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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
Evergreen trees aren’t typically considered aquatic vegetation, but if they’re used as Christmas trees in the Savannah River Basin, chances are they’ll continue “bearing fruit” under water. Rather than have old Christmas trees go to the landfill, rangers with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoirs at Hartwell and J. Strom Thurmond (Clarks Hill)…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will close six of its eight fish-cleaning stations at Clarks Hill Lake (J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir) due to budgetary constraints, as well as increased costs to operate and maintain the stations. The indefinite closures begin tomorrow Jan. 15, 2020. • Fish-cleaning stations to be closed are located at the…
Topwater baits over rocky humps and points, and dragging jigs on them and down the sides as they drop off into deeper water—that simple pattern is a great way to catch Clarks Hill bass in October. Clarks Hill’s 72,000 acres of water have gone through many changes since the river was dammed in 1950, but…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has set the deer hunting dates for the 2019 season at the corps’ Bussey Point Management Area. Bussey Point is a 2,545-acre peninsula located in Lincoln County on Clarks Hill Lake (J. Storm Thurmond Reservoir). All hunts are limited to 100 hunters per day. Hunters are registered on a…
Finding a quiet and safe place for a nursery tops the priorities for new parents, be they humans or fish. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state partners help fish in Savannah River reservoirs find those safe places for their young. To make those safe places this summer, workers, student interns and volunteers have…
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 |