Lake Hartwell Fishing Report – January 2010

Hartwell: Level: 0.6 feet below full pool. Temp: High 40s. Clarity: Clear to stained.

Bass: Fair. Josh Fowler reports, “The most consistent bite is in the ditches or drains that lead out into the timber. Most of these ditch fish are holding in 25 to 35 feet of water. You need to have several places you can check in the first hour of the day. There is a short window of opportunity on the bigger fish, and it seems like the better fish bite early. A Buckeye Lures 3/4-oz. football jig in the perfect-craw color rigged with a green-pumpkin Zoom Creepy Crawler trailer and a drop-shot rig with a Zoom Swamp Crawler are catching most of the fish. Some other places to try these same baits are in the sharp creek-channel bends and around the roadbeds in the creeks. You are looking for a sharp contour drop on all of these places. If you want to stay shallow, you can catch fish, but it’s a grind. The fish are scattered with the high water and all the grass. Try a Shad Rap or jerkbait in the backs of the pockets, and keep a jig ready to pitch under the docks as you work your way into the pocket.”