By Ronell Smith

The air temperature was a frigid 28 degrees, though the wind chill made it seem much, much lower. The skies were overcast and the winds largely calm. For Elberton resident Jimmy Warrick and his friend Ryan Faulkenberry of Star, N.C., it seemed like the perfect day for fishing northeast Georgia's Clarks Hill Lake. If they only knew what they were in for!

With several large fish swirling in the shallows, apparently feeding on the abundant threadfin shad, the pair launched their boat and began drifting, setting out free lines and planer boards, each tipped with a very lively blueback herring.

Then, at about 9 a.m., it happened. A hook-up on one of the free lines had one of the reels screaming. Faulkenberry raced to grab the pole from the rod holder and from that point on there would be no doubt that this was a special day.

"It hit like a freight train coming through," said Warrick, his voice still peppered with enthusiasm months later. "You know once he feels that hook, he heads for the high country."

More than a half-hour later, the two wrestled in what would turn out to be a 41-pound, 4-ounce striped bass, a whale of a fish by just about anyone's standards. But on this day, that fish would prove to be the smallest of three the pair boated! Before noon, in fact, the anglers had a 43-pound, 4-ounce fish and a 44-pound, 8-ounce striper.

Not bad for a morning of fishing. Not bad at all.

During the winter months, it's hard to beat the Savannah River chain of lakes for chasing large, shad-engorged stripers. An angler, knowing the proper techniques to fish the respective lakes, can take some live blueback herring on stout tackle and, by the end of the day, have tangled with several fish of more than 20 pounds. In the lakes' deep, clear waters are some of the biggest land-locked stripers in the Southeast, many of which, with their ability to tear tackle to shreds, are never even sighted by anglers battling them.

On many a winter morning, anglers can pull up to either lake, launch a boat and look out upon the watery expanse to see dozens of line-sides literally knocking shad and herring out of the water as the predators satiate their voracious appetites. Though the fish won't be up in the shallows regularly for nearly two more months, a long day of sunshine heating the lakes is all the fish need to move up and take advantage of the veritable smorgasbord of feeding opportunities.

"No matter what the time of year is, you're going to have some fish shallow and some fish deep, no matter where you are on the lake," said Lance Carter, owner of The Dark Side guide service, which operates on Lake Hartwell. The same is true for the two downstream sister lakes as well.

Lakes Hartwell, Richard B. Russell and Clarks Hill (J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir, if you are a South Carolinian) run along the extreme northeastern edge of the state and are shared with South Carolina as the waters flow north and south. What's more, each body of water not only offers excellent line-side action, but also is readily accessible from Atlanta and all of Northeast Georgia.

Jimmy Warrick of Elberton hoists a pair of 40-pound stripers, while Ryan Faulkenberry of Starr, S.C., holds the third one they pulled from Clarks Hill. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Warrick

Hartwell is a large, deep body of water, having a well-defined river channel and lots of long clay points holding an abundance of cover, including standing timber, shallow grass beds and rock-lined shores. Additionally, a fact that is of utmost importance to producing striper, the lake has a very well defined thermocline, allowing the fish to access oxygenated water year-round.

But probably two of the biggest factors contributing to Hartwell's stature as an excellent striper fishery are the aggressive stocking every year by the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division, which helps keep the population stable, and a healthy population of blueback herring. These herring, which were illegally introduced several years ago, grow large and are open-water baitfish. Their presence amounts to a veritable spreading of the table for stripers, since they are roaming predators.

With abundant bait, cover, structure and water quality, it's little wonder that Hartwell is tough to beat in the winter months for stripers.

Lance Carter, a Hartwell resident who has guided on the lake for several years, said the winter months provide one of the best opportunities for hooking a whopper - a fish over 20 pounds - on Hartwell. He should know - his largest is 30 pounds on Hartwell, though he's hooked and lost several surpassing this fish.

During this time of the year, Carter looks for the fish in the tributaries. Here, the stripers are often found suspended, but are not far from schools of shad or herring.

"You might find them in water 60 feet deep," Carter said, "but they'll be suspended in 25 to 30 feet of water."

This guide usually picks a large creek, such as Big Beaverdam, Little Beaverdam or Gum Log, then starts trolling through the area with his eyes on the graph depthfinder. Often the distinct arch of a large fish shows up on the screen. But in lieu of that, what he looks for is the tale-tale sign of baitfish, which often appear as a black haze suspended off the bottom. Once the forage is found, Carter then sets out about four rods, all featuring bluebacks impaled on 2/0 Kahle hooks.

A couple of his lines are usually attached to planer boards, an option allowing for him to fish the bait at a desired depth. But some of the bait is also free-lined so the shad can swim unimpeded. Once all baits are out, he starts to slowly troll the creek, hoping to find actively feeding fish.

"You want to go as slow as possible," said Carter. "In winter, you don't want to move that bait fast at all."

A major advantage of fishing this way in winter is that it increases the likelihood that a concentration of fish will be found. When that happens, the tips of several rods can be pulled into the water at once. If you have trouble finding fish, Carter recommended looking for activity on top from schooling fish or look for fish near river channel bends or ledges. The key, he said, is to go slow.

"It's really called fishing and not catching this time of the year," Carter said. "Everything is slow and lethargic."