sasser said right now they are catching stripers in 40 to 50 feet of water by fishing on the bottom with live herring. “We are fishing from the dam to Soap Creek and up Georgia Little River to Raysville,” William said. “Later in the month as the water warms up in the back of creeks, we will fish shallow with freelines using gizzard shad for bait.”

Crappie: Very good. William said the creek channels in 30 to 40 feet of water are holding the best numbers of fish right now. “If you can find brushpiles near those creek channels, just fish them 20 feet down with small shiners or Crappie Country jigs fished vertically. We caught good fish this month on the trees at the GPS coordinates published in last year’s GON article.”