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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

Lake Hartwell Fishing Report – November 2024

By GON Staff | October 30, 2024

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  

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Lake Hartwell Fishing Articles

Spoon For Winter Hartwell Bass

When the weather turns from cool to cold, anglers throughout northeast Georgia tie on their jigging spoons, head to the various lakes in the area and prepare for some of the best action of the year. The cooler temperatures are what spoon fishermen wait months for, as it typically improves the fishing on area lakes,…

Hartwell Record Redeye Bass

Steve Williams, of Dallas, set a Lake Hartwell and a Georgia state record with a redeye bass he caught April 17, 2004. Steve’s 3-lb., 7-oz., redeye bass surpassed a 3-lb., 5-oz. redeye caught on Lake Hartwell in 1999. The South Carolina state record redeye was caught April 4, 2001 by Randy Dixon, of Westminster, S.C.…

Hartwell Striper Breaks Records

If the news that giant stripers are being hoisted from the Savannah River reserviors above Augusta sounds like a broken record  — it is. For the second time in 11 months, South Carolina fisheries officials are evaluating a new South Carolina state-record striped bass: a 59-lb., 8-oz. monster caught in Lake Hartwell Feb. 3 by Georgia…

Hartwell Bass Blowing Up Topwater In May

By the first of May, most of the big Hartwell bass have finished spawning and are waiting on the main-lake points for the blueback herring, which are just moving in to the gravel bars and sandy points for their spawn. May is one of the best times to catch a bunch of grown Hartwell bass, and…

Hartwell Linesides Quick Action In Spring

Lineside fishing guide Greg Beck snatched the rod from the rod holder and reared back to set the hook, but the fish was already gone. Before he could replace the rod, another planer board shuddered on the surface, then surged backwards, signaling a hit on the trailing blueback herring. Greg hurriedly set down the first…

Lake Hartwell Record Fish

Largemouth Bass12-lbs., 6.5-ozs.Jack Breshears03/08/76
Spotted Bass5-lbs., 6.08-ozs.Raulie Bleech03/18/07
Redeye Bass3-lbs., 7-ozs.Steve Williams04/17/04
Striped Bass59-lbs., 8-ozs.Terry McConnell02/03/02
Hybrid Bass20-lbs., 1-oz.Buster Green-----
White Bass4-lbs., 5-ozs.H.T. Davis02/06/67
White Crappie4-lb., 4-ozs.Charles McCullough04/27/68
Black Crappie3-lbs., 1.76-ozs.Jimmy Burns03/02/22
Walleye9-lbs.T.O. Sherriff1974
Blue Catfish30-lbs., 8-ozs.Melvin Wall06/26/03
Flathead Catfish66-lbs.Darrin Sealey04/04/10
Shellcracker1-lb., 4.16-ozs.DJ Hill05/13/23
Chain Pickerel2-lbs., 5-ozs.Jay Franklin03/16/23