Linesides On The Savannah River Lakes

The Savannah River is a silver strand of water separating Georgia from South Carolina like a necklace. There are three pearls on this strand, Lakes Hartwell, Russell and Thurmond. In these pearls are some silver sided fish that make anglers forget about all other kinds of silver.

Hybrid and striped bass are stocked in all three lakes by both Georgia and South Carolina. Those are some of our hardest pulling fish in fresh water, and once you hook one of them you will be hooked on fishing for them. Tie into a 20 pound striper and you will have a fight you won’t forget.

Hartwell, Russell and Thurmond (known as Clarks Hill by most) contain over 150,000 acres of water for the linesides angler. That is a tremendous area to fish and can get confusing. These lakes share some similar characteristics but differ in several ways, too.

Hartwell is on the very upper end of the Savannah River where it forms when the Tugaloo and Seneca rivers join. Russell is stuck between Hartwell and Clarks Hill, with waters backing up to the Hartwell dam and its dam releasing water directly into Clarks Hill. Clarks Hill is the last lake of the chain and the largest of the three.

Georgia and South Carolina share responsibility and authority for the fish in three lakes and they are also managed by the Corps of Engineers. Both states and the Corps maintain boat ramps that offer easy access to fishermen to all parts of each lake. Hartwell and Clarks Hill both have some shoreline development, concentrated in specific areas, but Russell is completely undeveloped and there are no private shoreline homes and docks.

Size and creel limits are agreed on by both Georgia and South Carolina and apply to fishermen from both states. Anglers may have a total of 10 stripers and hybrids combined on all three lakes and there is no size limit. Fishing licenses from either state are honored on all waters of all three lakes.

Blueback herring baitfish are found in all three lakes and they are a favorite food of stripers and hybrids. The proliferation of this baitfish has changed the thinking about management and stocking rates on these lakes and both Georgia and South Carolina agreed to make some changes about six years ago. These changes will affect your fishing this year.

The differences among these lakes might help you decide which one to fish, or help you catch fish on the one you like best.

Lake Hartwell

Uppermost and second oldest on the chain, Hartwell has 55,950 acres of water to fish. Its main lake stays fairly clear and it has many deep points and areas of underwater standing timber. Herring have been in it for many years and are an established baitfish.

In 2001 Georgia and South Carolina agreed to raise the numbers of hybrids and stripers stocked in Hartwell to 15 per acre, almost doubling the numbers of linesides put into the lake. The stocking rate is about half stripers and half hybrids. Those fish are showing a good growth rate and will be a good size this year.

Both stripers and hybrids grow to about one pound the first year they are stocked then put on about two pounds each year after that. A two year old hybrid or striper will weigh around three pounds, a six year old with push 12 pounds. There are a lot of fish in that range in Hartwell from the past six years of increased stocking rates.

Hybrids will not grow as big as stripers because they do not live as long. A five year old, 10 pound hybrid is very old and rare. A five year old striper is just getting started and some will live to be over 20 years old and weigh over 40 pounds.

Anthony Rabern is the Georgia fisheries biologist working with hybrids and stripers on Hartwell. He says there is an excellent year class from 2005 stocking, so there will be a lot of two and three pound hybrids to catch this year. As these fish grow each year they will offer more bigger fish for anglers.

Several things help hybrids and stripers survive at Hartwell. A few years ago biologists changed the way linesides were stocked. Up until then a hatchery truck would pull up to a bridge or ramp and dump its whole load of fry. That might be 300,000 little fish going into one area where food became limited and predators could gang up on them.

Now they spread the stocking out, aiming for releasing no more then 35,000 in one area. That should increase the survival of the fry and mean more fish to catch as that year class grows.

Water temperatures do put a squeeze on hybrids and stripers at Hartwell each summer. As the water gets warmer there is a small band of water that is ideal for hybrids and stripers to live in. This layer of water is the right temperature and has enough oxygen for them.

When the water gets too hot this layer of water becomes smaller. That is not good for the fish. During a drought like we had last year you would think the layer of good water would get thinner, and it does on other lakes in the chain, but Anthony says that does not happen at Hartwell.

Less rain means less runoff into the lake. Less runoff means less nutrients running into the lake. That produces less algae and means more oxygen at the depths the hybrids and stripers need.

Last year Anthony found a 40 pound striper and an eight pound hybrid in their surveys, so there are some good size fish to catch. Those shocking and netting surveys have also given Anthony an idea of where the fish live and where you should fish to catch them. He has come up with six tips for finding them. They should work on any lake you fish.

Anthony’s tips are: 1. Time of day – stripers and hybrids are more active in the early morning and late afternoon. 2. Topography – these fish hold on points and nearby flats. 3. Temperature – find water from 55 to 65 degrees to fish. 4. Turbidity – stripers and hybrids feed better in water that is not muddy, so find clear water to fish. 5. Forage – find the blueback herring and shad and the stripers and hybrids will be nearby. 6. Wind – Wind is your friend, fish wind blown banks and points.

Based on these tips, be on the lake at dawn and fish points near flats at the depth the water is 55 to 65 degrees and clear. Make sure baitfish are in the area and if the wind is blowing get on the windy side. Use either live herring or artificials like spoons and bucktail jigs.

Lake Russell

Russell is the smallest of the three lakes in the chain at 26,650 acres, it is the newest of the three and in some ways the most unusual. Not only is it affected by the water running into its upper end from the Hartwell dam, there is a pumpback facility at its dam, pumping water from Clarks Hill back into it. Its water level does not change as much as the level in the other two.

Georgia and South Carolina agreed to try to make Russell a trophy striper lake. To do that, no hybrids are stocked and only one to two stripers per acre are stocked each year. This should allow the stripers to grow faster and offer fishermen bigger fish to catch.

There are a few hybrids in the lake. They can come downstream through the turbines and overflow at the Hartwell Dam, and a few might survive coming through the pumpback from Clarks Hill. They are not a significant fishery on Russell though.

Russell is a deep, clear lake and offers good habitat for stripers. Growth rates are a little better than two pounds per year and there are already some in the 20 pound range. These fish should continue to grow at a fast rate and produce some trophy fish.

Fisheries biologist Ed Bettros urges fishermen catching tagged stripers to return the tag. Bigger fish are hard to sample so tagging is the best way they can monitor the growth rate of the fish and the success of the program. Help the state keep up with the stripers by returning any tags in fish you catch.

Habitat was a concern at Russell due to the cold, low oxygen content water coming in from the bottom of Lake Hartwell and the cold, low oxygen content of the water being pumped back from Clarks Hill. Oxygen injectors have been added to some of the turbines at Hartwell and others are planned, and oxygen is being added to the water at the Russell dam, too.

By injecting oxygen into the water the layer of water that is suitable for stripers should say wider, allowing them to grow better even during the summer when growth rates slow. The survival rate should also increase.

Both states are looking at a change in the numbers of stripers you can keep at Russell. By lowering the numbers fishermen can keep they hope to increase the numbers of bigger stripers. That change has not been made yet but watch your regulations. Any change will be for anglers from both states.

Stripers are harder to catch than hybrids and the bigger they get the harder they are to hook. You will have to change your tactics to catch stripers on Russell. Use the tips from Anthony’s studies at Hartwell to locate the best areas and times to catch them. Then use big artificial or live bait. Live blueback herring seven inches long or bigger will usually catch more stripers than other baits.

Concentrate on the lower lake below the railroad trestle and drift live herring at the depth the water temperature is best for stripers. Make sure you find baitfish schools near flats and points before dropping your bait down. Use stout tackle, a big striper will head for one of the many patches of underwater timber and wrap you up if you can not turn them.

Clarks Hill

Clarks Hill is the oldest lake on the chain and on the lower end. It is also the biggest at 71,535 acres and has had stripers and hybrids stocked in it for many years. The lake varies a lot from the upper ends of rivers and creeks where water is more stained and gets warmer to the lower half of the lake where the water usually stays clear.

As on Hartwell, blueback herring abound on Clarks Hill and are a favorite food of the linesides. The increase in bluebacks over the past 10 years has led Georgia and South Carolina to increase the stocking here to 15 per acre like at Hartwell. The states coordinate their stocking so each year about eight hybrids and seven stripers are put into the lake.

That is up from the 10 fish per acre done up until 2001. Those stocking levels put three stripers and seven hybrids per acre into the lake. There were a lot more hybrids than stripers, but some of those stripers are still in the lake but most of the hybrids have been caught or died. Some of those pre 2001 stripers are big, with a 50 pound striper possible.

This year there should be good numbers of ten pound stripers in the lake, according to Ed Bettros, fisheries biologist. That is relative to the numbers in the past, he reminds fishermen. They will be easier to catch but not as easy as a three pound hybrid.

There is a concern about the colder, less oxygenated water from Russell coming into the upper Savannah River. An oxygen system has been put in at the Russell dam to increase oxygen content, but that does not extend downstream very many miles. There is hope of another oxygen system being put into the Savannah River several miles downstream of the Russell dam to help the main lake.

Droughts hurt both Russell and Clarks Hill. With less water filling the lake, the band of water ideal for linesides is squeezed thinner and growth rates as well as survival is impacted. Last year we got through the summer without major problems but if the drought extends through this summer there may be problems.

Growth rates in Clarks Hill are similar to Hartwell with both stripers and hybrids adding about two pounds per year to their weight. Stocking is spread out on this lake, too, to help survival rates.

Anthony’s tips for Hartwell will help you locate stripers and hybrids on Clarks Hill. They can be caught from above Raysville Bridge in the Georgia Little River to the dam and up the Savannah to the Russell dam. Clarks Hill has big flats where baitfish and hybrids congregate and you can catch them there.

Always watch for gulls diving on the water, too. This will work on all three lakes. When the schools of stripers and hybrids start hitting the blueback herring the gulls join in the feast, picking off injured herring that float to the surface and grabbing live ones that are trying to escape and get too close to the top.

Dave Willard guides on Clarks Hill for both stripers and hybrids. He says you will be surprised how shallow big stripers will get at some times of the year. He will use a side planner board to take his bait up into three feet of water on points. The planner board allows him to keep his boat out away from the shallows and does not spook them.

Drifting live blueback herring on points and flats on the mail lake will produce stripers and hybrids. Always look for baitfish. Drop several blueback down on a “Carolina Rig” with a one ounce sinker above a swivel. Have a 36 inch leader tied from the swivel to a 3/0 hook and put the herring on it.

As you ease around the flats and points, try to keep your bait down just above the level you are seeing bigger fish on your depthfinder, and just below the schools of baitfish. Make it look like a baitfish that got separated from the school and is an easy meal.

Also drift a couple of live herring on flat lines behind the boat. Tie a hook directly to your line with no weight and let the herring swim freely. That will often attract a roaming striper.

If you want numbers of hybrids and stripers, go to either Hartwell or Clarks Hill. For fewer bites but bigger stripers try Russell. Each of these lakes will continue to get better over the next few years as the increased stocking numbers grow and become more plentiful. The future of linesides fishing on our eastern border looks bright as polished silver.

Visit Dave Willard’s web site at http://www.crockettrocketstriperfishing.com/index.shtml