Lake Hartwell Fishing Report – October 2007

Hartwell: Level: 6.8 feet below full pool. Temp: 78 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Slow. Guide Buster Green said a recent tournament was won with 19 pounds, but weights dropped rapidly. “Most of the fish were caught on top,” said Buster, “but the fish were mostly small. People are catching a lot of Coosa bass and small cross-breeds. The bass are schooling, but they don’t want to hit anything,” he said. The worm bite in the brushpiles has been slow, too. “The fish don’t seem to be on brush at the moment,” he said.

Linesides: Fair to good. Hartwell guide Steve Crenshaw was on the lake Monday, Sept. 24, and his clients boated 15 hybrids and 20 stripers. Steve found fish holding on river-channel ledges in about 40 feet of water, and he is downlining bluebacks. Prime time is between 7:30 and 10 a.m. Fish are schooling on top early and late. Steve said to watch for fish in the area from the dam up to the Seneca/Tugaloo split. Buster Green was on the lake Saturday, Sept. 22 after dark and caught 20 fish between dark and 2 a.m. He was fishing live bait 35 feet deep. Buster said some hybrids and stripers are schooling sporadically in the morning on main-lake points and humps. When the fish are up, he throws Sammys, Zara Spooks or Lil Fishies. When they go down, work the same area with a pearl or albino Zoom Super Fluke on a 1/4-oz. lead-head.