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Lake Hartwell
Lake Hartwell is a 56,000-acre Corps of Engineers reservoir bordering Georgia and South Carolina on the Savannah, Tugaloo and Seneca rivers. Lake Hartwell is one of the southeast's largest and most popular recreation lakes, and it offers good fishing, particularly for bass and stripers. Three recent Bassmaster Classic tournaments have been held at Hartwell. The lake is created by Hartwell Dam located on the Savannah River 7 miles below the point where the Tugaloo and Seneca rivers join to form the Savannah. Interstate 85 crosses Lake Hartwell at the Georgia-South Carolina line.
Lake Hartwell Resources
Hartwell: Level: 1.9 feet below 660. Temp: 60s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Trent Gober, with Fish Hartwell Guide Service, said November is a great month to fish Lake Hartwell. The fish are moving shallow into the creeks. Many baits will catch them, from topwater for schooling fish to crankbaits on rocky banks going into the creeks. Pay attention to channel swings in the creeks. The baitfish tend to load up in those swings. Not all bass will go into the creeks. There will still be a main-lake bite, just a little deeper. Use a green-pumpkin jig or Senko to catch fish around brushpiles and on roadbeds 20 to 35 feet deep. Keep your eyes on your electronics for big pods of bait, and you will find the fish close by. Lake Hartwell Page: Archived Articles, News & Fishing Reports
Read MoreLake Hartwell Fishing Articles
Ziiiipppp. I heard the drag on Randy Childers’ reel make that distinctive sound that tells anglers they have just hung into something solid. When I turned and looked, Randy’s rod was doubled over, and his line was still. “Stump?” I asked. “Good fish,” Randy replied, not really talking to me as much as affirming the…
Kim Carver and Matt Ferman said changing weather conditions and a spinnerbait were key ingredients in their win at Berry’s Lake Oconee tournament Saturday, May 13. “We struggled all morning,” said Kim. “We mostly caught our fish off a Zoom lizard. We’d catch one on a dock, then one on a seawall, we probably only…
If the catfish in Lake Hartwell could complain, they would probably complain about these two: catfishermen Red Duncan and Melvin Wall. When these two go catfishing they usually catch fish — lots of fish, and lots of big fish. A friend recently asked them to keep him the catfish they caught one day so he…
I cast a Lil’ Fishy out onto the end of a narrow, rocky point in Coneross Creek on Lake Hartwell and began a slow retrieve. The white, soft-plastic bait had moved maybe 10 feet when something bumped it. “I just had a hit,” I said to Hartwell fishing guide Steve Crenshaw and his friend Preston…
Hartwell anglers are getting the topwater itch — it’s almost topwater time! Hartwell is famous for this post-spawn topwater bass-fishing blast. After the spawn is completed, the bass move out of the creeks and migrate to deep-water summer hangouts. At Hartwell that means main-lake points and humps that are usually lined with timber. The fish…
Lake Hartwell Record Fish
| Largemouth Bass | 12-lbs., 6.5-ozs. | Jack Breshears | 03/08/76 |
| Spotted Bass | 5-lbs., 6.08-ozs. | Raulie Bleech | 03/18/07 |
| Redeye Bass | 3-lbs., 7-ozs. | Steve Williams | 04/17/04 |
| Striped Bass | 59-lbs., 8-ozs. | Terry McConnell | 02/03/02 |
| Hybrid Bass | 20-lbs., 1-oz. | Buster Green | ----- |
| White Bass | 4-lbs., 5-ozs. | H.T. Davis | 02/06/67 |
| White Crappie | 4-lb., 4-ozs. | Charles McCullough | 04/27/68 |
| Black Crappie | 3-lbs., 1.76-ozs. | Jimmy Burns | 03/02/22 |
| Walleye | 9-lbs. | T.O. Sherriff | 1974 |
| Blue Catfish | 30-lbs., 8-ozs. | Melvin Wall | 06/26/03 |
| Flathead Catfish | 66-lbs. | Darrin Sealey | 04/04/10 |
| Shellcracker | 1-lb., 4.16-ozs. | DJ Hill | 05/13/23 |
| Chain Pickerel | 2-lbs., 5-ozs. | Jay Franklin | 03/16/23 |