Clarks Hill Fishing Report – September 2007

Clarks Hill: Level: 6.2 feet low. Temp: Upper 80s to low 90s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Good. “September is a great schooling month for bass in the Little River section of the lake,” said guide William Sasser. “Zara Spooks are hard to beat for this type of fishing, and thanks to the blueback-herring population in Clarks Hill, the fish are fat and healthy. Drop-shot rigs with worms or whatever type soft plastic you are confident in fished on 15 to 25 foot deep humps with brush, either at daylight or sun down, will catch fish.” William said this tactic will catch quality fish this month. “It just requires great electronics to successfully locate individual fish on stumps in 20 feet of water and confidence that you are looking at bass on your depthfinder. Fish the drop-shot rig right next to the fish until it bites. My step-son Austin does this with great success while we are on striper trips.”

Linesides: Great. “September usually sees a lot of surface-feeding activity and can be a really fun month if the fish break consistently,” said Capt. Dave Willard. “Some months I don’t even carry live bait as the surface action is so good. Thing Poppers, Gun Fish or Sammys — or your favorite lures — can be productive.” Dave said to fish from Mosley Creek down to the dam on the Georgia side and in the Parksville area around Horseshoe Island on Carolina side. “When the fish fail to break, I usually troll bucktails 20 to 30 feet deep, 60 to 200 feet behind the boat,” said Dave. “Depending on the oxygen levels, and they have been bad the last couple of years, live herring may be productive only early in the morning. Try to locate a group of fish right at daylight, and drop the baits down quick. Parksville is a good place to look for nice stripers as there is a lot of standing timber. The area below Russell dam is also good when the generators are open. August fishing below Russell was disappointing this year for some unknown reason.” William Sasser said that September is a great month to find fish in large numbers, which means it’s harder to find them in such a large lake. However, when you do they don’t seem to move around as quick as August, so it’s easier to stay on fish. “I’ll fish live herring on down rods in 40 to 80 feet of water 25 to 40 feet down. I’ll concentrate from Amity to Parksville. It will also be a lot easier to keep bait alive the rest of the month. I always look for travel corridors of stripers, which are hard to locate but will produce fish for a long period of time.”

Crappie: Fair, but improving. “The beginning of September is always a lot different than the end of the month,” said William. “Usually the beginning is slower, fishing out in the main river beds of the lake; by the end of the month the fish will move into the smaller tributaries. All month, I’ll fish in 25 to 35 feet of water, and we’ll experiment with jigs and small crankbaits trolling in creek channels. By the end of the month, I’ll switch to small shiners and fish treetops in the Little River (Ga.) section of the lake. This is the great time of year to fish corps fish attractors.