Crappie Fishing Hot Spots on Clark Hill

Every cove on Clark's Hill holds crappie. You can easily spot the most popular by the numbers of boats in them. This fishing is a lot like a dove shoot. Some folks have fished the same coves every year since the lake was filled in the early 1950's, and whole generations socialize as they fill up their coolers.

Germany, Rousseau, Hart and Lloyd Creeks as well as the upper end of Little River have been favorite areas on the Georgia side to catch crappie.

You can spend many hours in the first big cove on the left as you enter Germany Creek. (1) It is straight across from Raysville Boat Club. The left bank in the very back end is excellent. There are a couple of pines fishermen cut down into the water and they always hold fish.

In Rousseau Creek, the upper end above the last boat dock is a good protected area to fish. (2) There are lots of trees with their bases in the water, bushes are all along the bank and some big willows are further back in the creek. Also watch for the stick-ups in the flats in the middle of the creek. Fish will hold on them if you can find them in the high water.

As you enter Lloyd Creek, the first cove on your right has a white rock bottom. (3) Button bushes are thick on the left bank and in the back of the left fork. There are several old pines cut down on the right bank of the right arm of this cove. You can circle this one cove all day and catch all the crappie you want.

Just above Big Hart Park on Hart Creek is a shallow cove on the north bank that is excellent for crappie. (4) It is full of button bushes and warms quickly since it is shallow. Crappie tend to move in here early in the season. This area is close to the ramp and camping at Big Hart so you don't have to run far.

If you go all the way up Little River to Kemp Creek (5), you will find deep banks covered with bushes on both sides going in. The crappie come out of the deep river channel to spawn in this cove and you can catch them all up and down the banks. Watch for the small pockets where ditches enter and fish them carefully. The crappie tend to like these protected areas.

On the Savannah River side, Soap Creek is a favorite area. The coves just downstream of the Highway 220 bridge are good (6) as is Dry Fork Creek. (7) The creek is more protected when the wind gets up as it often does in April. The upper end of Soap Creek on the flats around the willows are also good when the water is up. (8)

The South Carolina Little River is narrow and protected and goes for miles. You can catch crappie all up and down it. Long Cane Creek is a good place to try and gives you a smaller area to check out. (9)

If Fishing Creek sounds like a good place to catch crappie, it is. The coves on the right bank going into the creek are covered with button bushes on gravel bottoms. (10) Go all the way to the very back of these pockets if there is any ditch at all entering the lake

The crappie will get right in the back on the bushes if the water is not falling.

These are just a few places on this 72,000 acre lake to fish. You can't fish it all in several lifetimes. Pick out a creek and stick with it, learning its nuances and hidden honey holes. The better you get to know a place, the more fish you can catch from it.

If you tire of dabbling for the crappie, there are a couple of other very effective methods of catching them this month. Keep in mind the crappie will be moving into the coves to spawn. You can drift or troll jigs or minnows a couple of yards off the bank and intercept the schools of crappie moving in. In the bigger coves, fish right down the middle, especially if you can follow the old channel. The crappie will follow it in and you can stay right on top of them.

You will see a lot of boats anchored off the bank with their corks dotting the surface from the boat to the bank. This is especially effective to show your baits to fish moving in if they are near the bank. Try to find a natural concentration area for them - a secondary point that narrows the available water, a bend in the old channel where it swings to the bank or a blow down that offers a holding place for them as they move in. Anchor off this structure and put out several rods.

If you are fishing with children, they are less likely to get in trouble if anchored. This is also an easy way to fish - you can put out some minnows and kick back and enjoy the world as it goes by. This is a very popular way to fish. By mid morning, most good blowdowns will already have a boat on them. Get out there early if you want to reserve a spot.

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