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Clarks Hill Lake
Lake Strom Thurmond, known by most Georgia fishermen as Clarks Hill Lake, is a reservoir at the border between Georgia and South Carolina in the Savannah River Basin. It was created by the J. Strom Thurmond Dam during 1951 and 1952 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers near the confluence of the Little River and the Savannah River. Fishing for largemouth bass and striped bass in particularly popular at Clarks Hill, and the lake also offers very good shellcracker fishing during the late spring spawn, and there are some giant catfish in the lake. Crappie fishing can also be very good on Clarks Hill. At 71,000 acres, it is the third-largest artificial lake east of the Mississippi River, behind Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee River and Lake Marion on the Santee River. The J. Strom Thurmond Dam is located upstream from Augusta. Clarks Hill is one of the southeast's largest and most popular public recreation lakes.
Clarks Hill Lake Resources
Clarks Hill: Level: 0.6 feet above 330. Temp: 60 to 70 degrees. Clarity: Georgia Little River is stained to Raysville Bridge and then gets muddy going upstream. All major creeks on the Savannah River are stained to muddy, as is the river from Parksville north to the Russell Dam. The lower lake is clearer. Bass: D.J. Hadden, with Hadden Outdoors, says that April is typically one of the best months of the year on Clarks Hill. Fish will be in all stages of the spawn, and many patterns will work. Herring will also start to spawn, so that means get out a Zoom Super Fluke, Spro Sashimmy and a walking topwater bait. Fish blow-throughs and long, flat, clay points on the lower end of the lake for this pattern. If you are not fishing the shad/herring spawn, target spawning pockets and flats with a buzzbait, spinnerbait, floating worm and swimbait. Cover…
Read MoreClarks Hill Lake Articles
Anderson Jones, of Lander University, saved the best for last en route to singlehandedly sacking up 43 pounds, 15 ounces and winning the Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Clarks Hill Reservoir presented by Bass Pro Shops. After placing third on Day 1 with 19-12, Jones stepped on the gas and sacked up a second-round…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, J. Strom Thurmond Project, Forest, Fish, and Wildlife section have set the dates for primitive weapons deer hunts in Bussey Point Corps Management Unit, located in Lincoln County. The first 100 hunters to arrive each day will be registered on a first-come, first-served basis. Archery hunters are invited…
Michael Dollar, of Raysville, said that flathead catfish in the 70-lb. variety in Clarks Hill aren’t necessarily rare, but catching one on a rod and reel isn’t something you hear much about. Taking that one step further, boating one after an hour-long fight using an ultralight crappie fishing setup using just 6-lb. line may have…
Longer days have Clarks Hill bass stacking up in ditches near spawning areas and feeding heavily on flats near them. This is one of the best months of the year to catch numbers of bass and find a big prespawn female to brag about. No hindsight ip unit displayed. With 72,000 acres on the Savannah…
Georgia’s eastern flank offers some of the best freshwater fishing in the state, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) works to improve bass habitat at the Savannah River reservoirs. The USACE operates three major lakes along Georgia’s border with South Carolina: Lake Hartwell, Richard B. Russell Lake and Clarks Hill Lake. Administratively,…
Clarks Hill Lake Record Fish
Largemouth Bass | 14-lbs., 14-ozs. | Carl Sasser | 02/16/72 |
Spotted Bass | 4-lbs., 11.8-ozs. | Riley Hale | 03/19/22 |
White Bass | 3-lbs., 9-ozs. | Ed Lepley | 03/09/15 |
Striped Bass | 55-lbs., 12-ozs. | Sam Porter | 05/27/93 |
Hybrid Bass | 16-lbs., 12-ozs. | Jim Hankinson | ----- |
Black Crappie | 4-lbs., 8-ozs. | Dewey Marks | 1979 |
White Crappie | 4-lbs., 12-ozs. | Weldon Clark | 03/30/06 |
Blue Catfish | 62-lbs. | Ralph Barbee Jr. | 09/12/79 |
Flathead Catfish | 70-lbs. | Michael Dollar | 03/04/23 |
Channel Catfish | 25-lbs., 2-ozs. | James Gunn | 05/13/93 |
Yellow Perch | 2-lbs., 8-ozs. | Brad Murphy | 12/89 |
Sauger | 4-lbs., 3-ozs. | Stuart Bowers | 04/05/86 |
Warmouth | 13-ozs. | Daniel Rawlins | 04/15/01 |
White Perch | 1-lb., 4-ozs. | Dennis Franklin | 02/22/15 |
Shellcracker | 1-lb., 9-ozs. | Kathleen Weeks | 06/23/11 |