In 2008 I was saddened to hear of the death of Tommy Shaw. He was the owner of Little River Marina on Clark’s Hill and a legendary fisherman in that area. He built his marina on the shores of Little River in 1953, the year the lake was opened to the public, and ran it into the 1980s.

Tommy spent so much time fishing the lake he knew it better than anyone else. I got to fish with him one time for a Georgia Outdoor News article and he amazed me with his ability to find humps and other underwater structure. Now anyone with a good depth finder and lots of time can locate similar structure but he did it the old fashioned way, by fishing.

He loved to catch white bass and took to hybrids and stripers when they were introduced into the lake like an ant takes to sugar. He trolled for them as well as looking for them schooling on the surface. There is no telling how many he and his wife caught over the years.

I fished with him on a cold January day and he told me he was going to show me a secret. He said people though bass were all deep and inactive that time of year but he took me way back in a pocket and caught a nice bass on a Zoom Fluke in two feet of water.

After that he took me out on the main lake and caught a five pound bass on a Little George and took me to a spot where I got a four pounder. To me that was great fishing in the dead of winter but he said it was a normal day for him.

Tommy called in reports to Atlanta radio stations and had weekly fishing reports in the August Chronicle, a paper I grew up reading. As a kid in the late 1950s and early 60s I would read his reports and want to go fishing so bad it hurt. I am sure many fishermen got turned on to Clark’s Hill through Tommy’s writing and reports.

Clark’s Hill will be a little less interesting and a little less fun fishing with him gone.