Lake Hartwell Fishing Report April 2014

Hartwell: Level: 0.6 feet below full pool and trending down. Temp: Low to mid 50s. Clarity: Mostly clear with some stained water in creeks.

Bass: Good. Tournament pro Kerry Partain reports, “The bass are biting once you locate them, and they are about to bust. If we can ever get a break from this cold weather, the bass are ready to hit the bank. Right now they are still in prespawn mode and moving day to day with this unpredictable weather, and you really have to search for them. Once you find them, they are fairly easy to catch on a variety of lures and patterns. If we have a couple of warm days in a row, I would start out fishing shallow using crankbaits, spinnerbaits or a Zoom Trick Worm rigged weightless. If it’s a little cool, you can catch them on main-lake and secondary points with a Carolina rig, and I like a Zoom lizard, especially in the spring. The spawn should begin by the full moon this month if we get some warmer nights, and a Trick Worm is going to be hard to beat with all the flooded vegetation this year. The water is clear almost everywhere, so keep looking shallow as you’re fishing because you never know when or where you might see big mama on the bed, especially later this month.”

Linesides: Guide Preston Harden reports, “Several consecutive warm days will get the fish shallow and active. Hopefully the weather will settle down by April. I fish like a bass fisherman, using my trolling motor to stay a casting distance off the bank and casting a small artificial toward the bank. My favorite lure is a small Scrounger jig and a Zoom Fluke. As the water warms, I will use 1/4-oz. jig instead of a 1/8-oz. jig. I will go to a Zoom Super Fluke Junior in white ice with the 1/4-oz. jig. Later in the month, I will cast a Sebile Magic Swimmer in the slow-sinking model and white color. Blueback herring will catch lots of fish either freelined or downlined.”

Crappie: Preston reports, “Crappie fishing has been good and consistent with small jigs worked around deep brush. The best spots are where brush is under a dock. Most crappie have been coming from 20 to 30 feet deep. Crappie will be moving shallower as we warm in April. I will still concentrate on shade and brush. Crappie minnows under slip floats and tightlining a small jig will catch them shallow as the water warms and crappie start migrating to spawning areas.”