Lake Hartwell Fishing Report – June 2007

Hartwell: Level: 2.8 feet below full pool. Temp: Upper 70s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: The topwater bite on main-lake points, humps, reef markers and bridge pilings is under way. Largemouths, spots, hybrids and stripers are all hitting topwater very early and very late in the day. Sammys, pearl-colored Zoom Super Flukes, Zara Spooks, Chug Bugs — any topwater plug is likely to get hit. If the fish go down, a Carolina rig with a green-pumpkin Zoom Finesse worm will catch fish. Another good bait to try is a Fish Head Spin with a pearl Fluke. Cast the bait, count it down and begin a steady retrieve. If you don’t get hit, fish a little deeper until you find fish.

Stripers/Hybrids: It’s been good — at least right at daylight, said guide Wayne White. “We have been catching a few from 4 until 6:30 a.m., but after that you had just as well go home. It is hard to get bit once the sun comes up. For the past two months or so, Wayne has been pulling his boat up onto red-clay points and throwing live bluebacks. The water temperature has climbed to the point that the hybrids and stripers aren’t interested in being in the warm, shallow water. “The water temperature this morning was 76 degrees at 10 a.m.,” said Wayne. “When it gets to 80, it is time to switch over to nighttime fishing downlines under lights.” Another problem with the linesides bite has been the drought and low-flows, said Wayne. “With little water moving through the lake, the hybrids and stripers aren’t happy about it. They like current, and they bite better in moving water. With no rain, the corps isn’t pulling much water, so the fish aren’t very active.” Guide Cain Waller has been catching some stripers on topwater baits early in the morning, but he is about to move out to deeper water to the downline, nighttime bite, too. For more on the June transition-time fishing at Hartwell, see story on page 56

Crappie: Almost all the fishing has switched over to nighttime under the bridges or under lights, said Wayne. “You can catch a few small crappie under the bridges on minnows or jigs if you can keep the hybrids and stripers off.”