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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: 2 feet below 330. Temp: 60s. Clarity: The main lake is clear, with some stain in creeks. Bass: David Earl Thorton says the unseasonable weather has the fall bite slower to turn on. Some schooling activity on the main lake will produce bites on an ima Skimmer or Gunfish 95. If it is windy, throw a Mini-Me spinnerbait in the same places the bass are schooling, especially on humps. For shallow fish, rig a Greenfish Toad Toter and Zoom Horny Toad or the Bass Slayer Hawg Frog and cove the shallows. Jon Hair, with Greenfish Tackle, says to keep it simple. Run shallow cover, especially wood, with a buzzbait early, and then probe 10- to 20-foot-deep brush with a jig when the sun is high Clarks Hill Page: Archived Articles, Fishing Reports & Lake Records
Read MoreClarks Hill Lake Articles
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…
One of the most exciting things in bass fishing is watching a largemouth slam a topwater bait. The anticipation of the strike keeps you on edge during the retrieve, and it is almost impossible not to flinch when the spray erupts around the moving bait as the bass hits. The only thing that beats it…
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 |