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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: 3.1 feet below 330. Temp: 64-70 degrees. Clarity: Slightly stained to clear. Bass: D.J. Hadden, with Hadden Outdoors, says to “scope, scope, scope.” D.J.’s son, Tanner, wins many tournaments, including the recent Super 6 Championship with his uncle. Tanner also won the Gerald Jones Tournament with partner Caleb Hudson. Tanner is an expert with FFS and does guide trips where he will teach you. FFS is not some magic tool. It will help you catch fish, but you must learn to use it. “Water temperatures started to cool the week before Thanksgiving and will drop fast in December,” D.J. said. “That means bait will move back in the pockets and creeks. There will be an early morning ditch bite, and surface activity should be seen early in the month. If you’re not scoping, cast a Spot Choker underspin with a 2.8 or 3.3 Keitech early to bait…
Read MoreClarks Hill Lake Articles
Kathleen Weeks boasts of the heaviest ever recorded shellcracker caught from Clarks Hill. She caught the 1-lb, 9-oz. fish on June 23, 2011. 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…
It’s common knowledge among anyone who chases crappie in Georgia that fall is one of the best times of the year to wear out crappie. While the fish are not bunching up in the fall to spawn, like they do in the springtime, they are following cooling water temperatures and food supply. The Peach State…
Like no other Georgia reservoir, Clarks Hill is the king when it comes to producing gigantic catfish. There’s something about this sprawling impoundment on the Savannah River above Augusta that grows huge catfish. Jake Manley, of Plum Branch, S.C., knew the lake’s potential already, and on May 8 it was confirmed in a huge way.…
There are a few anglers who it seems can slap a big sack of bass on the scales tournament after tournament this time of year. As much as some would like to believe it’s luck, the guys who consistently wow the crowds are using no magic, but time-tested, methodical approaches to catching quality fish during…
Picture, in your mind’s eye, a 45-foot-high hardwood tree lying on its side 35 to 40 feet down in Clarks Hill Lake. It’s one of about 200 trees Capt. William Sasser, of Evans, has placed in the lake over the last 30 years or so. “I’ve sunk trees from the dam to (Lincoln County’s) Georgia…
Clarks Hill Lake Record Fish
| Largemouth Bass | 14-lbs., 14-ozs. | Carl Sasser | 02/16/72 |
| Spotted Bass | 5-lbs., 7.2-ozs. | Tanner Hadden | 04/23/2404/23/24 |
| 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 | 72-lbs., 3-ozs. | Walker Crowe | 05/07/24 |
| 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 |