Clarks Hill Thurmond Lake

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Fish'n & Hunt'n Report

July 08





We have been seeing a large number of stripers caught while fishing live and cut bait in the river section reports PALMETTO ANGLER AND CONVENIENCE, located on Hwy 378 in McCormick. Most of the crappie are being caught around the bridges at night fishing minnows under lanterns. Also the bream and shellcracker are being caught in good numbers using crickets and red worms in the shallows especially around the full moon (June 18). Catfish are being caught on cut bait around bridges and off rocky points fishing cutbait, worms and chicken livers just off the bottom. Here is the leader of the Big Crappie Contest ($2 to enter and winner takes all) from 5/7 to 6/7 Carrie Creswell with a 2 lb. crappie. Remember you can book striper guide parties with Captain Evan Williams in our store.

88 MART reports that some hybrid /striper can be caught fishing live herring 20 to 30 feet deep mainly late afternoon or at night. You can also fish cut bait from the bank near the dam and at Parksville, and catch some really nice catfish. 88 MART is located on Hwy 28 only a few miles from the dam. They have a full service kitchen with Hunt Brother Pizzas, live bait including blueback herring, beer, gas, ATM, snacks and much more.

B&E GROCERY & CAMPGROUND is located halfway between Abbeville and McCormick. Lucy and Willy have good hot food in the snack bar and on Saturday, from noon to 2pm. They have a buffet. They have camping sites available in the campground and ask you to stop by or make arrangements early for July 4th weekend. July is a great time to get some worms and crickets and catch some bream, shellcrackers and catfish. We have a good selection of hardware and parts for repairing campers, trailers or anything else, which needs fixing. Our store is for SALE!

MC CORMICK FARM & BUILDING SUPPLY is located on S. Mine Street in McCormick. They are stocked up with all your hardware needs. It is time to start thinking about your summer crop, seed and fertilizer or a repair on the shed or barn. Also summer is the time to plant food plots for turkey and deer. They have insulated bait tanks for the live bait fisherman. Fishing and hunting supplies are available for your convenience in our (upstairs). Remember to stop by and get your new S.C. hunting and fishing licenses.

It’s time to come on down and get serious about doing some fishing reports Burl and Bette at DEERFEATHERS STORE & CAMPGROUND, located on Hwy 283, 5 miles east of Plum Branch. Nice stripers are being caught at night on cut bait in 40 foot of water on Little River SC. branch of Clark Hill. It’s also vacation time, so bring the kids down so they can catch plenty of bream, shellcrackers and catfish right from the bank on Clarks Hill and in local ponds. They have gas for your boat, cold drinks, snacks, groceries, beer, ice, and much more. If you are hungry, they can help you out with a good old hot dog or BBQ sandwich.

In Aiken on Hwy. 1 at NORTHSIDE BAIT & TACKLE Lindsey stated that he has been selling plenty of crickets, minnows and Louisiana pink worms. School is out and July is the time to take a kid fishing and catch bream in the local ponds using crickets and worms. Catfish and bass are being caught on worms or big minnows. They report striper/hybrid fishing on Clarks Hill is hot at night. Stop by the store for all types of live bait and check out the huge selection of slider crappie jigs.

CAPTAIN TOMMY DUDLEY is a U.S. Coast Guard licensed full service striper and hybrid guide on Clarks Hill/Thurmond lake. Tommy told us the striper/hybrids are in their summer pattern and fishing is great. He suggests you fish in 25 to 50 foot of water on down lines in the early morning on deep points and humps near major creek junctions. Later in the day you can troll the river channel. Night fishing has picked up on humps near the river channel and in deep blow throughs. Surface activity will begin to increase so keep long casting artificials ready. Remember, warm water really effects the herring, so a good bait tank is a must for live bait fishing in July. Large parties requiring multiple boats should call soon as summer trips get booked up quickly.

HOOTIES FISHING & HUNTING stated that their indoor archery range is very busy and they are having a great time in the shooting leagues. They invite you to come join their archery shooting leagues for both adults and kids. This is good family fun in an air-conditioned facility. They have “Mathews, PSE & Bow Tech Bows” and full line of “Archery Supplies.” They have 90 days same as cash. They also offer bow repairs, bow tuning and service. On the fishing side, July is a great time to go to Clarks Hill and catch hybrids and stripers using top water plugs like the “Pencil Popper” and a “Super Fluke”. The bass fishing is good early and late in the day on the lower part of Lake Murray and Clarks Hill around points and islands using Carolina rigged worms, rattletraps, Senkos, worms, lizards, Sebile swim baits, Spot Remover worms and the big Sammys and Spooks. Shellcracker are being caught on the Hybrid Pink Worms fished on the bottom under corks. Bow fishing at night has been great for catfish. They have the largest selection of Sebile swim baits in the state and a great selection of Lucky Craft, Bass Magic swim baits, Buck eye mop jigs and Spot Removers.

Near I-20 on Hwy.1 in Aiken at OUTDOORS UNLIMITED they tell us that they are selling plenty of crickets and getting good reports of bream being caught in local ponds. Largemouth bass have moved deeper, because of the warming of the water and can be caught using worms and lizards, either Texas rigged, shakey headed or Carolina rigged around structure and grass early and late in the day or at night. Warmouth and redbreast are being caught on the Edisto River on worms and crickets. Bass fishermen need to stop by the store and check out the Terry Bowden cold steel plastic worms. Ask about our deer stands!

Dean at NUMBER ONE MARKET BAIT & TACKLE located in the Clearwater area of North Augusta stated that the fishing has been great in this area. Plenty of shellcracker, bream and catfish have been caught in local ponds and rivers using crickets, worms and beetlespins. He has a custom spinnerbait that has been deadly on bream and shellcracker in the Savannah River. Stop by the store and check them out. Also the topwater bite for bass and hybrid has been excellent in the evening hours on Clarks Hill. Their store is stocked up with all types of fishing tackle for the bream, crappie, striper, bass and catfishermen.

Over in Belvedere QWICKIE JACKS report the fishing is really good. They have been very busy selling worms, minnows, and crickets for bream and catfish in local ponds and rivers. Stop by and get beer, ice, hot food and more for your fishing trip. They also serve hot dogs and have plenty of cold beer. Remember Take a Kid Fishing!

It’s time for summer FUN, so come see us at CLIATT CROSSING located only a few miles pass the Lincolnton Bridge at the intersection of Hwy. 43 and Hwy 220! We have diesel gas, hot food, ATM, large bait and tackle selection and more. Fishing is good in our area of the lake with the hybrid/stripers being caught on live herring fished off points in the main river channel in twenty-five to forty feet of water mainly at night. If you are going camping and need groceries, we have all the essentials and more.

Looking for a great place to rent a cabin then you need to call SOAP CREEK MARINA. They are located on Clarks Hill Lake just off Hwy. 378 between McCormick,SC and Lincolnton Ga. For the camper they have over 30 campsites with excellent lake views. They have been doing some major renovations and have a nice place to bring the whole family. The summer is the time to come to the lake and enjoy some boating and fishing.

Lincolnton Marine is proud to announce the Grand Opening of their new 20,000 Sq ft state of the art computerized marine facility located @ 1006 Lake Thurmond Pkwy (Hwy 378) in Lincolnton, GA. Owners, Jeremy Dawkins and Paul Banks thought of everything needed to be truly full service Marine store when they built this new mega marine facility. The new showroom boasts of everything from water skis, and wet suits, to boat grills, and oars. With the tremendous selection of boats to choose from, they are with out a doubt the only low price, full service, volume dealer around.

CB DEER STANDS are engineered for the avid hunter and designed to fit in an average truck or trailer. All of our products are easy to assemble and designed to last. With over 75 years of hunting between the two of us, we wanted to develop a safe yet easy way to attach deer stands to trees. CB’s Lever Mount System accomplishes this in one easy motion! Our system provides utmost stability by binding the stand to the tree with a lever and chain. Check out our New WeatherGuard!

In New Ellenton Dickie at HIERS OUTBOARD SERVICE has been busy servicing outboards, ATV’s and personal water crafts. He says most of the locals this time of the year go fishing in the Beaufort area and enjoy the beach down that way. They have been servicing outboards for years and know how to make your outboard perform at it’s peak ability.

"Lake Clark Hill" ("Strom Thurmond Lake")  For Infomation About J. Strom Thurmond Lake (Clark Hill) Contact: Natural Resource Management Center Rt. 1, Box 12 Clarks Hill, SC 29821-0010 (706) 722-3770 (803) 333-2476   Cool Sites & Links

[Located North of I-20, on SC - GA State Line.]

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