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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: 0.3 feet above 660. Temp: Upper 70s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Cole Wilson, with Spot Chaser Guide Service, reports, “It’s summertime, which means it’s topwater time. Look for brushpiles on points in 20 to 40 feet of water, and you will see the fish. They will be roaming around them on cloudy days and sitting on top of them on sunny days. The chrome Ima Little Stik or Heddon Zara Spook are two of the best topwater walking baits to throw. If you can’t find the brush, drag a jig or green-pumpkin Senko or lizard on a Carolina rig across points in 15 to 30 feet of water.” Lake Hartwell Page: Archived Articles, News & Fishing Reports
Read MoreLake Hartwell Fishing Articles
A 6-lb., 4-oz. spotted bass was just what Texas angler Chad Mrazek needed on the final day of the MLF Invitational at Lake Hartwell. The big spot propelled Chad to a third-place finish in the tournament, and it set a new GON official record for spotted bass on Lake Hartwell. Chad’s record spot hit a…
As most people were driving home from their 9-to-5 jobs the evening of Feb. 17, Aaron Riggins was having the fight of his life on Lake Hartwell. “With whom?” you might ask. None other than a 75-lb. catfish, and it very well could have been the same 74-lb. fish he caught in the area about…
A Lake Hartwell striped bass fishing tournament ended in tragedy Saturday morning, Jan. 11, when a competitor’s boat with four anglers onboard sank. A 25-year-old woman from Aiken, S.C. did not survive. The Anderson County (S.C.) Corner’s office identified the young woman as Kimberely Gomillion. According to statements from officials, Gomillion was fishing the tournament…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District’s Forest, Fish, and Wildlife Section at the J. Strom Thurmond Lakeand the Hartwell Dam and Lake will accept real Christmas trees for recycling as fish habitat again this season. Thurmond Lake will accept real trees from Dec. 20, 2024, through Jan. 17, 2025, and Hartwell Lake will…
If you’ve ever come out of the canal in Mexico Beach, Fla. and run 3 miles south into the Gulf of Mexico along the buoy line and experienced fish busting on top as far as you could see, that’s what it reminded me of—even if I was hundreds of miles from the salt. The scene…
Lake Hartwell Record Fish
| Largemouth Bass | 12-lbs., 6.5-ozs. | Jack Breshears | 03/08/76 |
| Spotted Bass | 6-lbs., 4-ozs. | Chad Mrazek | 03/16/25 |
| 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 |