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Thurmond Lake Fishing Report

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

Clarks Hill: 71,000 acres on the Savannah where hybrid and striper schools boil under birds every fall.

1/5
Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.
Flow
4,310 cfs
Air / High
97 / 98 F
Wind
E 5 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 02197000, 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.

1/5Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Thurmond Lake serves up more heat: the productive hours are the dim ones. The river is running 4,310 cfs, on the rise. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 5 mph, rising pressure near 1014 hPa and a high of 98. 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

Striped bassFair

Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel)Fair

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

Largemouth bassSlow

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: Similar at 102 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 Savannah River at Augusta (below Thurmond Dam).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 02197000.

4,6056,0457,4854,310 cfs08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp97 F
High / Low98 / 73 F
WindE 5-8 mph
Pressure1013.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain10% cloud, 3%
Sunrise / Sunset07:04 / 19:50
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 · Overcast, 98/73 F, wind 8 mph, rain 3%

Fair or better. A 8 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Thurmond 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.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall

The reservoir heavyweight. Follows shad and herring schools in open water year-round. Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

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 Thurmond 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
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 Thurmond 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. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 99 F, wind to 11 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 99 F, wind to 4 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. 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

Georgia or South Carolina license under the reciprocal agreement on the main lake: verify current terms. Striper and hybrid limits differ by state: check GADNR and SCDNR.

Access

Wildwood Park, Petersburg, Big Hart, Modoc and Mistletoe State Park ramps; Corps access areas throughout.

About this water

A 71,100-acre Corps reservoir on the Savannah River between Georgia and South Carolina, impounded 1954.

Fishing Thurmond Lake: the full guide

The border giant

J. Strom Thurmond Lake: Clarks Hill to Georgians: floods 71,000 acres of the Savannah River valley along the Georgia-South Carolina line, one of the largest Corps lakes east of the Mississippi. Its fishery is built on blueback herring: striped bass and hybrids grow fat chasing them, largemouth follow the same bait, crappie fill the brush and the lake produces one of the Southeast’s better fall schooling shows.

Linesides on herring

Stripers and hybrids drive the lake’s reputation. Winter and early spring find them in the creek mouths and river channel: down-lined and free-lined herring, plus trolled umbrella rigs. Summer pushes them deep to the thermocline near the dam and main-lake humps. Fall is the payoff: schools push herring to the surface across open water from October through December, and topwater plugs and bucktails do the rest.

Bass, crappie and the brush

Largemouth relate to points, brush piles and blowdowns: spinnerbaits and jigs in spring, deeper structure and drop-shots in summer, then a strong fall bite as they chase bait into the pockets. Crappie hold planted brush at 10-20 feet with excellent spring and fall bites. The lake’s size means learning one arm well beats running the whole thing: Little River, Soap Creek and the Savannah channel each fish differently.

Two states, many ramps

Corps parks and ramps ring the lake on both shores: Wildwood Park, Petersburg, Big Hart, Modoc and Mistletoe State Park among many. Georgia and South Carolina maintain a reciprocal license agreement for the main lake: verify the current terms and note that tributaries follow their own state. Augusta and Lincolnton supply everything; summer weekends are busy near the developed shorelines but the lake is big enough to hide in.

Common questions

When is the surface schooling?

October through December, with November the peak: birds mark the schools and topwater plugs get destroyed. It is the lake’s signature season.

Striper or hybrid?

Both swim here: hybrids run smaller and school tighter, stripers grow past thirty pounds. The same herring tactics catch them.

Which license?

Either state covers the main lake under reciprocity: confirm the current agreement, and match the state when fishing up the tributaries.

Is fishing good at Thurmond Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Tough. Pick your battles. Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Nearby waters

Clarks Hill Lake12 miLake Russell36 miLake Greenwood42 miLake Murray55 miLake Sinclair67 miSaluda River68 mi
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