Lake Hartwell Fishing Report September 2014

Hartwell: Level: 3 feet below full pool. Temp: 85 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Tournament fisherman Kerry Partain reports, “Bass fishing is changing weekly with the weather conditions. The bait and bass have been concentrated at the mouths of creeks around the points and humps, but with the warmer weather, I expect them to move out to the main-lake humps, points and submerged timber. The past couple of weeks there has been more schooling activity, especially late in the evenings. If you see any schooling activity, you have to get your bait in there fast because they don’t stay up long. When the bass are not schooling, keep an eye on your electronics to locate schools of bass, and you can catch them on drop shots or shaky-head worms.”

Catfish: Great. Donnie Simpson reports, “Many channel cats can be caught on any given morning or late afternoon into the night. Anchor on points in about 10 feet of water early, and cast in all depths between 3 and 30 feet. The channels are eating stink bait just about as quick as you get the rod in the rod holder. To catch the bigger blues and flatheads, you will need fresh live and cut bait, perch, bream and shad. Drifting seems to produce the blues and flatheads better than anchoring.”

Bowfishing: Donnie reports, “Some nights are tough as the water temps are getting around the 90-degree mark by dark, but there are still plenty of carp and gar to shoot at. This year’s spawn was strong, and there are a good many 6-inch carp to hone your shooting skills and get great catfish bait in the process.”