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Clarks Hill Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The Savannah's 71,000-acre workhorse: hybrids, blueback topwater and Augusta's home water.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Lake level
321.79 ft -8.21 vs pool
Air / High
96 / 97 F
Wind
ENE 6 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 02193900, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Clarks Hill Lake locks in another hot, bright day: the fish know the drill and so should you. The gauge reads 321.79 ft, 8.21 ft below pool, easing 0.41 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind ENE around 6 mph, rising pressure near 1014 hPa and a high of 97. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Hybrid striped bassGood

Schooling at first light over main-lake humps and channel edges. Slabs, tail spinners and live shad once you mark bait. It is usually over by mid-morning.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassFair

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 103 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from THURMOND LAKE NEAR PLUM BRANCH, SC.

Water level, last 30 days

USGS gauge 02193900. Conservation pool is 330 ft.

323.18325.87328.55pool 330321.79 ft08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp96 F
High / Low97 / 73 F
WindENE 6-9 mph
Pressure1013.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset07:05 / 19:51
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Partly cloudy, 97/73 F, wind 7 mph, rain 1%

Fair or better. Calm and stable: plan around the solunar majors at dawn and dusk.

Species guide

The species that matter on Clarks Hill Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Hybrid striped bass illustration

Hybrid striped bass

Best: Jun-Sep

Stocked white bass x striper cross. Open-water shad chasers; birds and busting bait give them away. Schooling at first light over main-lake humps and channel edges. Slabs, tail spinners and live shad once you mark bait. It is usually over by mid-morning.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

When to come: the Clarks Hill Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Hybrid striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Clarks Hill Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 98 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 98 F, wind to 4 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 97 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

Georgia requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Hybrid/striper: 10 combined. Bass 12-inch GA side. GA-SC reciprocal. Confirm both DNRs.

Access

Wildwood, Petersburg, Scott's Ferry, Modoc (SC) among 30+ Corps ramps.

About this water

71,000 acres on the Savannah, GA/SC. Corps, impounded 1954. The chain's biggest water.

Fishing Clarks Hill Lake: the full guide

Big water, big mornings

Clarks Hill (Thurmond) is the Savannah chain's giant: hybrid and striper schools that erupt on blueback herring at dawn (the "breakfast bite" is the local clock), largemouth on cane piles and timber edges, and crappie in every cove. Summer topwater over open-water schools can be the best hour of fishing in Georgia.

The blueback clock

Clarks Hill runs on blueback herring: April-May spawns pull everything to blowthroughs and clay points at dawn: topwater chaos: then summer schools chase bait over 30-50 ft timber flats where spoons and underspins drop through. Fish the bait's schedule, not the calendar.

Hybrid harvests

The lake's hybrid program is Georgia's biggest: winter birds mark schools mid-lake, summer thermocline stacks them at 25-40 ft off the dam. Guides pull boards at dawn; DIY anglers watch gulls and idle with rods ready. Fifty-fish family days happen every summer.

Common questions

Clarks Hill or Thurmond?

Same lake: federally J. Strom Thurmond, Georgia-locally Clarks Hill. Ramps signs use both: the fish ignore the dispute.

Blueback economy of the Savannah

Clarks Hill runs on herring: the striper-and-hybrid fleet freelines bluebacks over the lower-lake points at dawn, largemouth crush the same bait on cane piles set at 15-25 ft, and winter gulls give away every school. The lake's brush-pile culture (thousands, many public and mapped) organizes summer fishing into a milk run: bait plus structure plus electronics equals the Savannah chain's most reliable box.

What are cane piles at Clarks Hill?

Sunken bamboo structures planted for crappie and bass: many are GPS-published by the states. Idle over marks at 15-25 ft, drop herring or jigs, and rotate: the milk-run method fills livewells.

Is fishing good at Clarks Hill Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Thurmond Lake12 miLake Russell29 miLake Greenwood47 miLake Sinclair56 miLake Murray66 miLake Oconee68 mi
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