Clarks Hill Fishing Report – May 2007

Clarks Hill: Level: 2.3 feet below full pool. Temp: 65 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Excellent. “I expect to find a lot of schooling fish in May,” said Capt. William Sasser. “You would want to throw a Sammy, weightless Fluke, Gunfish or Zara Spook. When the fish are down, fish off main-lake points with Carolina rigs with green-pumpkin or watermelon-seed worms. This is the best Carolina-rig fishing I’ve ever seen up here. Everybody you see is doing it. The times I’ve been doing it I’ve been using a 5-foot leader. I think there are still some bass on the bed this month. I like to throw a Buckeye jig or a weightless Fluke when they’re on the bed.”

Linesides: Excellent. “May fishing should be excellent,” said Capt. Dave Willard. “March and April were super, and May is usually better. When the water temperatures get into the the 70s the fish will still be shallow early and late. Free-lining live herring or fishing topwater artificials will produce a lot of fish. Mid morning and early afternoon look for the fish to congregate in the creek channels, and downlining live bait 24 to 30 feet deep will produce a cooler full of stripers.” Capt. Sasser says he’ll be pulling planer boards with live herring off main-lake points early in the morning. “I’ll fish mainly from the dam to Little River Bridge, then as the day goes on I’ll downline herring off the same points in deeper water. Sometimes I’ll anchor around the islands and fish cutbait in 20 to 30 feet of water.”

Shellcrackers: Excellent. William said May is the month on Clarks Hill for shellcrackers. “They will be bedding the first part of the month,” said William. “I will fish for them from the dam to Parksville and up Little River to Lloyds Creek. In May, I’ll look for them off the sides of secondary points in 6 to 8 feet of water. I’ll fish worms on the bottom, no corks. The easiest way to find them is at night with a spotlight. You can find them on a windless night in clear water and go back the next day and catch them.”

Crappie: Great. “All the crappie that I’ve cleaned in April are full of eggs, so I expect that May will be a great month to fish the banks with jigs. I’ll also fish in 15 to 20 feet of water with minnows over brush and catch fish either going or returning from bedding. In May, I like to fish right after dark with minnows and lights for staging fish; they seem to be more active then. The corps fish attractors behind Horseshoe Island and across from Ridge Road Campground are great places to try this approach on.”