Lake Hartwell Fishing Report August 2016

Hartwell: Level: 3.6 feet below full pool. Temp: Upper 80s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Guide Preston Harden reports, “The bass have moved to deep brush. The topwater lures, such as a Lucky Craft Sammy, will draw strikes in deeper water. Knowing where the brush is helps. Look around points and shoals 15 to 25 feet deep. Lots of people put brush out, and reef poles are likely spots to find brushpiles. If you do not get a strike from the topwater plug, move over the brushpile and look for the bass on your graph in the brush. Fish vertically with a small natural presentation. A small drop shot can be deadly.”

Linesides: Guide Preston Harden reports, “August is big fish month. The month of August produces more big Lake Hartwell stripers than any other month of the year for me. Most of these fish come from deep water. Deep water on Lake Hartwell is 60 to 120 feet deep. Live herring do well at that depth in the lower lake. There is no thermocline most years in the lower lake, and that’s where most hybrids and stripers go. Electronics are important as you hunt for deep schools of fish. If you do not want to fish with live herring, power reeling can be effective. Fish a jig or spoon vertically to deep fish. Fast retrieves through the school will get a reaction strike. I use a 5-inch paddle-tail fluke on a 1-oz. jig head. I have seen the jumbo jigging spoons also catch deep fish.”