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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…
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(Editor’s Note: GON policy has always been to use the original local names for lakes, rather than names later enacted by Congress to honor fellow politicians. So this lake is always referred to in GON as Clarks Hill rather than J. Strom Thurmond. Likewise, we use Lake Eufaula rather than Lake Walter F. George. The…
The third-annual Peach State Crappie Club (PSCC) Veterans Event was held March 16 on Clarks Hill as a way to show appreciation to those who have served our country in the armed forces. “We take them fishing, it’s a great day of fellowship and a way to thank them for their service to our country.…
It’s December, which means the bass at Clarks Hill have moved to ditches in the backs of coves and can be caught on a variety of baits. The quality of the largemouth on this Clarks Hill pattern is good all this month, and this is a pattern that produces well this time of year. With…
Kelly Chavous, of Columbia County, finally got to hold a once-in-a-lifetime flathead catfish out at Clarks Hill Lake in Lincoln County on May 25. Kelly, his nephew Tyler and Kelly’s buddy Mike “The Catfish King” Arrington dropped the boat in the lake around 7 p.m. and set out a few jugs with live bluegill in…
Clarks Hill bass will soon be moving up and staging for the spawn like they always every year in late February as early March do as water temperatures warm. Some winters in Georgia are dry, and Clarks Hill is known for low-water levels. This year, the lake is 12 feet below full pool as bass hit the…
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 |