Lake Hartwell Fishing Report – August 2023

Hartwell: Level: 0.7 below 660. Temp: Upper 80s. Clarity: Clear, maybe a little stain in backs of creeks after a heavy rain.

Bass: Guide Jason Burroughs reports that bass are suspended over brush in 25 feet on humps on the creek and river sides of them and on long points that run out to the channels. They are feeding up, so you want to keep your bait above them. A topwater bait like the Ima Skimmer will get bites. Also cast a Georgia Lures Creek Shad chartreuse or blue glimmer soft jerkbait over them, weightless right on top, working  it fast. Also, try letting it drop down a few feet and work it with slower jerks. Some wind rippling the water will help the bite. If you have forward-facing sonar, you can see the fish and how they react to the bait. Without it, try from the surface down to 6 feet deep or so, but keep your bait above the fish at all times. If you don’t get bit within 10 minutes, move on to the next place. Covering water is key. If you don’t get bit, or if you watch the fish follow your bait and not eat it, try different colors or baits. A Sebille Magic Swimmer will be a good fall-back bait. There will be a shallow bite back in the creeks toward the end of the month. Fish a brown Buckeye Mop Jig with a brown chunk on channel swings, hitting all cover in the backs of the creeks. Also, fish a Pop-R, a topwater prop bait or a Senko around bream beds, especially around the full moon the first of the month and again the very end of the month. The new moon the week of Aug. 17 will have some bream bedding, too.”

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