Lake Hartwell Fishing Report – October 2024

Hartwell: Level: 6.5 feet below 660. Temp: Low 70s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass & Stripers: Trent Gober, with Fish Hartwell Guide Service, said that October should bring falling water temperatures, which will bring a lot of schooling activity. Main-lake humps and long points going into the creeks will be the places to target. Fish a white Zoom Super Fluke or a walking topwater bait for aggressive fish in search of schools of bait. A Fickle made by Southern Hook Lures is a great bait for surfacing fish, too. It is made to be reeled fast across the surface for vicious strikes. Keep your eyes open and your electronics on as you look for bait pods near the surface, and you will find the bass close to them. Striper fishing will also be on fire. Large schools of stripers and hybrids will be chasing pods of bait near the surface. Casting bucktail jigs into the schooling fish is the best way to catch and get the fish released quickly, so you can make another cast and catch more before the school disappears. Trolling a Captain Mack’s Mini Mack umbrella is also a great way to cover water in search of the large schools of bait and fish. Keep your eyes open this month for a surface feeding frenzy from stripers and hybrids, too.

Bass tournament angler Kerry Partain says October is a month to expect a topwater collision as bass and baitfish meet on high spots on the lake as the water finally cools off. For more on how Kerry approaches this fun bass fishing on top, subscribers can read Lake Hartwell Topwater Collision.

Lake Hartwell Page: Archived Articles, News & Fishing Reports