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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: Full at 330. Temp: Mid 70s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Jon Hair with Greenfish Tackle says the herring bite is wide open right now. Fish shallow flat points with topwaters, like an Ark Topwater Blower, and also soft jerkbaits, like flukes. Always watch for surface action. When the fish go down, follow up with a shaky head or a little rubber jig, like the Bad Little Dude. Brushpiles and canepiles make the bite better. The bite is pretty good all day long with this combo. D.J. Hadden, with Hadden Outdoors, says the herring spawn will be going on until mid-May and that plays heavy on the Clarks Hill bass bite this time of year. Focus on major creek and main-lake points. By mid May, they will move to shallow shoals. Fish marked shoals or find unmarked ones with a good GPS map. Work topwater hard baits and soft…
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 |