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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: 4.8 feet below 660. Temp: 84-87. Clarity: Clear. Bass & Stripers: Trent Gober, with Fish Hartwell Guide Service, said bass are on the main-lake brush and canepiles, as well as natural timber. Catch them by casting big topwater plugs, like a Super Spook, OG and Gunfish to draw them to the top. You can also catch them on shaky-head worms and drop shots. Use a green-pumpkin-green Trick Worm on both. Brush in 25 to 30 feet of water is best for spots and largemouth. Many folks are using forward-facing sonar to find and cast to bass over the timber. Use soft minnow baits, like a fluke on a jig head, for them. It takes time to learn how to use FFS to catch them, but once you do, it is the best way to win a tournament. Stripers are stacked up deep from 30 to 80 feet of…
Read MoreLake Hartwell Fishing Articles
Brian Tidwell, of Seneca, S.C., caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds even Saturday to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hartwell. Hosted by the City of Lavonia, the tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Savannah River Division. Tidwell earned $3,684 for his…
The Association of Collegiate Anglers is set to begin the 2024 season on the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series at Lake Hartwell. The Hartwell Slam will take place on April 13-14, 2024. This no-entry-fee event also includes media coverage on a variety of streaming platforms, live coverage, social media promotions and is nationally…
Boater Will Hart, of Danielsville, caught a five-bass limit weighing 21-lbs., 8-ozs., Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hartwell. Hosted by Visit Anderson, the tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL South Carolina Division. Hart earned $11,266, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF…
B.A.S.S. officials announced today that the 2024 national championship for the wildly popular Bassmaster College Series will be played out on the waters of Lake Hartwell. The 2024 Strike King Bassmaster College National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops will showcase the nation’s best college anglers Aug. 22-24. Anglers will launch from and weigh in…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, Hartwell Dam and Lake Project, has a campground park attendant contract position open at the Twin Lakes Campground in Pendleton, South Carolina. Lake Hartwell officials are currently looking for an outgoing, active couple who would like to work as paid contract park attendants from April 1 through November…
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 |