Campbell Says Clarks Hill Should be at its Peak

 By Pete Robbins 

 

Tyler Campbell said that the Big Bass Tournament competitors who descend on Clarks Hill lake in mid-March should expect to see the big reservoir spanning Georgia and South Carolina at its best. 

 

“It should be popping off,” he stated. “It took 30 pounds to win a high school event a few weeks ago and now we’re hitting the first real warming trend of the year, with temperatures in the eighties. It’s about to be that magical time of year, with fish at their fattest, and it would not surprise me to see a few going to the wall to spawn.” 

 

The one complication, he added, is that the lake is “super low” right now, which takes lots of the shoreline cover out of the water. Many of the willows that have been flooded in the last few spawning cycles will be high and dry, for example. That should force bank beaters to focus on the remaining inundated cover and it should concentrate the fish. 

 

There may also be a sizeable number of fish – perhaps the majority – in springtime staging areas close to their eventual spawning grounds. He’d use a Berkley Stunna in MF Tennessee Shad or a Frittside crankbait in open water, and a Slobberknocker bladed jig in heavier cover. But perhaps his favorite bait right now is the Cull Shad. 

 

“I’d probably lock that in my hand,” he explained. “Especially when fishing for big ones. The water is clear enough that you can visually see the bites and the cover as it comes down laydowns or over stumps. I’d also look around boat docks. There aren’t many of them but the ones that are there produced fish for me in a BFL a few weeks ago.” 

 

He’d also keep some soft plastics rigged up, specifically Neko Rigs or wacky rigs. Good choices for those options – both for numbers and for giants – include the Maxscent General, the Maxscent Hit Worm Magnum and the new Power Wag Worm. 

 

“There may also be a herring bite,” he said. “With some fish schooling in the backs of the creeks, so I’d keep a fluke rigged up.” 

 

He believes that the lower third of the lake produces the most big fish but urges newcomers to run from spot to spot carefully. There are lots of shallow shoals, “and you can run up on one in a heartbeat.” The other aspect of strategy will be watching the live leaderboard carefully. While herring lakes are sometimes producing cookie cutter smaller fish, Clarks Hill has its share of giants. Last year, third, fourth and fifth places were separated by fractions of ounces – 6.97, 6.93 and 6.91. Weighing any of those fish during the “wrong” hour could be a mistake that costs an angler hundreds or even thousands of dollars. 

 

Campbell said that the lake is fishing so well right now that he full expects it to take a 9-pounder to win top prize. That’s been the case two of the past three years, and in the one where it took slightly less there were an 8.84 and a 8.28 weighed in. There are always multiples over 7 pounds. In 2021 there were five over 8. You can earn an hourly check with something much smaller, but there is lots of variation year to year for top honors. With the lake fishing so well, and relatively small, expect there to be some crowding at the top.