Clarks Hill slabs grow up plenty

Guide William Sasser said Clarks Hill spits out a lot of big crappie once October arrives and fish start to feed up for the winter.

October usually kicks off a 3- to 4-month period of big crappie, and big numbers of crappie, on South Carolina’s Clarks Hill Lake, according to guide William Sasser.

“On a good day, you will be catching anywhere from a half-pound fish up to a 2-pound fish. You hardly ever catch a little crappie this time of year,” said Sasser, who believes the hand-sized crappie that dominate in spring grow quickly through the summer into slabs that are more common come October.

“I don’t know what the growth rate of crappies is in Clarks Hill, but I just know that in October, November and December, you don’t catch many small crappies,” he said.

Along with the increased size comes good numbers, he said.

“A good day’s catch at the beginning of October would probably be 40 to 50 fish,” he said. “In the latter part of the month, it would be a limit of fish for each fisherman.”

But while the numbers will be there, Sasser (706-589-5468) said he prefers not to overfish the resource.

“If I have five people on the boat, the limit would be 100 in South Carolina and 150 in Georgia, but I try to veer away from those numbers,” he said. “My personal feeling as a guide is if you have four or five guys and you hit 60 fish, that is probably enough for the day, because that is a good day of fishing.”

The key for fall crappie is water temperature, Sasser said.

“The cooler the water temperature, the more fish you catch. It needs to get down into the low 80-degree range and the upper 70s,” he said.

As fall progresses, he said, fishing should be better as the temperature declines with the approach of winter and colder weather. But that is not always the case.

“I’ve seen October temperatures that were a repeat of September. I’ve seen September fish like October, and October fish like September.”

Early on, Sasser said he will be fishing in 25 to 35 feet of water in creek channels in the backs of tributaries off the main lake.

“In the first part of the month, the fish will probably be 20 feet deep, above the creek channels and above the trees that we put out. You can do some pretty good jig fishing then, pulling jigs very slowly along the channels and over the brush,” he said.

“In late October, the fish may be a little shallower, maybe 15 feet deep above 20 to 25, sometimes 30 feet of water.”

By this time, fish will be schooling more than earlier, so he will anchor over brush piles in the backs of the creeks. Some areas seem to be better for one style of fishing than others.