Clarks Hill Fishing Report – October 2006

Clarks Hill: Level: 7.2 feet below full. Temp: 78 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Great. Craig Johnson has been catching 40 fish a day, but it’s taking those 40 to get 13 or 14 pounds with his best five. “There’s a few moving shallow right now, but the bigger fish are still out deep,” said Craig. “By the time October rolls around, shallow grass will be the deal. When that water hits 72, there’ll be a bunch of fish moving into that shallow grass.” Craig likes a Zoom Trick Worm when fishing grass. His colors are bruise banana or white/chartreuse (which you’ll have to color yourself). “Work it across there pretty quick until you get to a hole or the edge of the grass, and deadstick it probably less than a second,” said Craig. “You can catch them all day long on this, but the bigger fish are going to be caught in the mornings.” If it’s windy, Craig will be slinging a spinnerbait along these grass edges. “You’ll want to really burn it because it’s so clear. There’s a ton of bait in the grass, and some bluegill will be in there, too. I like a 1/4-oz. Buckeye spinnerbait in white-shad; it’s got some black/blue flakes in it. Anything with blue is great in this lake. It’s a double willow, nickel combination.” Craig said one of the best grassy areas on the lake will be in the pockets and creeks around the Little River bridge. For a midday quality bite when the wind isn’t blowing, key on white-rock banks that have a short point jutting out into the lake. “For some reason they don’t hang on the long stuff in October,” said Craig. “Look for these shorter points from Parksville all the way up to the 378 bridge.” Some of these areas are in the big, open pockets. Throw the spinnerbait or work a Little Bandit 200 crankbait.

Linesides: Good. “The largemouth, stripers and hybrids are chasing small threadfin shad to the surface, and some days the surface action has really been awesome,” said Capt. Dave Willard. “The Gun Fish and curly-tail grubs have been productive. Live-bait fishing has been slow with the fish preferring the smaller baits. This will change with the cooler weather approaching. When the fish go down, the most productive technique has been trolling bucktails with downriggers in the 26- to 30-foot depths.”