Lake Hartwell Fishing Report August 2012

Hartwell: Level: 10.3 feet below full pool. Temp: 86 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Poor. Kerry Partain said it’s tough on Hartwell right now. The best bite he’s found is over deep timber and the drops. From time to time throughout the day, fish will come up schooling, and a Zoom Super Fluke is the bait to catch them with. A topwater bait like a Sammy is also a good choice. When they’re not on top, they can be caught in brush 20 to 25 feet deep on a drop shot. Kerry said a finesse worm and a Zoom Swamp Crawler are good choices. He likes a green-pumpkin bait with blue flake.

Linesides: Good. Guide Preston Harden reports, “The hotter it gets, the better the fishing gets. This is big-fish time with many, many stripers averaging over 10 pounds. The key is to use a good graph with a GPS map with bottom contours. The fish get in the deep-water ditches or creek channels in the mid to lower lake. I’ve been in 80- to 90-foot depth. We caught fish power reeling 1-oz. jig heads and 5-inch swimbaits. These fish will eat herring on a Carolina rig. The bait must be kept cool and lowered to cool water quickly. Fish from the mid to lower lake. Look for fish down deep in that range from 40 feet to 120 deep.”